Health Testing & Drug Testing Guides, Reviews, Information & Facts

Most Common Pink Eye Signs and Symptoms

November 5th, 2009

What is Pink Eye?

Pink eye or conjunctivitis is an infection of the conjunctiva, which is the outer layer of the sclera in the human eye. There are three main types of infections that affect the conjunctiva:

Viral: Viral infections are most common in those who have a cold, respiratory infection or sore throat.
Bacterial: Bacterial infections are brought on by exposure to streptococcus or staphylococcus; these are strains of bacteria that infect and irritate the eye. The infection will be more severe with certain bacterial infections.
Allergic: This type is usually brought on by allergy and intolerance of things like cosmetics, drugs or perfume.

Both the bacterial and viral strains are contagious meaning that they can spread quickly and easily in a group of children who are the most likely to get this type of infection. Each variety has its own form of treatment and therefore requires a doctor’s advice to treat. There are also differences in the symptoms associated with each.

Signs and Symptoms of Pink Eye

Allergic Conjunctivitis:

Both eyes are affected
Teary eyes
Itchiness
Swollen eyelids

Viral Conjunctivitis:

Irritated eyes
Thin watery discharge
One becomes infected and then over time the other may also become affected
Reddened eyes

Bacterial Conjunctivitis

Usually affects only one eye but can spread to both
Reddened eyes
Irritated gritty feeling
Teary eyes
Swelling of the conjunctiva itself
Eyelids sticking together especially after night time sleep
Stringy, discharge that causes the eyelids to stick closed

How to Treat It

Conjunctivitis must be diagnosed and treated by a doctor to make sure the proper action is taken and they affected eye(s) clear up. Because each of these three are different treatment will seek to handle the infection directly based on the symptoms.

Bacterial: This type is most often treated with antibiotics in an ointment or eye drop format that is designed to treat several varieties of bacterial infection.
Allergic: For milder infections simple treatments like eye drops and cold compresses can help. If the infection becomes more severe it may be necessary to treat it with anti-inflammatory medications and antihistamines. In the most severe cases it may be necessary to treat with topical steroid drops.
Viral: This type is often allowed to heal on its own, which should take no more than 3 weeks. Patients can treat the symptoms with cold compresses and eye drops. If the case is particularly virulent the doctor may prescribe topical steroid drops to relieve any feelings of discomfort.

Preventing the Spread of Contagion

To avoid passing the infection on follow a few of these simple steps:
Do not go swimming
Avoid shaking hands with others
Avoid sharing the same washcloths and towels with others
Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently especially after touching the infected area.
Avoid using handkerchiefs and instead use disposable tissues
Make up a bleach solution to sterilize areas that get touched by hands often like doorknobs, counters, tables and the like.

Tags: signs and symptoms of pink eye
Posted in Health & Wellness | No Comments »

8 Hidden Dangers in Your Home

November 5th, 2009

There are many hidden dangers in your home. Often without knowing it we come into contact with these dangers and are harmed by that contact.

Here’s a few of those harmful elements and how you can remove or at least reduce their presence in your home.
1. Radon: Like carbon monoxide, radon too is colorless and odorless. It seeps into your home from the ground below, especially if you have a dirt cellar or basement that has cracks in the foundation. You can get a detector for radon but it’s best to get a radon test to verify the exact level of what is entering your home. Radon is a form of radiation and is the second leading cause of lung cancer.

2. Asbestos: Asbestos is a dangerous fiber that was once used for insulation and fire resistance in homes. Breathing in too much asbestos puts you at risk for lung damage and at higher risk of developing Mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. To prevent a problem with asbestos in your home, it is best to avoid handling the materials that are made from it and get an asbestos test kit.

3. Lead: Lead lurks in many places in our homes including paint and pipes. Some toys and even makeup can also contain lead. Lead is a serious concern because it has serious health conditions associated with its exposure. Among these are brain damage, convulsions, damage to the nervous system and blood vessels and in severe cases even death. To prevent exposure to lead, keep play areas very clean and dust free. If there is lead paint in your home, do not try removing it yourself; call in a professional to re-paint if the old paint is chipped.

4. Air Contaminants: There are several forms of airborne mold, dust and mildew that could be lurking in the air of your home. Breathing in these contaminants can agitate allergies and promote illnesses. A good air filter can help reduce the amount of these contaminants in your home.

5. Mold: Many homes are subject to at least a certain amount of heat and humidity. This puts the home at risk for developing several types of mold. Left untreated, this mold can have serious affects on your health. Bathrooms and basements are particularly at risk for this and should be monitored. If your home develops mold clean up the area and use a good disinfectant to kill it before it can spread. If the mold has spread to an area bigger than a few feet you may need to call in a professional.

