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Herniated disk: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Feb 11, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments
A herniated disk refers to a problem with one of the rubbery cushions (disks) between the individual bones (vertebrae) that stack up to make your spine. A spinal disk is a little like a jelly donut, with a softer center encased within a tougher exterior.
Symptoms of a slipped disk include:
  • pain and numbness, most commonly on one side of the body.
  • pain that extends to your arms or legs.
  • pain that worsens at night or with certain movements.
  • pain that worsens after standing or sitting.
  • pain when walking short distances.
  • unexplained muscle weakness.

Causes:

A slipped disk occurs when the outer ring becomes weak or torn and allows the inner portion to slip out. This can happen with age. Certain motions may also cause a slipped disk. A disk can slip out of place while you are twisting or turning to lift an object. Lifting a very large, heavy object can place great strain on the lower back, resulting in a slipped disk. If you have a very physically demanding job that requires a lot of lifting, you may be at increased risk for slipped disks.

Overweight individuals are also at increased risk for a slipped disk because their disks must support the additional weight. Weak muscles and a sedentary lifestyle may also contribute to the development of a slipped disk.

As you get older, you are more likely to experience a slipped disk. This is because your disks begin to lose some of their protective water content as you age. As a result, they can slip more easily out of place. They are more common in men than women.

Treatments:

Treatments for a slipped disk range from conservative to surgical. The treatment typically depends on the level of discomfort you’re experiencing and how far the disk has slipped out of place.

Most people can relieve slipped disk pain using an exercise program that stretches and strengthens the back and surrounding muscles. A physical therapist may recommend exercises that can strengthen your back while reducing your pain.

Taking over-the-counter pain relievers and avoiding heavy lifting and painful positions can also help.

While it may be tempting to refrain from all physical activity while you’re experiencing the pain or discomfort of a slipped disk, this can lead to muscle weakness and joint stiffness. Instead, try to remain as active as possible through stretching or low-impact activities such as walking.

If your slipped disk pain does not respond to over-the-counter treatments, your doctor may prescribe stronger medications. These include:

  • muscle relaxers to relieve muscle spasms
  • narcotics to relieve pain
  • nerve pain medications like gabapentin or duloxetine

Your doctor may recommend surgery if your symptoms do not subside in six weeks or if your slipped disk is affecting your muscle function. Your surgeon may remove the damaged or protruding portion of the disk without removing the entire disk. This is called a microdiskectomy.

In more severe cases, your doctor may replace the disk with an artificial one or remove the disk and fuse your vertebrae together. This procedure, along with a laminectomy and spinal fusion, adds stability to your spinal column.

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex(TSC) : Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Feb 10, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments
Tuberous sclerosis or tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare multi-system genetic disease that causes benign tumors to grow in the brain and on other vital organs such as the kidneys, heart, eyes, lungs, and skin.
What are the signs and symptoms of tuberous sclerosis?
The symptoms of TS can include:
  • developmental delays.
  • seizures.
  • intellectual disabilities.
  • an abnormal heart rhythm.
  • noncancerous tumors of the brain.
  • calcium deposits on the brain.
  • noncancerous tumors of the kidneys or heart.
  • growths around or underneath the fingernails and toenails.

Symptoms usually show up early, shortly after birth. But they can also appear later in life.

Your symptoms depend on how many tumors you have, how big they are, and where they are. When you have TSC, all of that can change throughout your life.  Tumors in a kidney can stop it from working like it should. They can also cause bleeding inside your body or high blood pressure.

Tumors in your heart usually happen when you’re young, and they shrink over time. But they can block blood flow or cause problems with your heart rhythm.

Lung tumors can make you short of breath, even after mild exercise. They can also cause a cough or make your lung collapse.

Tumors in your brain could cause:

  • Seizures, which can be mild at first
  • Behavior changes, such as temper tantrums, anxiety, or sleep problems
  • Nausea or headaches
  • Problems such as autism and developmental delays

Tumors in your eyes can make you see double or give you blurry vision.

In other places in your body, you may have patches of different color skin and dark or light growths that might look like warts.

In your mouth, tuberous sclerosis can weaken the enamel on your teeth or make your gums overgrow.

