The Health Blog

DIABETES: WATCH OUT FOR THESE SYMPTOMS

admin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 08:51:08 +0000

Several warning signs are common to both types of diabetes:Extreme thirstFrequent urinationUnusual tirednessIrritabilityNausea and vomitingUnexplained and rapid weight loss (more common to Type I diabetes)Symptoms more common to Type II diabetes include:Delayed healing of wounds Recurring skin/gum infections Pain or tingling in the legs or feet Occasional blurry vision Unusual drowsiness Sudden weight gainImportant: (i) Diabetes can be present without any of the above symptoms, or with only mild or vague symptoms such as feeling “run down.”Often it is discovered very incidentally, say, when a routine urine test is done prior to surgery or for an infection of boils, perhaps.(ii) Pregnant women should be tested for signs of “gestational diabetes” between the fifth and sixth months of pregnancy. This is a temporary, diabetic-like condition caused by the hormonal changes of pregnancy. It must be treated on the same basis as diabetes: first with diet control and, if that doesn’t work, withdaily injections of insulin. All the symptoms of diabetes are a result of the high levels of glucose circulating in the blood. When these levels peak, large amounts of glucose are excreted in the urine along with large amounts of water. This causes the frequent urination that is one of the symptoms of diabetes. The excessive fluid loss also leads to extreme thirst — another of the warning signs of diabetes. Along with the water, essential body salts like sodium and potassium are lost — and a gross deficiency of these salts can be more serious than the water loss itself. If the loss of fluids and salts is excessive because the diabetes is not well controlled, it can even bring on a life-threatening condition known as “dehydration coma.”Because sugar is not moving normally into the cells, they are starved of glucose, the body’s fuel, resulting in tiredness, drowsiness, irritability.*63\332\2*

WHEN CANCER SPREADS: FIRST STORY

admin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:46:13 +0000

Anna is now aged thirty-eight, and has a lively sixteen-month-old daughter, Esme: it seems incredible that her first symptoms of breast cancer appeared when she was only twenty-two years old. Anna, a nurse, noticed a white discharge from one nipple and went to her doctor who sent her for a mammogram. The mammogram came back clear and she went away content that she was in the clear. But over the next few years she repeatedly went back to the doctor – she saw a total of five GP s – with a number of classic breast cancer symptoms: orange-peel skin, inverted nipple and a ‘fixed’ breast. She was repeatedly told that the original mammogram was clear and that she did not need to be referred to a specialist; even a follow-up mammogram was deemed unnecessary. It was also implied that because of her nursing background with all the cancer patients she had tended, Anna was developing slight hypochondria. Finally, she refused to leave the doctor’s surgery until she was referred on. Seven years after the first symptom, breast cancer was diagnosed. Anna had a mastectomy, followed by a very successful reconstruction with a silicone implant. Anna’s backlash of anger when she went through the whole experience meant that she began over-eating and, inevitably, put on weight. She has calmed down now and her family’s eating habits are pretty good – mostly vegetarian or fish-based meals, lots of fruit and vegetables and organic food dominate the dining table. When Anna’s daughter was born nobody could advise her on the likely problems associated with breast-feeding from one breast, and no literature was available. Finally, she consulted books on breast-feeding twins, had no problems, and continued feeding from her natural breast until her daughter was over one year old. It is astonishing that she was given quite worrying information along the way by well-meaning but misinformed people. It was suggested that there was a chance of passing on cancer in breast milk (you can’t) and that another pregnancy would be likely to increase the risk of recurrence of her breast cancer (the opposite is true). One thing that Anna has learnt through all this is to listen to her own instincts and ignore advice which she believes to be fundamentally wrong. I came into contact with her when she wanted information to resolve a health problem her daughter was experiencing. A paediatrician had said it was definitely not linked to diet – but it was. A nine-month problem was resolved in a few days by a simple adjustment to her daughter’s diet. Anna now listens to her inner wisdom.*39\240\2*

EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO DEATH AND HIV INFECTION

admin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 08:40:57 +0000

What makes HIV infection different is death at an early age in the midst of the deaths of many friends. Most people who die of HIV infection are in their thirties. Someone who has HIV infection probably knows many others with the disease. Because they are young, they have worries about dying that older people do not. Young people have less time to get used to death gradually. They are not yet tired of living. They have not slowly come to see themselves as dispensable and mortal. They do not understand what to do about mortality, how to sum up and conclude their lives. “I have to face my own mortality,” said Steven, “which I didn’t expect to face until I was eighty.” They look at their relatively short lives and ask questions they are not used to asking. “Usually people ask in their sixties, ‘What have I accomplished?’ Alan said. “I’m going to have to ask that earlier.” They often feel resentful that they must ask these questions so early, and they feel unready to supply the answers. They also worry about dying before their parents. They want to be able to help their parents out as their parents age. “Now I’m looking at dying before my parents,” said Dean. “That changes the natural process. It hurts.” Because people with HIV infection often know others who are dying of the disease, they have concrete images of what will happen to them. They visit their friends in the hospital and think, “Is this what will happen to me? Is this what I will look like? Is this what I will feel?” “I know what the last few months are,” said Alan, “and I wish I hadn’t seen the suffering. Knowing what it looks like is difficult.” Dean lost twenty friends in two years. “It gets stronger with each one,” he said. “Closer to home.” People with HIV infection say too much death surrounds them. “I have so many friends who are disappearing,” Steven said. “In one year, I went to twenty-six funerals. I sit at the funerals and think how wonderful the person was, and how they looked before the end, and how long will it be before I’m there.” For that reason, some, like Steven, no longer go to funerals. Alan said, “I’ve been to forty-seven funerals. That’s my limit.”*222\191\2*

BREAST FEEDING AND HORMONE DISRUPTERS – TESTING FOR TOXINS

admin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:18:49 +0000

If a certain chemical arrives on the scene at a critical moment of a fetus’ growth, then that particular function can be permanently compromised and impaired for life. Without testing for these toxins, a mother has no idea what might be poisoning her baby.
When it comes to breast cancer and other reproductive cancers, we now the seed that are planted during that tender womb time as well as the breast-feeding period can be
setting a course in motion. This could predispose girls to breast cancer as adults (and for boys, it’s prostate and testicular cancers). As mothers, we must be aware of these dangers so we can take all possible precautions to protect our unborn children. It is not an impossible task but it will take vigilance and commitment. But then again, our children deserve it.
*17/165/1*

ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT ISSUES IN WOMEN: MOTHERING AND SEXUALITY

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:07:54 +0000

Mothering and female sexuality are two aspects of self-esteem unique to women. If the woman alcoholic has children, some of the questions she may well be asking herself are the following: “Am I a good mother?” “Can I be a good mother?” “Have I hurt my children?” “Can I ever cope with my children if I don’t drink?” These may not be explicit in the alcohol counseling, but they do cross her mind. They begin to be answered, hopefully positively, as she gains sober time. Family meetings may also be one way she gains answers to these questions. However, in some cases where there has been child abuse or a child is having special difficulties, a referral to a children’s agency, a family-service agency, or a mental health clinic may be important in dealing with these situations. One of the things any alcoholic mother will need to learn to regain her self-esteem as a mother is a sense of what the “normal” difficulties are in raising children.
In terms of her sexuality, there may be a number of potential questions. If there has been a divorce or an affair, she may well be wondering about her worth and attractiveness as a woman. Even if the marriage is intact, there may be sexual problems. On one hand, the sexual relationship may have almost disappeared as the drinking progressed. On the other, it may have been years since she has had sexual intercourse without benefit of a glass of wine or a couple of beers to put her “in the mood.” Again, sober time may well be the major therapeutic element. But couples’ therapy and/or sexual counseling may be needed if marital problems are not resolved. In cases where the sexual problems preceded the active drinking, professional help is certainly recommended. Sobering up is not likely to take away the existing problem in some miraculous fashion, To let it fester is to invite even more problems.
What about single women, or women caught in an unsatisfactory marriage? It is not uncommon for them to find themselves “suddenly” involved in an affair or an extramarital relationship. With a little bit of sobriety, they are very ripe to fall in love. This may have several roots. The woman may be questioning her femininity, and the attentions of a man may well provide some affirmation of her status as a woman. Also possible is that with sobriety comes a sense of being alive again. There is the reawakening of a host of feelings that have long been dormant, including sexual feelings. In this sense, it may be like the bloom and intensity of adolescence. A romantic involvement may follow very naturally. Unfortunately, it can lead to disaster, if followed with abandon. It should be noted that this can be equally true for men!
We would caution male counselors working with women that if you are the first person in many years to accept her, and if you have been making attempts to raise her self-esteem, she may mistake her gratitude for a personal emotional involvement with you. Your recognition of this “error” is imperative. If you provide contacts for her with other recovering women alcoholics, she may be better able to recognize this pitfall as well.
Another area of great concern when treating women is children. If an alcoholic woman has young children, long-term residential treatment may be very difficult to arrange. Many have no husbands in the home, and extended family members do not live down the street as was once the case. However, for that very reason, it may be all the more important. Models of treatment to overcome this problem are being tried in many areas throughout the country. But in most places the usual facilities are still the only ones available. You will need to stretch your creativity to the limit to deal with this problem. Potentially, friends, extended family—even if they are called in from a distance—or a live-in sitter can be used. There may be no way to allow her the optimum advantage of a 2- to 3-week stay in residential treatment. If this is the case, daily outpatient visits, intensive AA contact, or day treatment are possible options. Even if inpatient care can be arranged, you will be faced with her intense guilt over her children and her resistance to leaving them. There are no easy formulas, and the counselor is left to work out the best solution possible in each individual case.
*110\331\2*

