Posts Tagged ‘disease’

Back Pain And Emotions

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Back pain does not arrive alone, does it? Nor does any other pain for that matter, but there is something more serious about back pain. Toothache is depressing and it keeps you awake, but you know that the dentist can sort it out very quickly.

Migraine or any headache is depressing too, but they come and go and tablets can help, but back pain brings with it the depressing, ominous suspicion that that is you now – hamstrung for life.

Backache is different for most people, but it is usually a chronic, grinding, 24/7 pain that just seems to go away for short periods when you are engrossed in something else and reappears as soon as you become distracted.

Most individuals with backache are resolutely convinced that their lives will be blighted from now on and for lots of people, it is. However, is this a self-fulfilling prophecy? Does the very fact that someone believes that their active life is over make it true?

There is some evidence that you are what you think. A positive attitude will help you become healthier more quickly that a negative one. Most people would agree with that.

So, can you think your way out of back pain? Probably not, but maybe it depends on how hard you can think as well. The power of thought, meditation or prayer – whatever you would like to call it – is harnessed by healers all over the globe.

My masseuse here in Thailand says a prayer before she starts kneading and prodding me. My father was a healer in Wales and he also used to say a prayer before working on a patient.

I have a friend that has had backache for thirty years – half his life – and he has merely accepted it as his fate in life. He has been to the physician and to hospital, but they told him that neither massage nor acupuncture can help, so he has never tried them.

He lost his career through immobility and his wife because he was such a misery. Massage has helped me and i have met individuals who say that acupuncture has worked for them.

It appears to me that because we are all different and because there are different variations of and reasons for backache, some medications will work for some and not for others.

RICE is one general treatment that appears to deliver some degree of relief to everybody. RICE stands for: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation..

Rest does not help me. I find that a couple of minutes walk is better and I attempt to walk a little further every day. Last week, I was managing 300 yards with a stop halfway, now I do not require the rest.

Ice: my friend swears by ice packs and melts one or two a day on his back. I have not tried it.

Compression: some people find that a tight belt assists, but it is not for me

Elevation: this has helped me a lot. I lie on my back with my calfs on a chair parallel to the ground, but I know be effective who cannot manage this pose.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a range of subjects, but is now involved with sciatica pain management. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Sore Back Remedies

The First Warnings Of Looming Back Pain

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

There are usually early warning signs that backache is about to strike. Common backache is usually caused by straining or bad posture. If you are doing something in the wrong fashion, you will usually feel it. If you persist, you will throw your back out. It is fairly rare to actually damage your back in a solitary movement.

One awkward movement can give you days or even weeks of back pain, but long term back pain is usually due to you having been doing something in the wrong way for quite some time and that one stretch, lift or twist that put your back out was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Jogging is a very well-liked exercise, but jogging and running in general may result in back pain. At first this does not appear to make sense, but the factors are simple.

1] Most people do not even walk enough let alone run enough, so our back muscles are not accustomed to it;

2] most joggers run on concrete or tarmac which is solid – there is no give at all and the shock waves are taken up by our backs

3] you need decent trainers (or, arguably, no footwear at all), if you are going to run far.

(Some runners say that running barefoot is better than running in poor footwear, because you will notice sooner when your back has suffered sufficient punishment).

I once had weeks of backache after doing my tax returns. Although I sit at a desk every day in my office, I chose to do my tax returns seated on the couch on a Sunday afternoon while watching TV.

After an hour or two, I had a twinge but thought nothing of it. After six hours, I had completed my returns and I could feel a slight problem in my back. The next day I could hardly walk. I had strained a muscle that I hardly ever used with bad posture.

If you feel any of the harbinger twinges in your back that are tell-tale symptoms that you are doing something wrong, stop and attempt to analyze what you are doing. Is it an action that you seldom perform or is it one that you have been performing somewhat badly for years? The latter is more serious than the former and could lead to long term backache.

If you believe that some action at work is causing the difficulty, you ought to mention it to a manager and strive to havet it put in the Accident Book.