Causes :

You get TSC because of a problem in your genes. For most people, it’s caused by changes that happened when your cells were first coming together or when you were just an embryo.About a third of people inherit TSC from a parent. If one of your parents has it, you have a 50% chance of getting it.

Treatment:

Your treatment will depend on your particular case. Doctors target the places where the tumors are growing.

If TSC is affecting your kidneys, doctors may be able to block or reduce blood flow to kidney tumors, or give you drugs to help shrink them. You may need surgery to remove the tumors. At some point, you may also need dialysis or a kidney transplant.

 

 

 

Varicose Veins: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Feb 8, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments

What are varicose veins?

Varicose veins are twisted, enlarged veins near the surface of the skin. They are most common in the legs and ankles. They usually aren’t serious, but they can sometimes lead to other problems.

What causes varicose veins?

Varicose veins are caused by weakened valves and veins in your legs. Normally, one-way valves in your veins keep blood flowing from your legs up toward your heart. When these valves do not work as they should, blood collects in your legs, and pressure builds up. The veins become weak, large, and twisted.

Varicose veins often run in families. Aging also increases your risk.

Being overweight or pregnant or having a job where you must stand for long periods of time increases pressure on leg veins. This can lead to varicose veins.

What are the symptoms?

Varicose veins look dark blue, swollen, and twisted under the skin. Some people do not have any symptoms. Mild symptoms may include:

More severe symptoms or complications include:

  • A buildup of fluid and swelling in the leg.
  • Significant swelling and calf pain after sitting or standing for a long time.
  • Skin color changes (stasis pigmentation) around the ankles and lower legs.
  • Dry, stretched, swollen, itching, or scaling skin.
  • Superficial thrombophlebitis (when a blood clot and inflammation develop in a small vein near the surface of the skin).
  • Open sores (ulcerations).
  • Bleeding and/or bruising after a minor injury.

Symptoms of varicose veins may become more severe a few days before and during a woman’s menstrual period.

More severe symptoms or complications include:

  • A buildup of fluid and swelling in the leg.
  • Significant swelling and calf pain after sitting or standing for a long time.
  • Skin color changes (stasis pigmentation) around the ankles and lower legs.
  • Dry, stretched, swollen, itching, or scaling skin.
  • Superficial thrombophlebitis (when a blood clot and inflammation develop in a small vein near the surface of the skin).
  • Open sores (ulcerations).
  • Bleeding and/or bruising after a minor injury.

Symptoms of varicose veins may become more severe a few days before and during a woman’s menstrual period.

Treatments:

  • Laser treatment. Laser energy is used to scar and destroy varicose veins. This is called ablation.
    • Simple laser therapy is done on small veins close to the skin, such as spider veins. The laser is used outside of your skin.
    • Endovenous laser therapy uses a laser fiber inserted into the vein. Laser ablation inside the vein makes the vein close up.
  • Ligation and stripping. Incisions are made over the varicose veins, and the vein is tied off (ligated) and removed (stripped).
  • Phlebectomy. Several tiny cuts are made in the skin through which the varicose vein is removed.
  • Radiofrequency treatment. Radiofrequency energy (instead of laser energy) is used inside a vein to scar and close it off. It can be used to close off a large varicose vein in the leg.
  • Sclerotherapy. A chemical (sclerosant) is injected into a varicose vein to damage and scar the inside lining of the vein, causing the vein to close. This usually works best for small veins.

Treatment may be needed to remove the damaged veins, treat complications, or correct an underlying problem that is causing the varicose veins. The size of your varicose veins affects your treatment options. Generally, larger varicose veins are treated with ligation and stripping, laser treatment, or radiofrequency treatment. In some cases, a combination of treatments may work best. Smaller varicose veins and spider veins are usually treated with sclerotherapy or laser therapy on your skin.

Some people may want to improve how their legs look, even though their varicose veins are not causing other problems. In these cases, a procedure or surgery may be appropriate-as long as there are no other health problems that make these treatments risky.

All treatment methods-including all types of surgery, sclerotherapy, laser, and radiofrequency ablation-can scar or discolor the skin.

Treatment can be more difficult for deep veins that are damaged or for perforating veins, which connect the deep and superficial veins. These veins may be treated with surgery, radiofrequency ablation, or sclerotherapy, or a combination of these treatments.