6. Medications: Keeping medication in the medicine cabinet is no longer enough! Many preteen and teenage children are abusing the contents of the medicine cabinet in an attempt to get high. All major medications need to be kept in a safe locked space. It is also a good idea to keep a count of how many tabs are in each bottle if you need to keep track.

7. Carbon Monoxide: This is a colorless, scentless gas that builds up in the home, often from heating sources, the car and malfunctioning appliances. Left to build up, it could kill you in your sleep. The best way to keep track of this is to install a carbon monoxide detector alongside the fire detectors in your home- one for each floor. Having your major appliances looked over by a professional will also reduce the risk of the gas in your home.

8. Your Dryer Vent: This is one of the most overlooked problems in the home. If the dryer’s vent and the hose that connects it to that vent become clogged with lint it could cause a house fire. Periodically open the area and of it’s not too long clean it yourself or hire a professional to handle it, especially if it is a longer vent area.

Tags: asbestos test kit, lead paint, radon test
Posted in Health & Wellness, Other | No Comments »

How To Choose A Crime Scene Clean Up Service: Do’s And Don’ts

November 5th, 2009

What is a Crime Cleanup Service?

A crime clean up service is a crew of people that can come to your home or business to clean up the results of a criminal act or and/or death after the police have finished with the crime scene. They are certified to clean up hazardous materials and bodily fluids that a regular cleaning service cannot and are used to handling these sort of assignments respectfully and efficiently to reduce the amount of stress the homeowner or business must go through after the death or crime. They clean up scenes that run from a very light amount of blood all the way to a more serious scene where someone may have rested deceased for a long time. Their job is to help make the scene and all of the things associated with it clean and livable again.

There are a few Do’s and Don’ts that you will need to remember when hiring a clean up crew:

Do’s:

Survey the Scene: This is the best way to gauge if a crime clean up crew is needed. If there are no hazardous materials lying around and minimal cleanup, you could avoid the additional expense.
Talk to the police for a suggestion on who to hire. Many cleaning crews of this type regularly work with local law enforcement to help clean up the scene of a crime or traffic accident and know who can offer this service
Ask for proof of certification. This is the best way to know if the company you are planning to hire will do the job well and efficiently using the right materials.
Hire a certified crew if you have a scene where materials such as human or animal waste, blood and chemicals like tear gas or acids have been spilled. These sort of scenes which often occur in places where a crime has been committed, an unattended suicide or death has occurred, police have found it necessary to raid, or a meth lab has been found require special cleaning to be made ready for safe entry.

Don’ts:

Expect a clean up crew to clean your home or business like a maid service. Their job is to take care of the hazardous materials that have come in contact with them; not work on your bathroom!
Call a regular maid for this service. Regular maid services aren’t certified to handle hazardous materials.
Use the “on the side” guy. Proper certification is extremely important! A certified hazardous materials crime scene crew will get out all of the material without leaving any of the material behind. Some crime scene clean up crews are such in name alone and often leave behind these materials and use only bleach.
Attempt to clean these scenes yourself! There are many pathogens you may not be aware of involved in these sort of clean and special equipment and cleansers must be used to truly clear the area. You may miss many spots you don’t see and aren’t trained to look. You may also end up throwing out materials that won’t need to be thrown out if properly cleaned.

Tags: clean up crew, cleaning service, crime scene, scene of a crime
Posted in Other | No Comments »

Testing Your Teenage Driver for Alcohol Use

November 5th, 2009

If you have a teenager and they are driving, there’s a good chance you are worried they might be drinking and driving without your knowledge. One of the best ways to be sure about this is to test for alcohol use. You might be curious about what’s involved in the testing and how to go about doing it, here are a few things that will help.

