February 23, 2012

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Getting Treatment for Addictions

Addictions to alcohol and illegal drugs are challenging for adults to overcome, but especially so for teenagers. Getting them the help they need is critical to overcoming these obstacles and getting their lives back on track.

The first step in helping a young adult to get help is recognizing the problem early on. Early intervention can catch the problem before it gets too far along and harder to overcome. Parents who are concerned should speak with a counselor who specializes in addiction treatment who can make suggestions on the type of program and interventions can be used to help the young adult. This may include getting involved in an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous program for teenagers.

Rehabilitation facilities can be another source of treatment for those who have been addicted for an extended period of time. These facilities provide a safe, controlled environment for the teenager to get free of drugs and alcohol. These kind of programs require that the person stay there for a set period of time, anywhere from three months up to a year. During this time, the teenager will have to attend group support meetings, meet with a counselor and possibly receive medical support to help overcome the addiction.

With early intervention and the right treatment, these issues can be overcome and the young adult can start to need a normal life again. It does requires the support of family to be successful, which means taking part in family counseling. This type of problem not only affects the person, but the entire family.

Filed Under: Health, Medication, Remedies Tagged With: , ,

Stem Cell Therapy vs. Physical Therapy

Patients who have suffered from a spinal cord injury often looking for unconventional ways to get better. Although it is very new, and they are just starting to do some trials on humans, stem cell therapy is giving some of these patients hope.

Diseases and conditions where stem cell treatm... 

Image via Wikipedia

Stem cell therapy is still in the experimental stages, and has been the cause of a lot of controversy. They are now starting to do some trials, and many are hoping that it can be the beginnings of a cure for a spinal cord injury. The majority of spinal cord injuries occur in younger people, so if stem cell therapy can help to repair the spinal cord, there are thousands of people who will benefit.

As with any kind of catastrophic medical issue, the costs are high. Finding ways to pay for therapy and specialized equipment is not easy. If your injury was caused by negligence on the part of someone else, you can find out if you are eligible for a lawsuit. The best way to do this if you are in California is to contact a knowledgeable Los Angeles spinal cord injury attorney. They can help you weave your way through the system.

While stem cell therapy has the potential to be a cure, physical therapy is known to help a patient regain some of their mobility and strength. While it is not a cure, it is the best way to get moving again as much as possible. A rigorous physical therapy program can help SCI patients work their muscles, and regain some of what they have lost.

 

Filed Under: Health, Health Care Tagged With: , ,

The Repercussions of Food Addiction

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream 

Image via Wikipedia

 

As addictions go, using food to meet emotional needs may seem less damaging than other types of addiction, such as using drugs or alcohol. However, food addiction does its own damage. Emotional binge eating can cause weight gain and aggravate other health issues, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Understanding Food Addiction

When a person engages in emotional eating, he or she uses food as an escape. Unpleasant emotions such as boredom, anger, pain and frustration are sometimes mitigated temporarily by a bowl of ice cream or a bag of potato chips. The temporary enjoyment relieves other forms of discomfort. However, the temporary relief leaves behind its own torment. Guilt about the additional calories can compound the emotional issues that led to the binge eating in the first place.

Food Addiction and Health Issues

The challenge of food addiction is that most people who resort to food to feel better emotionally reach for fatty and sugary foods. Chocolate, ice cream, fries and pizza are common comfort foods that are high in fat and calories. Many comfort foods are high in cholesterol, leading to heart disease and other health issues.

Combating Food Addiction

Dealing with food addiction requires facing the emotions that caused the binge eating. Listening to comforting music, writing in a journal or taking a stroll around the block are effective activities for calming the mind and avoiding food. Once the underlying emotional issues are addressed, a desire to overeat is usually diminished.  Consciously choosing to engage in a form of exercise, such as biking, aerobics or running also helps to reduce emotional stress.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Health, Remedies Tagged With: ,

Consumer Driven Medical Records

Healthcare technology is becoming more advanced and is improving patient care through more efficient management of information. Information management allows for more accurate data to be shared among healthcare providers. Though it is one of the last industries to embrace technology, forward-thinking health management professionals understand the positive impact that technology has on patient care.

Claims processing was the first area impacted by new document management systems. Healthcare information technology allows insurance companies to audit and pay providers quickly.  Timely patient information saves lives and reduces life-threatening medical errors.  Sharing electronic medical records across providers helps reduce patient and facility costs while diagnosing clinical diseases quickly and efficiently. Tests and diagnostic images are easily shared with referring physicians, and professional consultations can occur within minutes rather than days.

Information technology in the healthcare arena allows clinicians to compose health pictures of a patient’s situation. The data of past procedures, results and general patient history are available to general practitioners, specialists and lab technicians. Emergency care can be administered more quickly even when on vacation, because the receiving ER can pull up patient data to determine whether there are any known allergies, possible drug interactions or possible reasons for the event.

