Blog About Health & Medicine

From that moment on, Liz was like a woman possessed. She talked to pharmacists and called officials at the FDA. She was determined to get to the truth about this drug and its effects on the fetus. The response from the experts were unanimous. They were shocked and furious to learn that she had been treated with this drug during pregnancy. The warnings are clear. The drug, 17-hydoxy-progesterone caproate, a synthetic progestin, was known to increase your chances of certain birth defects, and should NEVER be used during pregnancy. Never!

“I believe in my heart more than anything that those shots caused my son’s bladder exstrophy.” Then, when she reviewed her medical records from her first pregnancy, she was shocked to discover that she had never been low in progesterone in the first place.

Liz continues to tirelessly research and network with other parents of children with similar defects. She is finding that several cases of children born with this very rare defect have corresponded with the administration of synthetic progesterone. She is determined to make people aware of this gross medical negligence and the real dangers of synthetic progestin treatments for pregnant women.

Her voice, no doubt, will one day be heard. The Discovery Channel has recently contacted the Association for Bladder Exstrophy Children asking these families if they would be a part of a story they will be filming on this defect. Liz has responded with an energetic “yes!”. Meanwhile Liz and her family live each day as it comes. Grateful to have each other.

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Your practitioner is trained to know the correct therapeutic doses for you, depending on your condition, body weight and height. They also know which products have quality standards and in-depth sourcing standards. If you are buying some supplements and are unsure about the information on the label, you should rmg the information line (the number should be on the label) to ask about the company’s sourcing and quality control standards. If this information is refused, then do not buy the product and again see your naturopath or trusted health food store to guide you to suitable brands.

The key words to look out for on labels of herbal medicine are ‘standardised extract’. The ‘standardised extract’ tells you how much of the active ingredient (the medicinal part) is present in that particular supplement. For example, a label for echinacea supplements should say that you are taking 600 mg of echinacea root, containing alkylamides 2.65 mg (the active ingredient). Research was carried out on several echinacea products in the market to see is they contained the active ingredient of alkylamides (from the echinacea root). Three products did not use the echinacea root at all and three other products did not contain any active ingredient. So be sure to check the label.

If you are taking any form of complementary medicine for the first time, start off by taking one thing at a time and see if there is improvement over a period of three weeks. You may then wish to introduce another recommended supplement for the next three weeks. If you feel no better there can be a few obvious reasons.

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The question of whether psychological stress and personality cause coronary artery disease, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death is highly controversial. A great deal of research seems to suggest that your personality, the stressful events in your life, and your body’s physiological reaction to stress can increase your risk of heart disease. However, this theory is far from proven. Stress is a very difficult area to study because it is hard to measure psychological and physical responses to stress or to assess the social factors that may buffer the detrimental effects

of stress.

Many different situations can be a source of stress, and the response to a given situation may vary dramatically from one person to another. These are reasons why researchers have had difficulty identifying whether or how stress contributes to the development of heart disease.

It is common for people with heart disease to report that emotional peaks cause chest pain, and it is also common for heart attacks to occur during emotionally difficult periods. The added stress of emotional upset may  disrupt the balance between supply and demand of the heart for oxygen, causing chest pain.

Although in certain cases it seems possible that acute stress was a factor in precipitating a heart attack, it is not clear whether ongoing stress can cause the underlying coronary disease (atherosclerosis) that is usually associated with heart attacks. To try to answer that question, researchers have studied the subject of stress and heart disease in terms of people’s personalities, social support systems, and their body’s  physiological responses to stress.

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Gautam was a normal lad of 14 years. For the past one week a very big change had come over him. He had become an introvert, and was always musing over his problems. He was always talking of his troubles or his problems. He had a bad cold and headache. He had not slept during the night and had unsatisfactory stool in the morning. His teacher had chided him for being irregular in his morning practice.. He was afraid of the examination which was a month away… He was in double mind whether he should accompany the excursion party which his class mates had planned. Such diverse subjects on which he talked, and which concerned only his person—every sentence that he spoke began with the world “I” or “My”. His family members were bored, and his friends were bored, having to listen to his never ending tale of personal problems and they avoided his company. He was distressed when alone and without a listener. Fits of depression was the end result.