 

Brain Tumor : Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Feb 6, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments

Brain Tumor

Symptoms and Signs:

People with a brain tumor may experience the following symptoms or signs. Sometimes, people with a brain tumor do not have any of these changes. Or, the cause of a symptom may be another medical condition that is not a brain tumor.

Symptoms of a brain tumor can be general or specific. A general symptom is caused by the pressure of the tumor on the brain or spinal cord. Specific symptoms are caused when a specific part of the brain is not working well because of the tumor. For many people with a brain tumor, they were diagnosed when they went to the doctor after experiencing a problem, such as a headache or other changes.

General symptoms include:

  • Headaches, which may be severe and worsen with activity or in the early morning
  • Seizures. Motor seizures, also called convulsions, are sudden involuntary movements of a person’s muscles. People may experience different types of seizures, including myclonic and tonic-clonic (grand mal). Certain drugs can help prevent or control them. The differences between these types of seizures are listed below:
    • Myclonic
      • Single or multiple muscle twitches, jerks, spasms
    • Tonic-Clonic (Grand Mal)
      • Loss of consciousness and body tone, followed by twitching and relaxing muscles that are called contractions
      • Loss of control of body functions
      • May be a short 30-second period of no breathing and a person may turn a shade of blue
      • After this type of seizure a person may be sleepy and experience a headache, confusion, weakness, numbness, and sore muscles.
    • Sensory
      • Change in sensation, vision, smell, and/or hearing without losing consciousness
    • Complex partial
      • May cause a loss of awareness or a partial or total loss of consciousness
      • May be associated with repetitive, unintentional movements, such as twitching
  • Personality or memory changes
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Fatigue
  • Drowsiness
  • Sleep problems
  • Memory problems
  • Changes in ability to walk or perform daily activities

Symptoms that may be specific to the location of the tumor include:

  • Pressure or headache near the tumor
  • Loss of balance and difficulty with fine motor skills is linked with a tumor in the cerebellum.
  • Changes in judgment, including loss of initiative, sluggishness, and muscle weakness or paralysis is associated with a tumor in the frontal lobe of the cerebrum.
  • Partial or complete loss of vision is caused by a tumor in the occipital lobe or temporal lobe of the cerebrum.
  • Changes in speech, hearing, memory, or emotional state, such as aggressiveness and problems understanding or retrieving words can develop from a tumor in the frontal and temporal lobe of the cerebrum.
  • Altered perception of touch or pressure, arm or leg weakness on 1 side of the body, or confusion with left and right sides of the body are linked to a tumor in the frontal or parietal lobe of the cerebrum.
  • Inability to look upward can be caused by a pineal gland tumor.
  • Lactation, which is the secretion of breast milk and altered menstrual periods in women, and growth in hands and feet in adults are associated with a pituitary tumor.
  • Difficulty swallowing, facial weakness or numbness, or double vision is a symptom of a tumor in the brain stem.
  • Vision changes, including loss of part of the vision or double vision can be from a tumor in the temporal lobe, occipital lobe, or brain stem.

If you are concerned about any changes you experience, please talk with your doctor. Your doctor will ask how long and how often you’ve been experiencing the symptom(s), in addition to other questions. This is to help find out the cause of the problem, called a diagnosis.

If a brain tumor is diagnosed, relieving symptoms remains an important part of your care and treatment. This may also be called symptom management, palliative care, or supportive care. Be sure to talk with your health care team about symptoms you experience, including any new symptoms or a change in symptoms.

Treatment:

In brain tumor care, different types of doctors often work together to create a patient’s overall treatment plan that combines different types of treatment. This is called a multidisciplinary team. Cancer care teams also include a variety of other health care professionals, including physician assistants, oncology nurses, social workers, pharmacists, counselors, dietitians, and others.

Descriptions of the most common treatment options for a brain tumor are listed below, including treatments that help manage symptoms. Treatment options and recommendations depend on several factors:

  • The size, type, and grade of the tumor
  • Whether the tumor is putting pressure on vital parts of the brain
  • If the tumor has spread to other parts of the CNS or body
  • Possible side effects
  • The patient’s preferences and overall health.