Once you get home, lie on the floor in the foetal position and curl up tight for an hour. This might soothe the pain away, if it is just a mild strain and will probably give short-term relief if the pain is from a more serious cause.

Always attempt to nip the cause of back pain in the bud as soon as your body alerts you that there is a problem, because if you disregard it, you could easily be up for more significant problems down the line.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a range of subjects, but is now involved with pain patches for back pain. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Sore Back Remedies

How To Use Pillows And Positional Therapy For Acid Reflux

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Acid reflux is a chronic disease that rarely goes away once you have developed it. Acid reflux occurs after eating. After a non-sufferer of acid reflux eats, the food passes down the throat and esophagus and through a one-way trap-door into the stomach where acids begin the process of breaking down the food before letting it flow on into the intestines for further processing.

However, after a sufferer of acid reflux eats, the food goes through that trap-door, mixes with the acids and then somehow pushes against the trap-door which gives way, permitting the food and acid to re-enter the esophagus. Now, since these acids are designed to attack and dissolve tissue, this is very bad news for the sufferer as his esophagus will be attacked as well.

This acid reflux (or flow of acid) into the esophagus can cause inflammation and discomfort, dyspepsia, and regurgitation. Unfortunately, once the hinges on that trap-door have been broken and have started to allow the door to open both ways, there is little chance that they will repair themselves on their own. In fact, the chances are that they will only get worse.

In truth, everyone gets a little reflux from time to time, but the acid in the sufferer is stronger and the mixture remains in the esophagus longer, which is what causes the situation to become a difficulty.

The body has invented a natural way of dealing with the mild acid reflux in healthy people and it is called saliva. Saliva is alkaline, so when you swallow hundreds of times a day, your saliva counteracts the acid. Most people experience reflux after eating, which is obviously usually done during the day whilst we are usually in an upright position. Swallowing saliva also happens usually in the daytime.

I am sure that you can see a pattern here: reflux is in the daytime when we can swallow saliva to neutralize it and when the force of gravity will impede the acid rising up from the stomach.

Most sufferers of acid reflux get difficulties at night, while gravity cannot help and the swallowing of saliva is at a minimum. Therefore, the acid, untreated by alkaline saliva, stays in the esophagus burning and irritating it.

The pregnant and the obese are most at risk of experiencing acid reflux because of the extra abdominal mass.

So, how do you treat this chronic condition? Well, you should of course consult your doctor, who might recommend alkaline tablets, but if you would like to help yourself too, you could lose weight if you are obese; not eat late at night or even late evening; reduce the fat you consume and sleep with more pillows to raise your head and torso. You will have to carry out trials with these home remedies to find out what suits you.

You may find that not eating after eight is OK for you, or it may be six o’ clock. You might find that not eating meat or cheese after lunch will do it for you and you might find that raising your head six or eight inches on extra pillows at night will help too.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with Marriott bedding. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Modern Throw Pillows For Sale.

How Accurate Is Monitoring Your Blood Pressure At Home?

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

If you have a certain medical condition or if you have reached a particular age, you might start thinking about monitoring your blood pressure at home yourself. Yes, you can always go to the GP to have it done, but that costs time (and in most countries, money) which you might not have. So, what about monitoring your blood pressure at home?

How accurate are blood pressure monitors for home use? The fact is that contemporary monitors are very accurate, yet you ought to still continue regular visits to your medical doctor, who will verify the findings of your home monitor.

If your doctor has determined that you have high blood pressure (hypertension), he or she will probably recommend lifestyle alterations or / and medication. It is very problematic to institute lifestyle alterations, so if you do, monitoring your hypertension at home and seeing reductions can be very satisfying, but it can also work the other way around if the changes do not seem to be having any effect.

When you are deciding which home blood pressure monitor to buy, there are two basic options: the aneroid and digital monitors. The digital monitors have either an automatic or a hand-pumpable cuff.