Always Talk With Your Teen: Before you resort to testing to determine if your child is drinking, have a conversation with them about your concerns. You can gauge whether or not your concerns are valid based on what they say and their interactions with you afterward. This would be a good time to talk about the risks involved and let them know you may test them in the future.
Alcohol Detector Test: This is a smaller device that you can ask the teen to breath into much like a breathalyzer. It determines if there is any alcohol present and comes in five BAC levels for varying degrees of sensitivity. To activate it you break the capsule inside and shake well before having the teen breathe into it. Chemical crystals inside will change color to determine if there is any presence of alcohol and you check these results by comparing them with the inserted information sheet.
Breathalyzer: This is a device that you ask the person to breath into in order to determine a blood alcohol level. Its user has long been common among police officers. If you think you may test more often than a few times in a month’s time this would be a better option than the alcohol detector test as it only requires new mouth piece covers rather than an entire testing tube.
Saliva Screen: These are easy to use tests that can be done without prior preparation much like the breathalyzer and alcohol detector tests. You ask the teen to touch the test pad to their saliva for 10 seconds and then wait four minutes for the results to come through. Never take the results of saliva alcohol test after 5 minutes as the testing pad will have fully developed by then and become inaccurate.
Q.E.D. Saliva Test: This test also uses saliva to get its results but is designed to be used by a professional tester. The administrator has the teen run the swab along the inside of the mouth between the cheek and teeth for about 60 seconds at which point it should be fully saturated with saliva. After the teen has handed the swap over the tester then inserts it into the applicator. The saliva travels up the capillary of the device and activates a QA spot. If the line turns purple in the main section of the capillary alcohol is present in the system of the teen. Saliva alcohol test should only require two minutes to get results.
ETG Testing: This form of testing detects alcohol use within 3 ½ days (80 hours) of when the urine sample is taken. It’s considered the most scientifically accurate urine test and is often implemented by government agencies and police officers at a traffic accident. If you feel that you may need to consistently maintain a urine testing procedure ETG testing is the best method to use. Be aware that it will require a wait as it must be lab tested however.
Blood Test: This type of test tests the alcohol level in either the whole blood or a blood serum. It requires lab testing and drawing which is far more invasive than any other form of testing and is best left alone since other methods are often just as accurate without the time and stress involved.

Tags: alcohol detector, blood alcohol level, saliva test, urine sample
Posted in Alcohol & Alcohol Testing | No Comments »

Most Common Air Quality Problems at Your Workplace

November 5th, 2009

As with the air in your home, there are many hidden contaminants in the air you breathe in your workplace too. Very often, most of us are quite unaware of the air pollution in the workplace that may be causing existing health problems or could cause them in the future. In a workplace environment, indoor pollutants are even worse than in the home as more factors and more contaminant come into play for the employees. The constant renovation that many businesses go through plays a vital though unrecognized role in the increase of air pollutants in the workplace. Some of these triggers could include adhesives, paint, sealants and furniture in addition to new carpeting and vinyl wall covering materials. Humidity, poor ventilation and office machine emissions also help build up these pollutants.

Which are the Pollutants Present in the Workplace?

Some of the more common workplace pollutants include:

Pollen, fungal spore and dust
Exhaust from outdoor vehicles
Building materials and furniture
Remodeling chemicals and materials
Smoking
Water damage and standing water

How Do These Pollutants Effects Employees?

Exposure to these pollutants can cause eye and lung irritation over time. It can also mean heart problems for even younger employees that work in such an environment. Employees who are affected by heavy smoking, heart disease, asthma or emphysema are at particular risk from these pollutants.

Early signs that these pollutants are affecting employees include chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, excessive levels of mucus production, lung cancer, and chronic cough. In areas where high levels of metals may be present like lead, manganese, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and zinc and drugs and pesticides muscle and joint aches along with fever may occur. Factory jobs are at an even greater risk with exposure to metals and chemicals that can cause more severe and chronic symptoms.

Reducing Pollutant Levels in the Workplace

Regular cleaning of the ventilation systems in a business should reduce the amount of contaminants that come inside from outdoors.
All machinery that may release these contaminants from office printer to factory machine should be set up in a well ventilated area.
This equipment should be kept clean to reduce the amount of contaminants that reach the air.
Hiring a service that can evaluate potential risks for indoor air pollution can help determine what areas may need work to improve the overall air quality.
Air quality test can be performed to determine what pollutants are in the air.
Properly ventilated and cordoned off renovation areas can help reduce the amount of contaminants that get into the air.
Implementing a no smoking policy in any indoor area of the office can reduce the level of smoke that may linger in the air.
Fix water damaged areas and thoroughly clean areas that have been contaminated by long standing water.
Reduce the humidity level of the office by maintaining a moderate temperature that is neither too warm nor too cold.
Having cooling and heating vents and machinery evaluated for safety every so often will help decrease the level of air pollution created by malfunctioning machinery.

Tags: air pollutants, indoor air pollution, indoor pollutants, workplace environment
Posted in Health & Wellness | 1 Comment »

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Answers, comments, information, articles and opinions provided on all TestCountry related webpages are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, counseling, psychological, or other professional advice. You should not use the information on TestCountry for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication or other treatment. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medication or nutritional, herbal or homeopathic supplement, rehabilitation or detoxification from any substance abuse or adopting any treatment for a health or drug problem.

Most Common Pink Eye Signs and Symptoms

8 Hidden Dangers in Your Home

How To Choose A Crime Scene Clean Up Service: Do’s And Don’ts

Testing Your Teenage Driver for Alcohol Use

Most Common Air Quality Problems at Your Workplace

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