Some types of brain tumors grow rapidly, other tumors grow slowly. Considering all these factors, your doctor will talk with you about how soon treatment should start after diagnosis.

Treatment options include those described below, such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. Your care plan may also include treatment for symptoms and side effects, an important part of your medical care.

For a low-grade brain tumor, surgery may be the only treatment needed especially if all of the tumor can be removed. If there is visible tumor remaining after surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be used. For higher-grade tumors, treatment usually begins with surgery, followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Successfully treating brain tumors can be challenging. The body’s blood-brain barrier normally protects the brain and spinal cord from harmful chemicals in the bloodstream. However, this barrier also keeps out many types of chemotherapy. Surgery can be difficult if the tumor is near a delicate part of the brain or spinal cord. Even when the surgeon can completely remove the original tumor, there may be parts of the tumor remaining that are too small to be seen or removed during surgery. And, radiation therapy can damage healthy tissue.

However, research in the past 20 years has helped to significantly lengthen the lives of people with brain tumors. More refined surgeries, a better understanding of the types of tumors that respond to chemotherapy, and more targeted delivery of radiation therapy have lengthened lives and improved the quality of life for many people diagnosed with a brain tumor.

 

Otosclerosis : Causes, symptoms & treatments

Feb 4, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments

Causes

The cause of otosclerosis is unknown. However, there is some evidence that it may be passed down through families.

People who have otosclerosis have an abnormal sponge-like bone growing in the middle ear. This growth prevents the ear bones from vibrating in response to sound waves. Such vibrations are needed in order for you to hear.

Otosclerosis is the most common cause of middle ear hearing loss in young adults. It typically begins in early to mid-adulthood. It is more common in women than in men. The condition may affect one or both ears.

Risks for this condition include pregnancy and a family history of hearing loss. Caucasians are more likely to develop this condition than people of other races.

Symptoms

  • Hearing loss (slow at first, but gets worse over time)
  • Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
  • Vertigo or dizzi

Treatment:

Otosclerosis may slowly get worse. The condition may not need to be treated until you have significant hearing problems.

Medications such as fluoride, calcium, or vitamin D may help to slow the hearing loss, but the benefits have not yet been proved.

A hearing aid may be used to treat the hearing loss. This will not cure or prevent hearing loss from getting worse, but it may help relieve some of the symptoms.

Surgery to remove part of the ear (stapes) and replace it with a prosthesis can cure conductive hearing loss. A total replacement is called a stapedectomy. Sometimes only part of the stapes is removed and a small hole is made in the bottom of it. This is called a stapedotomy. Sometimes a laser is used to help with the surgery.

Oncology- burnout :Causes, Symptoms, Treatments

Feb 3, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments

Although the practice of oncology can be extremely rewarding, it is also one of the most demanding and stressful areas of medicine. Oncologists are faced with life and death decisions on a daily basis, administer incredibly toxic therapies with narrow therapeutic windows, must keep up with the rapid pace of scientific and treatment advances, and continually walk a fine line between providing palliation and administering treatments that lead to excess toxicity. Personal distress precipitated by such work-related stress may manifest in a variety of ways including depression, anxiety, fatigue, and low mental quality of life. Burnout also seems to be one of the most common manifestations of distress among physicians, with studies suggesting a prevalence of 35% among medical oncologists, 38% among radiation oncologists, and 28% to 36% among surgical oncologists. Substantial evidence suggests that burnout can impact quality of care in a variety of ways and has potentially profound personal implications for physicians including suicidal ideation. In this review, we examine the causes, consequences, and personal ramifications of oncologist burnout and explore the steps oncologists can take to promote personal well-being and professional satisfaction.

If constant stress has you feeling helpless, disillusioned, and completely exhausted, you may be suffering from burnout. When you’re burned out, problems seem insurmountable, everything looks bleak, and it’s difficult to muster up the energy to care—let alone do something about your situation.The unhappiness and detachment that burnout causes can threaten your job, your relationships, and your health. But burnout can be overcome. There are plenty of things you can do to regain your balance and start to feel positive and hopeful again.