“Mimulus” for fear of examination, and “HEATHER” remedy for his self-centredness were given T.D.S for 1 month. There was immediate relief in his depression. After 1 month “MIMULUS’ was discontinued as he had already shed-off his fear of examination, but “Heather’ was continued for another 2 months to remove any trace of negative Heather elements in him.

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Most people with spinal cord injuries don’t become severely depressed, but grief and sadness are common. Grief and mourning are normal responses to any significant loss. Normal grieving usually involves feelings of sadness related specifically to the lost person, object, or function. Crying spells, some transient sleep disturbance, and feelings of guilt or regret are usual. Normal grieving does not involve persistent and pervasive feelings of worthlessness, suicidal thoughts, or loss of pleasure in all activities. During a period of sadness or grief, the grieving person can respond positively to comfort and support from others, can benefit from talking about the loss, and can continue to perform everyday functions such as dressing, eating, and doing chores.

Recognizing that sadness and grief are normal responses to loss, allowing yourself a period of mourning, and above all talking to your loved ones about your feelings will help you work through your loss more quickly. In the rehabilitation hospital, social workers and often psychologists can help you talk about and cope with feelings of depression before they become overwhelming. They can help you sort through your reactions to your limitations and understand any initial difficulties in performing the physical and occupational therapy tasks that are part of your rehabilitation program.

For example, is your wheelchair mobility training bogged down because of weakness in your arms, because you don’t really understand the therapist’s directions, or because every time you get into the wheelchair you are filled with feelings of humiliation and inadequacy? Are you refusing the occupational therapist’s offer of specialized splints for writing because you don’t want to pay your own bills and write your own letters or because wearing the splints puts the disability “in your face” and makes you feel ugly, different, and depressed? Are you asking for help with dressing yourself because you haven’t yet mastered the techniques for independent dressing, or because you’re too depressed to put forth the energy, or because you can’t express your need for social contact except by asking for this type of assistance?

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The DCCT investigators-concluded that intensive management of type 1 diabetes, with a goal of normal or near-normal levels of glycemia, is associated with an increased risk of severe hypoglycemia. Individualization of therapeutic goals and methods was encouraged. In particular, future development of intensive treatment methods that afford the benefits of improved glucose control with reduced risks of hypoglycemia was advocated.

Hypoglycemia unawarerfess is frequently seen in type 1 diabetics after-prolonged periods of intensive glucose regulation and recurrent hypoglycemic attacks. This issue has received extensive study. It has been postulated that in hypoglycemia-aware type 1 patients, beta-adrenergic sensitivity is increased to compensate for impaired catecholamine response. With repeated episodes of hypoglycemia, this increased sensitivity is lost. The end result is hypoglycemia unawareness with reduced catecholamine response and reduced beta-adrenergic sensitivity. Recent studies have shown that this sensitivity may be restored in type 1 diabetes by avoiding hypoglycemia with less stringent blood glucose control. Thus, in patients with hypoglycemia unawareness, it is appropriate to modify the stringent HbA1 c and plasma glucose control goals to avoid recurrent hypoglycemia and hypoglycemic unawareness.

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The patches of atherosclerosis which protrude into the interior of arteries are accumulations of fats, cholesterol, and calcium, and scar tissue induced by such foreign substances. These patches, or plaques, are not entirely on the surface of the vessel but usually extend deep into the wall of the artery, so much so that if one were removed, the vessel wall would be thinner and weaker in that location.