The other sorts are finger or wrist monitors, yet these ought to be avoided as they give fairly erratic or inaccurate readings and they are a lot dearer as well. If you do purchase one of these monitors, take it with you to your medical doctor’s and compare its performance against a sphygmomanometer, which is considered the gold standard of blood pressure monitors.

So, let us take for granted, that you purchase a proper monitor with a cuff, the first thing to do to make certain maximum accuracy is to get a cuff that fits you properly. This is not usually difficult, yet if you are big or small, the instruments within the cuff might not be able to give an accurate reading.

If you want an accurate reading, you ought to wait at least 45 minutes after drinking caffeine before taking a reading. In fact, you ought to sit quietly for at least ten minutes, before taking any reading. Other precautions are to go to the bathroom first, not to have smoked or to have taken any alcohol recently. In addition, strap the cuff at least an inch above the crease of your elbow.

You will be hoping for a reading below 120/80 which is considered ‘normal’. Readings between normal and 140/90 point toward prehypertension and mean that you need to take some action to escape entering ‘Stage One Hypertension’, which is anything over this reading.

Modern home digital monitors over a certain cost are highly accurate. The digital home monitor that I use was $100 four years ago, so it should be cheaper now. It was tested against a sphygmomanometer (the sort doctors use) and it was always within the constraints of accuracy prescribed by the American National Standard for Electronic or Automated Sphygmomanometers. Look for that warranty, if you purchase a home monitor.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on several of subjects, but is currently involved with work on how to read blood pressure. If you want to know more or check out some great offers, just go to our site at High Blood Pressure Recipes.

What Is The Best Prostate Cancer Treatment?

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

This question troubles millions of individuals worldwide each year. Although prostate cancer can only have an effect on men, any significant, life-threatening disease affects not merely the sufferer, but also his family and friends. Doctors and surgeons also ask themselves what the best prostate cancer treatment is each week.

In this piece, we will try to give you some food for thought on the issue so that you can do more research on the Internet later or have some questions prepared to ask your doctor.

It is better to be able to understand the terminology and have some fundamental concept of what the disease is than to remain completely unaware.

Having said that, you cannot use this article of about five hundred words to base your medical judgments on. This piece is only intended as a motivation for further investigation.

The first thing to consider is the general health of the sufferer and the phase of development of the cancer. These two issues will establish which treatment is most suitable. The important thing with prostate cancer is to catch it very early on because it spreads so rapidly when likened with most other cancers and spreads early.

If you have been having regular check-ups and the cancer has been noticed early, your medical doctor may decide that he wants to ‘wait and see’. This can be worrying for the patient as the patient expects cancer to be taken on immediately.

Nonetheless, if the cancer is in an early stage, it may be better to observe its speed of development before deciding what to do about it After all, you do not want to go through unnecessary remedies, just to have to be treated again afterwards.

if you are worried about waiting or the treatment suggested (or combination of remedies), go for a second opinion. You will not offend your GP by doing this, in fact, it relieves him of some responsibility, so he will probably be glad of it.

If the cancer is still small, hormonal treatment may be recommended. Male hormones are partially responsible for the rate of growth of prostate cancer, so if you reduce or cut off these hormones (testosterone in particular), the speed of growth of the cancer should slow down.

It may become possible to do this with medication or surgery might be necessary. This will mean castration either chemical or surgical. Both sound radical, but it may mean less side effects.

Again, if the cancer is small, they may choose to try to kill it with external radiotherapy beams. These beams resemble X-Rays, but a lot less perilous to healthy tissue. That is, they can be tightly focused on the cancerous cells, causing very little collateral harm.

If the cancer is spreading fast, the team might suggest cutting it out. This might involve a full or partial prostatectomy. This is why waiting and watching it might be a wise tactic in the beginning. You do not want radical surgery if it is not really necessary.

There are quite a number of options for the treatment of prostate cancer and more than 80% of sufferers are cured, but it depends on those regular check ups to a great extent.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is currently involved with the proton prostate cancer treatment. If you want to kcurrently more go to What is the Treatment for Prostate Cancer?