What you can do

  1. Put a priority on face-to-face social contact with supportive people
  2. Set a time each day when you completely disconnect from technology
  3. Move your body frequently—don’t sit for more than an hour
  4. Make laughter and play a priority
  5. Reduce your intake of alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine
  6. Get all the restful sleep that you need to feel your best

What is burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.

Burnout reduces productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give.

The effects of burnout

The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life—including your home, work, and social life. Burnout can also cause long-term changes to your body that make you vulnerable to illnesses like colds and flu. Because of its many consequences, it’s important to deal with burnout right away.

Are you on the road to burnout?

You may be on the road to burnout if:

  • Every day is a bad day.
  • Caring about your work or home life seems like a total waste of energy.
  • You’re exhausted all the time.
  • The majority of your day is spent on tasks you find either mind-numbingly dull or overwhelming.
  • You feel like nothing you do makes a difference or is appreciated.

Signs and symptoms of burnout

Most of us have days when we feel helpless, overloaded, or unappreciated—when dragging ourselves out of bed requires the determination of Hercules. If you feel like this most of the time, however, you may have burnout.

Burnout is a gradual process. The signs and symptoms are subtle at first, but they get worse as time goes on. Think of the early symptoms as red flags that something is wrong that needs to be addressed. If you pay attention and act to reduce your stress, you can prevent a major breakdown. If you ignore them, you’ll eventually burn out.

Physical signs and symptoms of burnout

  • Feeling tired and drained most of the time
  • Lowered immunity, getting sick a lot
  • Frequent headaches or muscle pain
  • Change in appetite or sleep habits

Emotional signs and symptoms of burnout

  • Sense of failure and self-doubt
  • Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated
  • Detachment, feeling alone in the world
  • Loss of motivation
  • Increasingly cynical and negative outlook
  • Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment

Behavioral signs and symptoms of burnout

  • Withdrawing from responsibilities
  • Isolating yourself from others
  • Procrastinating, taking longer to get things done
  • Using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope
  • Taking out your frustrations on others
  • Skipping work or coming in late and leaving early

The difference between stress and burnout

Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much stress. Stress, by and large, involves too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and psychologically. Stressed people can still imagine, though, that if they can just get everything under control, they’ll feel better.

Crossed eyes: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Jan 30, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments

Crossed eyes is also called strabismus, a condition in which your eyes don’t line up. If you have this condition, your eyes look in different directions. And each eye will focus on a different object.

The condition is more common in children, but it can also occur later in life. In older children and adults, crossed eyes can be caused by a variety of underlying medical conditions, like cerebral palsy or stroke.

Crossed eyes can usually be corrected with corrective lenses, surgery, or a combination of both.

Symptoms of crossed eyes:

If you have crossed eyes, your eyes might point inward or outward or focus in different directions. You might also have:

  • impaired vision
  • double vision
  • decreased depth perception
  • eye strain or headache

Your symptoms may be constant or appear only when you’re tired or not feeling well.

What causes crossed eyes?

Crossed eyes occur either due to nerve damage or when the muscles around your eyes don’t work together because some are weaker than others. When your brain receives a different visual message from each eye, it ignores the signals coming from your weaker eye. If your condition isn’t corrected, you may lose vision in your weaker eye.

Crossed eyes are common in children. Often the underlying cause is unknown. Infantile esotropia is a type of crossed eyes that appears in babies during their first year of life. It runs in families and usually requires surgery to correct. Acquired esotropia occurs in children between the ages of 2 and 5. Eyeglasses can usually correct it.

Crossed eyes can also occur later in life. It’s usually caused by physical disorders, like eye injuries, cerebral palsy, or stroke. You may also develop crossed eyes if you have a lazy eye or are farsighted.

How is crossed eyes diagnosed?

To prevent vision loss, early diagnosis and treatment for crossed eyes is important. If you develop symptoms of crossed eyes, make an appointment with an eye doctor. They will perform a series of tests to check the health of your eyes that may include:

  • corneal light reflex test to check for crossed eyes
  • visual acuity test to determine how well you can read from a distance
  • cover/uncover test to measure your eye movement and deviation
  • retina exam to examine the backs of your eyes

If you have other physical symptoms along with crossed eyes, your doctor may examine your brain and nervous system for other conditions. For example, they may conduct tests to check for cerebral palsy or Guillain-Barré syndrome.