IBS AND PRESCRIBED DRUGS: CAN PRESCRIBED DRUGS CAUSE BOWEL PROBLEMS?

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:11:05 +0000

Yes they can – arthritis, drugs, steroids, water tablets, beta blockers to name a few. Check with your doctor that the medication you are taking is necessary and if it is, take care to keep the bowel as clean as possible and take supplements or live yoghurt to encourage the growth of helpful bacteria.
Caution: do not stop taking any medication without consulting your doctor.
Street Drugs
All hard drugs cause absorption problems and in addition users often have little appetite. Ideally a good diet and supplements should start several weeks before detoxification begins. Bowel problems and Candida are frequently seen after withdrawal from hard drugs.
Complete List of Benzodiazepines
Only those marked with an asterisk (*) are now available on the NHS.
Medical Name
1.Alprazolam
2.Bromazepam
3.Chlordiazepoxide”
4.Clobazam”
5.Clorazepate potassium
6.Diazepam”
7.Flunitrazepam
8.Flurazepam
9.Ketazolam
10.Loprazolam
11.Lorazepam*
12.Lormetazepam
13.Medazepam
14.Nitrazepam”
15.Oxazepam*
16.Prazepam
17.Temazepam*
18.Triazolam”
Brand Name(s)
1.Xapax
2.Lexotan
3.Librium, Tropium
4.Frisium
5.Tranxene
6.Valium, Alupram, Atensine,
7.Evacalm, Solis, Tensium
8.Rohypnol
9.Dalmane
10Anxon
11.Dormonoct
12.Ativan, Almazine
13.Noctamid
14.Nobrium
15.Mogadon, Nitrados, Noctesed
16.Remnos, Somnite
17.Serenid-D
18.Centrax
Normison
Halcion
Caution: these drugs have been known to cause dependence;
consult your doctor, withdraw slowly, and read Coming off
Tranquilizers and Sleeping Pills by Shirley Trickett, Thorsons.

*91\326\8*

IBS AND HYPERVENTILATION: HOW CAN I GET OFF THE FEAR ROUNDABOUT? FIRST AID FOR PANIC ATTACKS

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:18:53 +0000

If you try to fight the panic and give yourself messages like, ‘I am going to be sick, pass out or wet myself each time you have a panic attack, you are planting a seed in your mind that will make you react in the same way the next time. It will be the trigger for stimulating more adrenalin, more fear. If on the other hand you teach your body to give the correct messages to your brain, you can break this chain reaction. It is not suggested that it is easy to accomplish and it is not always possible to think clearly enough about what to do when you are actually in the throes of an attack. This is why it is so important to practise your response when you are relaxed and give yourself the firm command: ‘This is panic and I can control it.’
First Aid for Panic Attacks
Since the main cause of the unpleasant feeling is an imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide the aim is to stabilize this as quickly as possible. Let your breath out in a long sigh and then cupping your hands around your mouth. This enables you to re-breathe your own carbon dioxide (don’t hold your breath). If you are home you could place a paper – never plastic – bag around your nose and mouth. Do not blow or breathe deeply into the bag, just let the breaths come; they will slow down naturally as you get your own carbon dioxide back from the air in the bag. You can also slow the breathing down by splashing cold water on the face or by putting cold cloths or ice packs over the cheeks and nose. A packet of frozen peas wrapped in a dish towel has often been used to good effect.
If breathing is the first thought during panic the second thought should be: ‘Eat or drink something sweet as soon as possible’.
*98\326\8*