The future of healthcare information technology will be consumer driven. This means patients will seek more personalized patient care and easier access to their own medical records. Social media will likely play a large role for providing general patient information on diseases and treatments. Patient-specific information will lag behind, as a secure method of transmission and containment must be provided.

The future isn’t set, but embracing technology will be part of the healthcare industry.

Filed Under: Health, Health Care Tagged With: , ,

When Should I Contact My Doctor for Erectile Dysfunction Side Effects?

Drugs for erectile dysfunction are drugs, and as a result they can produce side effects. Most of them are relatively mild and usually disappear as soon as the drug is metabolized, but some of them do have the propensity of being serious.  However, as with all prescribed medications, when you follow your doctor’s orders and the labels whether you purchase Viagra online or in a drugstore, then you should be safe and sound while taking the medications.

Before taking any prescribed erectile dysfunction drug like Cialis, Viagra or Levitra; you should always meet with your doctor.  A medical professional will help ensure that if you have side effects then these will be minimal and treatable.  Your doctor knows your medical history and whether or not you are on other prescribed drugs that will interact with erectile dysfunction treatments.  They will know your lifestyle and if you have any health issues that will restrict your use of these treatments.

These drugs have undergone a battery of testing both in development and before they were allowed to go to market.  With that in mind, they are mostly safe.  But just as something as basic as aspirin can have side effects depending on situation and person; these prescribed drugs are no different.

You might experience nothing at all for side effects.  Or you might experience things like an erection that lasts too long.  No matter what the side effect you experience from Viagra, Cialis or Levitra; just know that it can be handled when you take action.  If you experience any side effects, you just need to consult your doctor immediately to adjust your dosage or maybe switch treatments.  So the most important thing to take away from this is to always pay attention to your doctor, the label from the drug’s maker and contact your doctor if you are worried or experience any side effect.

Filed Under: Health, Health Tips Tagged With: , ,

Creating Goals of A Child’s Support Group

Creating Goals of A Child’s Support Group

Running a support group for children who are facing a serious illness or disease is not an easy thing to do. Many adults do not know how to talk to children or get the children to talk about their illness or disease that they have. That is why it is up to the group mediator to help keep things moving around illness or disease and helping the children open up about their condition to each other.

If you are a mediator of a group like this or have a child who is suffering a disease or illness and are looking to start a support group the first thing you will need to do is consider setting up a plan of action for the group. The plan of action will allow you to make a goal for the group and it helps keep the group focused on the task.

Here is a look at some of the goals of children’s support groups. Many of these goals have been very successful in the past and allowed children to get the comfort and information from others that they want or need.

Connect Children With Similar Illnesses. The goal of a group is to connect children who are suffering illnesses that are similar in nature. They can get comfort, support and information from each other. Studies show that those that seek support groups have a handle on their emotional well-being better than those that do not use a support group.

Provide Helpful Information. You will want to provide helpful information to the children that are in the group. This can be how to handle treatments that are a part of the illness, how to handle doctor’s appointments or even information on just how to deal with day to day situations that might arise.

Provide Different Perspectives. Many support groups will have children of different ages and stages of the illness. This will allow children to see what to expect with the illness or even what might happen to them in the future.

Filed Under: Health, Health Care Tagged With: , ,

Starting A Support Group for Sick Children

Starting A Support Group for Sick Children

When someone is suffering from a serious illness or disease they can oftentimes feel scared, frightened and alone. This can happen to anyone regardless of if they are children or adults. However, most adults have a support group or social worker that they can confide in. Children support groups are few and far between. That is why if you or your child is experiencing an illness it might be a good idea to start up a child’s support group for the particular medical condition that they have. Here are some ways to go about setting up support groups for children who are ill.

Social Workers. Many hospitals and health care providers are working together with a social worker that handles the cases of children with illnesses. The goal of the social worker is not to pass judgment but to find these families and children support and help them by showing them how to utilize their resources. If you are considering starting a support group a social worker may be able to help you get groups of individuals who are going through similar situations together and help you form a group or a meet up.

Doctors. Your child’s doctor may be able to help you connect with parents of children who are going through the same thing. Due to doctor/patient confidentiality the doctor will not be able to tell you names or information. However, you can release your own information and he can pass it on to families that are going through similar situations. This can help you start up groups or play dates so the children can go through the situation together.

Online Forums. Many parents who have started support groups for children have had success by placing ads in forums or local forums. Thousands of people use these forums daily and chances are they or someone they know might know someone in the same situation as you and pass the word about a potential support group.