You can find quite a few causes with respect to visual disruptions.

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

A few may indicate the necessity for remedial glasses, many more may suggest the necessity for considerably less observable categories of treatment solutions.

Your affectionate eyes really are important, and thus is your own overall health. Don’t disregard vision signals which often can reveal more severe root problems, but when it is actually established that you are battling with a simple refractive malfunction, one which can become fixed through utilization of basic remedial lenses, you might at the same time aspire to contemplate a substitute method of vision modification.

The moment you happen to be encountering abrupt, short-term or perhaps extensive fuzzy vision, it is best to put far more weight to your vision. It could be attributed to eye predicaments like waterless eyes. It may also end up being brought on by additional illnesses which can include diabetes mellitus. I will number some of the blurred sight points in this article to help you get a greater idea of the problem as well as shield your eyes properly as early as possible.

The greatest approach to avoid confused eyesight within your eyes is to obtain a normal eyes check-up specifically if you now have diabetic issues. When you go in the sunlight, at all times be certain that you will be putting on sunglasses to be able to safeguard your sight from the sun’s harmful radiation.

In the event you report of fuzzy vision, an optometrist should certainly typically abide by the correct exam routine and also propose you some spectacles or perhaps contact lenses to be put on regularly. Many people take this as their fate and move on with life, in no way offering it any other concern. Nonetheless, at this time there is a means to be able to boost your eyesight with no eyeglasses, lenses, or high dollar operations. There are actually healthy conditioning exercises that can be done that could firm up your eye muscles plus help your vision.

The adjusting functions involving our eyesight are generally directed through muscle mass, just as your bodily motions are controlled through muscular areas. During normal life, many of us place a strain in our eyeball muscular areas, and every now and then this allows the actual muscle groups to get weakened as well as stressed, which ends up in confused, cloudy vision.

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Prostate Cancer Questions And Answers

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

As men become older they run more and more risk of developing prostate cancer. Some doctors advocate regular check-ups after the age of 50 or even 60, but others suggest that you ought to begin checking at 40.

It seems wiser to begin checking as early as you are able and definitely at 40 or 50 years of age, because the earlier it is diagnosed, the more chance you have of surviving it. The difficulty with prostate cancer is that it spreads more quickly than most cancers.

In this article, we will try to give answers to a couple of basic questions that you may have concerning this male illness. However, there is only room here for the basics, so please take serious questions to your doctor.

What is the prostate gland and where is it? The prostate is about the size of a walnut, but is conical in shape. It forms part of the male reproductive system and is linked to the penis because it is wrapped around the urethra right up close to the bladder.

This makes the prostate somewhere between the anus and the penis. Because of its location, it is not simple to get to and so most examinations are rectal ie from the colon. Most men find this embarrassing, which is why a lot of men put of a check-up until it is too late.

What are the chances of having prostate cancer? White American males over the age of 50 have a one-in-six chance of developing some malignancy.

Hispanics and Blacks have a one-in-four risk. However, all these figures rise if there is a history of prostate cancer in the family.

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer? This question is not easy to answer, because the indications may look like other concerns and everyone knows that ‘all old men’ have bladder issues

The prostate swells as it grows older anyway, so this could be the cause of urination issues. This is characterized by urinating a little at a time, but having to urinate frequently. Sometimes there are drips too after you have put it away.

The symptoms of prostate cancer are comparable but may include blood in the urine and lower back pain. If you have anything like these problems, you need to have a check-up as soon as you can.

Can prostate cancer be diagnosed early enough to save life? Luckily, the reply to this is yes. There are two forms of examination: 1] the DRE – digital rectal exam (or ‘finger up the bum’) and 2] the PSA blood test (prostate specific antigen), although this test is often only carried out if the DRE raises suspicions.

If the cancer is caught early enough through regular screening, the chances of living more than five years are over 90%. Continued success depends on several causes, but the cancer can also be totally eradicated never to return.

