Osteoarthritis - Diseases

What is this condition?

Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is an ongoing process that breaks down cartilage around a bone, then causes new bone to grow around and under the affected joint. It usually occurs in the hips and knees. Osteoarthritis is widespread and affects both sexes after age 40. It can be disabling and usually gets worse as the person ages, ranging from minor dysfunction of the fingers to severe hip or knee problems.

What causes it?

Osteoarthritis, a normal part of aging, results from many metabolic, genetic, chemical, and mechanical factors. One form of osteoarthritis results from a specific event, such as a fall, an inherited deformity, or obesity that leads to degenerative changes.

What are its symptoms?

The most common symptom of osteoarthritis is deep, aching joint pain, which occurs particularly after exercise or other joint stress. The pain goes away when the person rests. Other symptoms include stiffness in the morning (again, relieved by rest), aching during changes in weather, "grating" of the joint during motion, and tight muscles that hamper movements. These symptoms are worse if the person has poor posture or job stress or is obese. When it affects the hands, osteoarthritis changes the shape of the joints and can eventually make them red, swollen, tender, and numb.

How is it diagnosed?

The doctor can assess obvious changes in the person's joints and use X-rays to see such signs as joint deformity, bony deposits, and joint fusion. There is no lab test specific for osteoarthritis, but tests can rule out other inflammatory joint problems.

How is it treated?

The doctor will prescribe medications to relieve pain and minimize stiffness. Medications include aspirin (or other nonnarcotic pain relievers), Butazolidin, lndocin, Nalfon, Advil or Motrin, or Darvon and, in some cases, injections of corticosteroids. Such injections, given every 4 to 6 months, may delay the development of new deposits in the person's hands. The person will also be taught specific exercises to promote flexibility.

Other treatments

The doctor may put the person in a brace or traction, suggest a cane or crutches for walking, and encourage other supportive measures such as massage, steam baths, paraffin (wax) dips for the hands, and exercise. Surgery is reserved for people who have severe disability or uncontrollable pain.

What can a person with osteoarthritis do?

Pace yourself. Plan rest periods during the day and be protective about getting a good night's sleep. Because osteoarthritis is not a disease of your whole body, concentrate on therapy that improves your flexibility and comfort.

Specific treatments

• Hand: Hot soaks and paraffin dips can relieve pain.

• Lower and middle back: Use a firm mattress (or bed board) to decrease morning pain.

• Neck: Check the tightness of your cervical collar; watch for redness after prolonged use.

• Hip: Use moist heat pads to relieve pain (usually with prescribed antispasmodic drugs) and do stretching and strengthening exercises. You may need to inspect your braces or a walker for proper fit.

• Knee: Regularly exercise to maintain flexibility, muscle tone, and strength. Consider a brace or an elastic wrap for support.

More good moves

• Take your medication exactly as prescribed, and report side effects immediately.

• Avoid overexertion, and learn to stand and walk without stressing joints. Be especially careful when stooping or picking up objects.

• Wear well-fitting supportive shoes; don't allow the heels to become too worn down.

• Install safety devices at home, such as hand rails in the bathroom .

• Maintain your proper weight to lessen stress on joints.

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Paget's Disease

What do doctors call this condition?

Osteitis deformans

What is this condition?

Paget's disease is a slow-paced metabolic bone disease characterized by replacement of sound bone with excessive amounts of abnormal bone. The altered bone is fragile and weak, causing painful deformities of both outside shape and internal structure. Paget's disease usually settles in one or several areas of the skeleton (most frequently the lower torso), but occasionally affects many parts of the body.

The disease can be fatal, especially when associated with congestive heart failure (widespread disease creates a continuous need for high cardiac output), bone cancer, or giant cell tumors.

What causes it?

Although the exact cause is unknown, one theory is that an early viral infection (possibly mumps) leaves behind a dormant skeletal infection that erupts many years later as Paget's disease. In the United States, Paget's disease affects approximately 2.5 million people over age 40 (mostly men). In 5% of cases, the involved bone experiences malignant changes .

What are its symptoms?

There may be no symptoms in early stages of the disease. But when pain does develop, it's usually severe and persistent and may limit the person's movement because new bone growth is rubbing on the spinal cord or sensory nerve root. The pain intensifies with exertion.

The list of potential effects includes enlarged forehead, headaches, hunchback, barrel- shaped chest, and bowed legs and other changes in gait. The affected areas are warm and tender, susceptible to breaks, and slow to heal. The disease progresses to add bone growth that interferes with sight, hearing, and balance; complications such as hypertension, gout, and congestive heart failure may develop.

How is it diagnosed?

X-rays, taken even before symptoms appear, can show increased bone expansion and density. A bone scan, which is more sensitive than X-rays, clearly shows early so-called pagetic lesions. Bone biopsy reveals a characteristic mosaic pattern. Blood tests and other laboratory tests aid early diagnosis.

How is it treated?

Primary treatment consists of drug therapy and includes one of the following:

• Cibacalcin, a hormone, given by injection, and Didronel to retard bone resorption (which relieves bone lesions). Although Cibacalcin requires long-term maintenance therapy, there is noticeable improvement after the first few weeks of treatment. Didronel produces improvement after 1 to 3 months.

• Mithracin, an antibiotic that produces remission of symptoms within 2 weeks and biochemical improvement within 1 to 2 months. However, the drug may destroy blood cells or harm kidney function. Self-administration of Cibacalcin and Didronel helps people with Paget's disease lead near-normal lives. Still, they may need surgery to reduce or prevent fractures, correct secondary deformities, and relieve pinched nerves. Aspirin, lndocin, or Advil or Motrin usually controls pain.