It’s common for newborn babies to have crossed eyes. If your baby has crossed eyes that persist beyond 3 months of age, make an appointment with their doctor. Young children should undergo an eye exam before age 3.

Who is at risk of crossed eyes?

You’re more likely to develop crossed eyes if you:

  • have family members who have crossed eyes
  • have a brain disorder or brain tumor
  • have suffered a stroke or brain injury
  • have a lazy eye, are farsighted, or have vision loss
  • have a damaged retina
  • are diabetic

How are crossed eyes treated?

Your recommended treatment plan for crossed eyes will depend on the severity and underlying cause of your condition. If your crossed eyes have resulted from a lazy eye, your doctor may have you wear a patch over your stronger eye to force the muscles of your weaker eye to work harder. They might also prescribe eye drops to blur the vision in your stronger eye. They can also use Botox injections to weaken the muscles of your stronger eye.

Other potential treatments include:

  • eye exercises
  • corrective lenses, such as eyeglasses or contact lenses
  • surgery on certain eye muscles, particularly if corrective lenses haven’t corrected the condition

If your crossed eyes are caused by an underlying medical condition, such as a brain tumor or stroke, your doctor may prescribe medication, surgery, or other treatments.

What is the long-term outlook for crossed eyes?

Often crossed eyes can be corrected with corrective lenses, eye patches, in rare cases surgery, or by other modalities. It’s important to seek treatment right away to lower your risk of vision loss. After you’ve received treatment, watch your eyes for changes. In some cases, the condition may come back.

Gastroesophageal Reflux : Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Jan 28, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments

Gastroesophageal refers to the stomach and esophagus. Reflux means to flow back or return. Therefore, gastroesophageal reflux is the return of the stomach’s contents back up into the esophagus.

In normal digestion, the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) opens to allow food to pass into the stomach and closes to prevent food and acidic stomach juices from flowing back into the esophagus. Gastroesophageal reflux occurs when the LES is weak or relaxes inappropriately, allowing the stomach’s contents to flow up into the esophagus.

What Is the Role of Hiatal Hernia in GERD?

Some doctors believe a hiatal hernia may weaken the LES and increase the risk for gastroesophageal reflux. Hiatal hernia occurs when the upper part of the stomach moves up into the chest through a small opening in the diaphragm (diaphragmatic hiatus). The diaphragm is the muscle separating the abdomen from the chest. Recent studies show that the opening in the diaphragm helps support the lower end of the esophagus. Many people with a hiatal hernia will not have problems with heartburn or reflux. But having a hiatal hernia may allow stomach contents to reflux more easily into the esophagus.

Coughing, vomiting, straining, or sudden physical exertion can cause increased pressure in the abdomen resulting in hiatal hernia. Obesity and pregnancy also contribute to this condition. Many otherwise healthy people age 50 and over have a small hiatal hernia. Although considered a condition of middle age, hiatal hernias affect people of all ages.

Hiatal hernias usually do not require treatment. However, treatment may be necessary if the hernia is in danger of becoming strangulated (twisted in a way that cuts off blood supply, called a paraesophageal hernia) or is complicated by severe GERD or esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus). The doctor may perform surgery to reduce the size of the hernia or to prevent strangulation.

Treatments:

Doctors recommend lifestyle and dietary changes for most people needing treatment for GERD. Treatment aims at decreasing the amount of reflux or reducing damage to the lining of the esophagus from refluxed materials.

Avoiding foods and beverages that can weaken the LES is often recommended. These foods include chocolate, peppermint, fatty foods, coffee, and alcoholic beverages. Foods and beverages that can irritate a damaged esophageal lining, such as citrus fruits and juices, tomato products, and pepper, should also be avoided if they cause symptoms.

Does GERD Require Surgery?

A small number of people with GERD may need surgery because of severe reflux and poor response to medical treatment. However, surgery should not be considered until all other measures have been tried. Fundoplication is a surgical procedure that increases pressure in the lower esophagus. Endoscopic procedures that involve making the LES function better or using electrodes to promote scarring of the LES are newer options in treatment.

What Are the Complications of Long-Term GERD?