It can not be stressed too much, that, as with some female-specific cancers, success fighting this cancer depends on catching it early.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now concerned with the proton prostate cancer treatment. If you want to know more go to What is the Treatment for Prostate Cancer?

Blindness These Days

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

Not very long ago, it was not at all unusual to see blind people strolling along the streets tap-tapping away with their white sticks, being guided by a dog, normally a Labrador, but I have not seen anyone like that in Britain for years, as far as I remember.

That has to become a good thing; it has to mean that we are starting to cure or at least improve most types of blindness.

My aunty had cataracts for years when I was a kid in the Sixties – it was just one of those facts of life. Some individuals got them when they were old and others did not.

My brother’s mother-in-law had cataracts in the late Nineties and she was enrolled on a two year waiting list to have them taken away, but at least she had hope and they were going to be taken away free of charge.

I do not know of anyone else that has eye trouble except myself. I could not get my glasses clean one day and then a friend said he saw a white spot in one of my eyes. He drove me to the hospital and the doctor said that I had ‘premature senile cataracts’.

Well, I live in Thailand now and he did not say those exact words. He told me that the cataracts were because I was prematurely senile.

I asked him if that was what he actually intended; he looked it up in a book and we both had a hearty laugh about it, although he never actually corrected himself.

My condition turned out to be a little more serious than just cataracts, but when I went from the local hospital to a major hospital in Pattaya, the surgeon saw me within 30 minutes and asked me if I wanted the cataracts removed.

I said that I did and she was prepared to do the operation there and then. I had it postponed for 24 hours, but she would have sorted my eye out that day in a 30 minute operation, which does not require anaesthetic. I think that that was wonderful.

We have come a long way from routinely seeing blind people on the street and putting up with cataracts through a two-year waiting list to immediate removal of cataracts by laser surgery in 40-50 years.

At least we have in the West and in the East too, if you have the money. There are still millions of people in Asia and particularly in Africa suffering blindness and partial blindness for the sake of an simple 30 minute operation.

Two weeks after my surgical treatment, my other eye started to cloud over. It was as if it had been holding on with its last scrap of strength until I got his mate sorted out.

I had that one done last year and when I was permitted to take off my patch and look about me with two decent eyes again for the first time in a decade, I could not believe that I had forgotten how bright the world really is and that I had not noticed how dingy my world had gotten.

If you are concerned about an eye operation, do not be. What you will experience once you are able to see properly again will make all the apprehension appear ridiculous and if you have the opportunity to give someone their sight back, please do it.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of subjects, and is now involved with 500 Delicious Diabetic Recipes. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Easy Diabetic Meals

How To Be Shot Of Cockroaches In The Home

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

Cockroaches are the most revolting creatures. It is common for some people to see them running around at home damaging the wallpaper and books, snacking on food, then spreading diseases to the family members.

These bugs avoid light and so are active at night, so it is quite common to find them hiding in dark crevices and dark, moist places. Cracks, crevices, holes, drains, cupboards and pantries are the favourite resorts of cockroaches.

Cockroaches play an important function outdoors in breaking up organic garbage. However, it is a necessity to be rid of them in the house to prevent their carrying of disease-causing organisms and triggering allergic reactions. The deterrence of an infestation is best achieved by first taking care of cleanliness.

This means storing your kitchen clean by removing food crumbs and wiping up spillages promptly. Keeping food in sealed airtight containers or in refrigerators helps. Avoid leaving used dishes overnight in the sink or dishwasher.

Washing cooking ranges and wiping counters over helps eliminate cockroaches because they love greasy places.

Cockroaches love dirt and water, so it is best to empty trash bins regularly. In addition, the fixing of dripping taps and leaks in bathrooms and kitchens will help eradicate cockroaches.

Frequently pouring some cheap bleach assists to prevent these bugs coming up through drains. Cockroaches detest the smell of naphthalene balls, so using them in corners of closed places assists as well.