Arterial plaques apparently begin to develop at an early age. During the Korean War, autopsies performed on United States soldiers who died of combat wounds revealed that 20 percent of these men in their early twenties already had significant amounts of atherosclerosis in their coronary arteries. Plaques have even been found in the coronary arteries of children under ten years of age. Women tend to develop these lesions at a later age than men, being protected by some unknown factor (female hormone – estrogen?) until after their menopause, at which time they accelerate the development of atherosclerotic plaques and almost catch up to men in the frequency of heart attacks. Heart attacks do occur in men in their twenties and early thirties, but are much more common in the forty to fifty age group.

Certain things appear to accelerate the development of atherosclerosis. Cigarette smokers have a definite increased risk. People who are overweight and sedentary have a greater risk. High blood pressure and diabetes are both factors that increase the risk and the likelihood of developing the disease at a younger age.

The word cholesterol is beginning to produce the same effect on some people as the mention of “Internal Revenue.” The two terms are probably equally maligned and misunderstood by the public. Cholesterol is a type of fat found in certain foods and also produced in the human body. Cholesterol has many important functions in the body, the most important being to supply the basic structure upon which body hormones are produced. Hormones are internal secretions which are essential for bodily function. Sex distinction is one hormonal effect.

In some diseases, such as hypothyroidism (inadequate production of thyroid hormone), an excess of cholesterol is produced by the body and there is also found an accelerated development of atherosclerosis. Certain scientific studies, particularly in Sweden, have demonstrated that an increased cholesterol content of the diet is associated with a higher death rate from myocardial infarction or heart attacks. From these facts and other information a hypothesis has developed that maybe cholesterol is an important culprit in the cause of atherosclerosis. Large-scale studies are underway in the United States at this time to attempt to define the relationship between diet, cholesterol, heart attacks, and death from blood vessel diseases, and to arrive at methods to achieve dietary and drug control of blood cholesterol levels.

Many questions remain to be answered. Several tentative conclusions can be drawn that time may substantiate. First, since the disease process appears to start very early in life, it makes a great deal more sense to consider altering the diet (and thereby, perhaps, the blood cholesterol) in children and young adults rather than in oldsters in whom the disease is far advanced and possibly irreversible. Second, certain persons are not able to handle cholesterol and fats as well as others, and blood tests are available which may be able to identify these higher-risk persons. These people may be benefited by more vigorous dietary plans or even certain drugs. Third, there are many other factors involved in the development of atherosclerosis besides cholesterol and diet, and undue emphasis cannot be placed on this single factor.

If a person has high blood cholesterol and other body fats, a low cholesterol diet may help correct the condition. The usual diet precludes egg yolks, butter, milk, cream, cheese, ice cream, meat fat, and shellfish. Some people, however, appear to produce cholesterol within their own bodies from simple sugars, such as those found in sugar, fruit, and alcoholic drinks. In general, obesity is associated with a higher cholesterol level, and one universal way to reduce blood cholesterol is through weight reduction to lean body size. A physician can best help the patient determine the group he fits in.

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Beet

The juice of red beet is considered beneficial in the prevention and treatment of cancer. It is one of the best vegetable juices and a rich source of natural sugar. It contains sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sulphur, chlorine, iodine, iron, copper, vitamin Bp B2, niacin, B6, С and P. This juice stimulates the liver and its detoxifying activity. Half a glass of this juice can be taken three times daily. Lactic acid a well balanced beet juice will markedly increase the oxygenation of the body cells. It would be advisable to extract juice both, from the root and top.

Cabbage and other Cruciferous Vegetables

Cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower and Brussel sprouts are one of the most important foods which may help immunize against breast cancer by managing oestrogen, a known promoter of this type of cancer. These vegetables quickly remove oestrogen from the body by speeding up the metabolism of oestrogen and burning up the hormone so that less of it is available to feed cancer. This has been revealed by the research studies conducted by Dr. Jon Michnovicz and his colleagues at the Institute of Hormone Research, in New York city. These studies indicate that specific indoles in these cruciferous vegetables accelerate a process in which the body deactivates or disposes off the type of oestrogen that can promote breast cancer.