Sometimes GERD results in serious complications. Esophagitis can occur as a result of too much stomach acid in the esophagus. Esophagitis may cause esophageal bleeding or ulcers. In addition, a narrowing or stricture of the esophagus may occur from chronic scarring. Some people develop a condition known as Barrett’s esophagus. This condition can increase the risk of esophageal cancer.

Aplastic Anemia: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Jan 27, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments

Aplastic anemia is a rare, potentially fatal disease in which the bone marrow doesn’t make enough blood cells. The bone marrow is the central portion of the bones that is responsible for making:

  • Red blood cells, which carry oxygen
  • White blood cells, which fight infection
  • Platelets, which help blood to clot

The bone marrow releases the cells and platelets into the blood stream.

A complete blood count (CBC) is a blood test that measures the number of red cells, white cells and platelets circulating in the blood stream. People with aplastic anemia have low levels of all three types of blood cells that are normally manufactured in the bone marrow.

Aplastic anemia is a problem with cells in the bone marrow called stem cells. Stem cells are the basic “mother cells” that develop into the three types of blood cells. In aplastic anemia, something either destroys the stem cells or drastically changes the environment of the bone marrow so that the stem cells can’t develop properly. Several factors can cause this problem, including:

  • Exposure to radiation (radiation sickness)
  • Chemotherapy
  • Environmental toxins (insecticides, benzene, nitrogen mustards)
  • Many different medications, including chloramphenicol (Chloromycetin), phenylbutazone (Butazolidin), sulfonamides (Gantanol and others), anticonvulsants, cimetidine (Tagamet) and others
  • Certain viral infections, including viral hepatitis B, parvovirus B19, HIV and infectious mononucleosis (Epstein-Barr viral infection)
  • Autoimmune disease, where the body inappropriately attacks its own blood stem cells

Some people are more likely to develop aplastic anemia because of their genetic (inherited) makeup. Fanconi’s anemia is an inherited condition that causes aplastic anemia and also physical abnormalities. Some women develop a mild form of aplastic anemia during pregnancy, but it tends to disappear after delivery. In 50% to 65% of patients with aplastic anemia, the cause of the illness is not clear.

Symptoms

Symptoms and Signs of aplastic anemia include:

  • Pale skin
  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Dizziness
  • Lightheadedness
  • Rapid pulse
  • Heart murmur
  • Bruising and tiny areas of bleeding in the skin
  • Abnormal bleeding from the gums, nose, vagina or gastrointestinal tract, or blood in the urine
  • Infections

Diagnosis

Your doctor will review your medical history and ask you to describe your symptoms. Other questions may include:

  • Do you live or work in an area where you are exposed to toxic chemicals or radiation?
  • What medications do you take?
  • Have you ever had hepatitis, mononucleosis or another viral infection?
  • Is there a family history of aplastic anemia or other blood disorders?

On occasion, the presence of aplastic anemia can predate the development of some forms of leukemia.

Your doctor will examine you to look for the signs of aplastic anemia. This will be followed by blood tests to measure levels of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Aplastic anemia is suspected when the tests show that levels of all three blood cell types are extremely low, but the cells themselves look normal. A test called a bone marrow biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis.

During a bone marrow biopsy, a small sample of bone marrow is taken by inserting a needle into the large pelvic bone just below the waist on either side of the spine. This bone marrow sample is examined in a laboratory. A hematologist (doctor who specializes in blood disorders) usually will confirm the diagnosis based on the results of bone marrow findings and basic blood tests.

Treatment

How you are treated for aplastic anemia depends on its cause and severity. If it is a short-term condition related to medication, pregnancy, low-dose radiation or infectious mononucleosis, then you probably will recover without treatment. However, the symptoms can be treated. For example, bleeding episodes can be treated with transfusions of platelets and red blood cells, while infections can be treated with antibiotics. Women with mild forms of aplastic anemia also may be given oral contraceptives so that their monthly menstrual flow is not excessive.

At home, you will need to use antiseptic soaps, shave with electric razors instead of blades to avoid unnecessary bleeding from nicks, and avoid participating in contact sports. Also, your doctor may prescribe a stool softener to make sure you don’t have hard bowel movements, which can make you bleed from your rectum.