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Nurses Are More Likely to Smoke Than the General Population

An Italian study that was recently published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing (January issue) found that more than half of an 800 nursing student study were smokers or former smokers. This alarmed many healthcare experts, since healthcare professionals who smoke experience much more difficulty discouraging their patients to smoke if they themselves smoke. Heathcare professionals must understand the health risks associated with smoking in order to adequately describe them to their patients.

The alarming study found that 44 percent of new nursing students were current smokers. This is double the number of the percentage of current smokers in the general population. Furthermore, twelve percent of current non-smokers were former smokers. 75 percent of the students who were smokers had at least one parent who is a smoker. Nearly half of these students had at least one sibling who smoked.

63 percent of the students in the study were female. 85 percent were Italian. The other students came from countries like Ecuador, Albania, and Peru (all developing countries). The Italian students were all definitively younger than their immigrant counterparts. The average ages for the Italian students was 23 (regardless of gender). The average ages for the foreign students were 31 for the men and 28 for the women. 53 percent of the male students smoked and 39 percent of the female students smoked. 37 percent smoked five or less cigarettes per day. Four percent smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day.

54 percent of the non-smokers had at least one parent who smoked. 22 percent of the smokers came from a household with two smoking parents. 14 percent of nonsmokers came from a household where two parents were smokers. While 47 percent of both the current smokers and former smokers had siblings who also smoked, only 25 percent of non-smokers had siblings who were smokers.

Filed Under: Health, Remedies Tagged With: ,

Stem Cells Could Repair Your Heart

Can we repair our heart using cells from our own heart? That’s what researchers wanted to find out in a study published in the February issue scientific journal of the American Heart Association, Circulation. The study showed that scientists were able to rebuild a damaged child’s heart in the laboratory by using heart stem cells from children suffering from congenital heart disease.

About the Study

The person who headed the study was Sunjay Kaushual, M.D. and Ph.D. surgeon from the Children’s Memorial Hospital’s Division of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s assistant professor of surgery. Kaushal mentioned that thanks to modern advancements in medicine and surgery, children born with congenital heart defects are now living longer. However, they all may eventually fall prey to heart failure. However, Kaushal now believes that thanks to this project, data shows that a patient’s heart stem cells can be used to rebuild their own heart. The children who were unfortunately born with congenital heart defects like cardiomyopathy can live longer lives with a lower risk of heart failure.

Study Procedure

Researchers took cells from patients aged anywhere from 13 years to newborn babies who were undergoing regular congenital cardiac surgery. As to be expected, the most amount of stem cells came from newborns. Stem cell amounts decreased greatly as the patients grew older. The biggest concentration of stem cells was found to be in the heart’s right atrium (the upper right chamber in the heart). The cardiac stem cells proved effective at rebuilding a damaged heart. Heart stem cell studies have been done before, but those studies focused on adult patients. This is a landmark study because it’s the first study to focus largely on children with heart congenital defects. This is particularly important because heart disease and failure occurs for different reasons in adults and children.

Filed Under: Health, Health Tips, Remedies Tagged With: ,

Start Yearly Mammograms at age 40, not 50

When should women begin making the commitment to have yearly mammograms? The data is incredibly varied and controversial. Most women nowadays either do not recognize the danger they face by not screening for breast cancer or have no idea how often or when to schedule mammograms. Luckily, a recent enlightening study was published that may help women navigate the complicated amount of varying information available regarding breast cancer screenings.

Who did the Study?

R. Edward Hendrick, Ph.D., a University of Colorado School of Medicine clinical professor of radiology and Mark Helvie, M.D. the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center director of breast imaging. The two researchers published their findings in the American Journal of Roentgenology (Febuary issue).

Two Conflicting Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations

The two sought to compare two differing recommendations published by the U.S. Preventative Service Task Force and the American Cancer Society. The task force recommends that women undergo screenings every other year for women from 50 to 74. The American Cancer Society, on the other hand, recommends that women undergo yearly screenings starting at age 40 and finishing at age 84. So which is correct?

Which is a Better Strategy?

The two found that the American Cancer’s Society overwhelmingly saved more lives than the U.S. Preventative Service Task Force. By using six model scenarios, the two utilized the same data that the task force used to find their data. The two found that beginning yearly mammogram screenings at age 40 reduces 40 percent of breast cancer deaths. Using the task force guidelines, breast cancer deaths were only reduced by 23 percent.

Overall, the American Cancer Society’s guidelines saved 71 percent more lives than the U.S. Preventative Service Task Force’s guidelines.

Other Considerations

The two did consider the negative side of mammograms, like screening exam pain and the fear and anxiety caused by falsely positive results. The two researchers found that women will experience a false postive response every ten years.

Filed Under: Health, Remedies, Women's Health Tagged With: ,
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