MEDICAL TREATMENT OF SEIZURES: COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT BLOOD LEVELS – “MY CHILD’S BLOOD LEVEL OF HIS MEDICATION IS LOW. WHY?”

admin — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:10:53 +0000

There are several possible reasons, perhaps the most common that the child is not on a high enough dose, a second that she is not receiving enough medication or is not taking the medicine. Non-compliance is a common reason for a low blood level, particularly among adolescents. Occasionally also an individual absorbs medicine poorly and must take more to achieve the same blood level. Rarely, an individual metabolizes the drug more rapidly than average and, therefore, has a low level. Whatever the reason, increasing the dose should help to determine the answer. If the person is taking the drug erratically or not at all, then prescribing more will usually have little or no effect. If the dose prescribed is too low, a higher dose should correct the problem, as it will do if the patient absorbs poorly or metabolizes rapidly.
Your child does not necessarily need a blood level test every time he visits the doctor!
*115\208\8*

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE WITH TYPE II DIABETES

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 12:44:24 +0000

Exercise is not just for teenagers and Yuppies. There’s an exercise for any person at any age – from birth to age ninety – and in any physical condition – from hard-body athlete to chair-bound senior.
But don’t rush out and buy a neon green leotard and a pair of 100 dollars – plus athletic shoes. Not just yet anyway, since you may not need them. What you do need is an exercise programme.
You probably know this already. And your doctor, no doubt, has told you exercise is one of the things you need to do as part of your self-treatment for your “touch of diabetes”.
• You re not too old to start an exercise programme.
• You re not too fat to start an exercise programme. You re not too sick to start an exercise programme.
Your problem is not that you’re mature, overweight and have Type II diabetes. It’s that you have not exercised very much in the past two decades. (You’re not alone, since most middle-agers are in the same boat.) Your problem is choosing the sort of exercise you will do and deciding when and how you will do it.
First of all, don’t think of exercise as something that will be all pain, suffering, aches, bruises and a wasted investment in clothing, exercise machines and your time and effort. Rather, think of exercise as extra physical activity that can make you feel better emotionally and physically and something that can help you fight the battle of the waistline bulge and the high blood glucose plateau.
Better yet, try to get it to the point where you don’t think of exercise at all. You do it, regularly, just the same way you brush your teeth, wash your face and put on your clothes every day. When it becomes a routine habit, you don’t have to make decisions, seek motivation and overcome your natural tendencies to resist getting out of your easy chair.
Before we get into the specifics of choices and options, consider making some minor changes in your lifestyle routine-switching to things that will require more physical effort on your part.
Although these changes don’t seem like major exercise commitments, they will add up in your exercise totals at the end of a week.
*21/210/5*

CORONARY HEART DISEASE AND OBESITY

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:26:33 +0000

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common causes of excess illness and death in obese people because of the potent combined effects of raised blood pressure, high cholesterol, physical inactivity and type 2 diabetes. Hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke and congestive cardiac failure are all significantly more common in obesity; left ventricular size and wall thickness increase with BMI because of increased cardiac output. As with other risk factors, abdominal or ‘android’ obesity is associated with higher risk than ‘gynoid’ obesity. The increased levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides lead to the enhanced formation of atheromatous plaques in the blood vessels; this factor, combined with the increased coagulability of the blood leads to the increased risk of arterial occlusion. There is a three-fold increase in risk of a fatal or non-fatal MI in women with BMI >29 compared with their leaner counterparts. The Nurses Health study demonstrated similar figures in women: double the risk of CHD in BMI 25-29 and 3.6 times the risk in women with BMI >29. The Framingham study confirms the link between obesity and CHD, and suggests that increasing weight during adulthood might have the greatest impact on CHD; in technical terms, it demonstrated that the risk of heart disease increases by 15% in men and 22% in women for every standard deviation increase in weight.
Although weight loss reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, the fact that plaque has already been formed and laid down within the arteries suggests that there is likely to still be an increased cardiovascular risk even after weight loss has occurred. The finding of high cholesterol levels and hypertension in obese children as young as 9 has led to the concept of childhood obesity ‘casting a shadow’ on future health, and increasing morbidity and mortality in adulthood, even if the obesity itself is remedied.
*2/312/5*