The two main treatments for aplastic anemia that is severe and long-lasting are bone marrow transplantation and immunosuppressive therapies.

Most treatments for aplastic anemia require medications that severely impair the normal function of the immune system. This puts patients at risk for infections, often unusual ones. These infections may occur before the bone marrow has had a chance to recover and before the treatments have had their effect. It thus becomes very important to be under the care of specialists in blood disorders and if necessary, specialists in infectious disease.

A bone marrow transplant is the most effective therapy, but the possibility of dying from the treatment increases with age, so it is most ideal for children, adolescents and young adults. In addition, the treatment is safest when the patient has a sibling (brother or sister) with a similar bone marrow type and can be used as a donor. Only about 30 percent of people who need the procedure have siblings who can be donors. In some cases, a donor who is a match but is not related to the patient will be used. However, the rate of complications is higher when the donor is not a sibling.

 

Tuberculosis: Causes, symptoms & Treatments

Jan 10, 2017 Posted by admin Uncategorized 0 comments

Tuberculosis is an infection caused by bacteria. It’s spread through the air—when an infected person coughs, sneezes, laughs, etc. However, it is not easy to become infected with tuberculosis. Usually a person has to be close to someone with TB disease for a long period of time.

TB is a highly contagious bacterial infection that can quickly spread if not caught, isolated, and treated early. Tuberculosis is an airborne disease, and can be caught by breathing in the air that an infected person has contaminated through: Breathing. Coughing.

Symptoms of TB:

Symptoms of TB disease depend on where in the body the TB bacteria are growing. TB disease symptoms may include:
  • A bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer.
  • Pain in the chest.
  • Coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm from deep inside the lungs)
  • Weakness or fatigue.
  • Weight loss.
  • No appetite.
  • Chills.
  • Fever.

Tuberculosis usually affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. When TB occurs outside of the lungs, the symptoms can vary accordingly. Without treatment, TB can spread to other parts of the body through the bloodstream:

  • TB infecting the bones can lead to spinal pain and joint destruction
  • TB infecting the brain can cause meningitis
  • TB infecting the liver and kidneys can impair their waste filtration functions and lead to blood in the urine
  • TB infecting the heart can impair the heart’s ability to pump blood, resulting in a condition called cardiac tamponade that can be fatal.

 

Treatments:

The majority of TB cases can be cured when the right medication is available and administered correctly.

The precise type and length of antibiotic treatment depends on a person’s age, overall health, potential resistance to drugs, whether the TB is latent or active, and the location of infection (i.e. the lungs, brain, kidneys).

People with latent TB may need just one kind of TB antibiotics, whereas people with active TB (particularly MDR-TB) will often require a prescription of multiple drugs.

Antibiotics are usually required to be taken for a relatively long time. The standard length of time for a course of TB antibiotics is about 6 months.

All TB medication is toxic to the liver, and although side effects are uncommon, when they do occur, they can be quite serious. Potential side effects should be reported to a health care provider and include:

  • Dark urine
  • Fever
  • Jaundice
  • Loss of appetite
  • Nausea and vomiting.

It is important for any course of treatment to be completed fully, even if the TB symptoms have gone away. Any bacteria that have survived the treatment could become resistant to the medication that has been prescribed, and could lead to developing MDR-TB in the future.

Directly observed therapy (DOT) can be recommended. It involves a health care worker administering the TB medication to ensure that the course of treatment is completed.

Prevention of tuberculosis:

Face mask
you have active TB, a face mask can help lower the risk of the disease spreading to other people.

A few general measures can be taken to prevent the spread of active TB. Avoiding other people by not going to school or work, or sleeping in the same room as someone, will help to minimize the risk of germs from reaching anyone else. Wearing a mask, covering the mouth and ventilating rooms can also limit the spread of bacteria.

In some countries, BCG injections are given to children in order to vaccinate them against tuberculosis. It is not recommended for general use in the US because it is not effective in adults, and it can adversely influence the results of skin testing diagnoses.

The most important thing to do is to finish entire courses of medication when they are prescribed. MDR-TB bacteria are far deadlier than regular TB bacteria. Some cases of MDR-TB require extensive courses of chemotherapy, which can be expensive and cause severe adverse drug reactions in patients.

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