Cracks in the outside walls provide an entry to cockroaches. Seal cracks and crevices in cabinets and on both sides of floor, door, and window mouldings, Filing all openings around pipes in bathrooms and kitchens helps to prevent their entry.

In addition, logs and other waste just outside the home provide hiding places for cockroaches. So moving these items deters cockroaches from living close by.

It is good to avoid the use of toxic sprays, and instead use sticky traps to get rid of cockroaches. These traps attract cockroaches and then trap them with an adhesive. They should be put in corners.

You can make an effective yet easy trap from jars of water. Place them next to walls. They have to permit cockroaches to get in but not get out. Just put bait like ground coffee in the jar; even plain water works fine in dry climes.

Applying a diluted concentrated poison or deterrent chemical with a spray, a cloth or a mop in places that are frequented by cockroaches assists to not just eradicate cockroaches, but also deter a re-infestation for at least 15 days.

It helps to create a light solution of bath soap and water and spray it on the head of lower abdomen of the cockroach. The cockroach will try to run and escape but will ultimately be killed.

It is useful to use a cockroach bait that is made by mixing 1 part of powdered boric acid with 1 part each of white flour and granulated white sugar. Position this as lumps in the backs of drawers and cabinets, and under the refrigerator and cooker.

The sugar turns tacky; the mixture sticks to the cockroach and kills it. However boric acid cakes readily so it is best to place it on a paper or foil tray.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several topics, but is currently concerned with bed bug covers for mattresses. If you would like to know more, visit our website at Bugs Infestation.

The Importance Of Fibre In A Diabetic Diet

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

We are all encouraged to eat foodstuffs with more fibre, because dietary fibre is a vital ingredient for keeping our bodies healthy. It is especially useful for the colon.

Since attention to detail in diet is even more important to diabetics, it stands to reason that fibre is even more vital to diabetics as well. And, indeed, diabetics are counselled to eat lots of fibre.

Fibre will also defer the on-set of diabetes in those people who are in a pre-diabetic condition. Fibre assists reduce the blood-sugar levels naturally, so it will help everybody in their quest to maintain healthy blood.

The manner in which it does this is fairly simple to understand. Fibre is more difficult to digest than the rest of the sugars and starches that surround it, so it has the impact of remaining in your digestive system for longer, thereby helping you feel ‘full’ longer, and it is digested very slowly thus reducing spikes in your blood sugar level.

Blood-sugar spikes are bad news for anyone who does not want a spike in order to achieve a task, like a weight-lifter or a sprinter. Spikes in children may lead to instances of hyperactivity in children.

The best sort of fibre is soluble fibre. This type of fibre is found in:

grain that has not been overly processed to get rid of the husk, so brown rice, whole wheat bread, cereals and pasta.

‘dry’ fresh fruits, not necessarily dried fruits, like bananas, mangoes, pineapple and apples

beans, lentils, legumes and pulses are stuffed almost full of dietary fibre and are easily added to soups and stews.

Another way of feeling ‘full’ so that you are able to reduce the craving for a substantial meal is drinking water. Substitute plain tap water or bottled water for fizzy drinks. Your body might need the extra water to help it digest the extra soluble fibre that you are eating.

Fibre helps in all dietary situations, but is incorporated into the calculations that some diets use. For instance, if you are counting carbohydrates as opposed to calories, you will have a limit or target number of carbs you should consume in a day.

This is 20 carbs a day in the preliminary phase of the Atkins diet. Some diets will allow you to subtract the amount of fibre from the absolute number of carbs for the purpose of your calculations.

So, for instance, you may consume 25 carbs, and, as long as the food contains at least five grammes of fibre, you have not broken the guidelines of the diet. You will have to check whether your particular diet allows for this variation.

It sounds like another chore to have to track fibre as well as everything else you have to consider before you can eat anything, but it will be second nature after a few weeks or months.

The best manner in which to get going is to get a small guide that will go in your pocket or bag so that you can look into it often.

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Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a number of subjects, and is now concerned with Diabetes Cook Books. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Cookbooks For Diabetics.