In tests on women and men, the cabbage compound “turned up” the oestrogen-deactivation process by about 50 per cent, says Dr. Michnovicz. The test dose exceeded what people would normally eat: a daily 500 milligrams of indole -3-carbinol, the amount in about 400g of raw cabbage, but eating less would also burn up oestrogen to a lesser degree. It’s known that women with elevated oestrogen metabolism have lower risks of hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast, uterine and endometrial cancer, says Dr. Mchnovicz.

The use of cabbage in its raw form has also been found valuable in preventing colon cancer, according to Dr. Jim Duke at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who had a family history of colon cancer. Dr. Duke says his colon polyps diminished dramatically after he ate raw cabbage every other day. According to another expert, Dr. Greenwald, other fibre-rich vegetables can also reduce the risk of colon cancer. His analysis of 37 studies conducted in the past 20 years, showed that eating high-fibre foods, including vegetables, cut the chances of colon cancer by 40 per cent.

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Anxiety may be psychological, consisting of worry and fear, or it may be physical, with symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches. Panic attacks, which BDD can cause, consist of extreme fear as well as physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, and light-headedness. “The stress of BDD has caused me to have a lot of anxiety and even panic attacks,” Henry told me. “It’s also caused me many stress-related physical symptoms—burning in my stomach, high blood pressure, headaches for which I’ve had brain scans. I’ve seen a lot of doctors for these problems, but I couldn’t ever tell them what the cause was.”

In fact, research has shown that people with BDD have unusually high levels of perceived stress. In a study in which I used the Perceived Stress Scale, a questionnaire that measures the degree to which people appraise life situations as stressful (for example, uncontrollable, overloaded), people with BDD reported very high levels of perceived stress. The more severe their BDD symptoms, the more stressed they felt. Their stress levels were notably higher than for people in the general population or people with a variety of other psychiatric or medical conditions.

These findings fit with Geoffrey’s experience. “My worries about my mouth exhaust me,” he told me. “Sometimes I’m afraid to get up in the morning because my mouth will consume all my energy and take my time. That’s why I’m so tired all the time. It’s totally draining. I’ve had BDD for 16 years, and I honestly don’t know how my body has withstood the enormous stress that this obsession causes me.”

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Treatment

The main goal in treatment of symptomatic late neurosyphilis is to halt progression of the disease, since much of the damage to the CNS is irreversible. Patients who have neurosyphilis or ocular syphilis should be treated with aqueous crystalline penicillin G, 18 to 24 million units per day, given as 3 to 4 million units intravenously every 4 hours or continuous infusion, for 10 to 14 days. An alternative regimen that requires strict assurance of compliance is procaine penicillin G, 2.4 million units IM once daily plus probenecid 500 mg orally four times daily, both for 10 to 14 days. Since the duration of therapy for neurosyphilis is shorter than the 3-week course recommended for latent syphilis, which theoretically may coexist, many specialists recommend an additional intramuscular dose of benzathine penicillin, 2.4 million units, after completion of the 2-week therapy for neurosyphilis to achieve at least 3 weeks of serum penicillin levels.

Syphilitic otitis should be treated the same way as neurosyphilis, regardless of CSF results. Adjunctive systemic steroids are often used in this setting, but the benefit of such therapy has not been proven.

Penicillin Allergy

Ceftriaxone, 2 g IM or IV daily for 10 to 14 days, is an alternative regimen for patients with a penicillin allergy, although there is potential for cross-reactivity. No other regimen has been adequately evaluated for treatment of neurosyphilis. Therefore, if ceftriaxone is not considered a safe alternative, the patient should undergo skin testing to confirm the penicillin allergy and be desensitized if necessary.

Assessing Response to Therapy

Patients with elevated cell counts in the CSF prior to treatment should have repeated lumbar punctures every 6 months until the pleocytosis resolves. Changes in the VDRL-CSF and protein counts may take longer to occur, and persistent elevations may not be significant. As a general guideline, the cell count should decrease after 6 months and the CSF should normalize after 2 years; otherwise, retreatment should be considered.

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