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Tennis Elbow - Diseases

What do doctors call this condition?

Epicondylitis, epitrochlear bursitis

What is this condition?

Tennis elbow is a painful inflammation of the forearm extensor tendon fibers at the point where they attach to the upper arm (humerus) adjacent to the elbow joint.

What causes it?

Tennis elbow probably begins as a partial tear on the involved tendon and is common among tennis players and other persons whose activities require a forceful grasp, wrist extension against resistance, or frequent rotation of the forearm. Left untreated, the condition can become disabling.

What are its symptoms?

The first symptom is elbow pain that gradually worsens and often radiates to the forearm and back of the hand whenever the person grasps an object or twists his or her elbow. Other symptoms are tenderness over the joint and a weak grasp. In rare instances, tennis elbow may cause local heat, swelling, or restricted range of motion.

How is it diagnosed?

Because X-rays are almost always negative, the doctor depends on the person's reports of pain while playing tennis or a similar activity. The pain can be reproduced by having the person move his or her wrist in a manner similar to that used when swinging a racket.

How is it treated?

Treatment aims to relieve pain, usually by local injection of corticosteroid and a local anesthetic and by taking aspirin or Indocin. Supportive treatment includes an immobilizing splint from the forearm to the elbow, which generally relieves pain in 2 to 3 weeks. Some doctors use heat therapy, such as warm compresses and ultrasound, and physical therapy, such as manipulation and massage.

A "tennis elbow strap" has helped many people. This strap, which is wrapped snugly around the forearm, helps relieve the strain on affected forearm muscles and tendons. If these measures prove ineffective, surgical release of the tendon at the hand may be necessary.

Author has an experience of more than 4 years writing about Health Care. He also holds experience writing about vitamins and diseases guide.

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The Benefits Of Shiatsu And Central Channel Release Therapy From A Practitioner In Essex

What is Shiatsu?

Originating in Japan, Shiatsu is a safe and effective therapeutic form of treatment based on 5000 years of experience. It has been called Acupuncture without needles and Japanese Physiotherapy.

It involves different techniques to soothe, balance, release and/or stimulate the body systems to enable ease and relaxation to return to the body.

Shiatsu is holistic, taking into account the emotional, mental and spiritual needs, as well as the physical. It is beneficial for all individuals including those who do not have a specific condition and can be adapted for specific clients such as children, people with disabilities, pregnant women and the elderly. Clients remain dressed throughout the treatment.

Shiatsu practitioners undertake professional training for 3 years to qualify for the Diploma.

Conditions that Shiatsu benefits or helps to prevent

Physical pain from headaches, stiff neck, back problems, whiplash, frozen shoulder, repetitive strain injury, sports injuries and sciatica.

Reproductive issues, menstrual and menopause problems.

Support during pregnancy and childbirth.

Digestive problems, including irritable bowel syndrome.

Asthma, eczema, insomnia, stress, depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and palpitations.

Weak immune system resulting in a repetitive cycle of infections.

Rheumatism, arthritis, M.E. and fatigue.

Support during illnesses such as cancer, stroke and addictions.

Many people, including myself, have regular Shiatsu treatments to maintain a healthy balance and to help prevent illness from occurring.

Central Channel Release

Central Channel Release is an advanced Shiatsu technique. It is very gentle and extremely effective at recovering energy that is tied up in maintaining old mental, physical and emotional patterns. This energy can then be used by the body to heal and to increase potential and fulfilment in life.

Central Channel Release may benefit you by:

Helping you to enjoy and appreciate life more fully
Transforming symptoms or conditions that are hard to shift
Helping you to unblock stuckness so that projects can move ahead
Enabling you to feel more confident and be more effective
Enhancing your relationships
Moving you forwards in your career or job
Overcoming feelings of being under pressure or overwhelmed Gaining vision, creativity and enthusiasm

For more information please see Well Being One - Shiatsu

Article submitted by Alison Hosking of Well Being One in Colchester, Essex. Please see http://www.wellbeingone.org for more information. Alison has qualified as a Shiatsu practitioner registered with The British School of Shiatsu-Do and is a member of the professional body The Shiatsu Society. She now runs a busy clinic in Essex.

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Understanding Heath Information, Health

The first and perhaps most difficult challenge for consumers is to make sense out of the health information explosion. Many popular magazines regularly print health articles, newspapers often devote entire sections to medicine, the publications of health newsletters abound, television programs feature numerous health stories, and a plethora of scientific health-related studies are published daily. There are an estimated 20,000 scientific, technical, and medical articles published each year worldwide and this does not include the larger number of non­technical articles. Interest in health information appears to have reached an all-time high.

The availability of so much health information has drawbacks; the major drawback is that so much of the information is confusing, sometimes even contradictory . Even medical experts have trouble separating fact from fiction. It is not unusual to see some new finding headlined one day and completely refuted the next. It has been speculated that as much as 50% of the medical advice we follow to­day will be considered obsolete, or at least will undergo major modification, during the next 5 years. For some people the ubiquity of refutations and contradictions leads to an attitude sometimes referred to as health fatalism, which maintains that nothing can be believed. People with a fatalistic view disregard health information because they believe that new findings will inevitably disagree with facts previously accepted as true.

Several examples illustrate this point. Sodium has long been associated with cardiovascular disease. In 1995, however, researchers found that men and women who consumed less sodium had more heart attacks. This finding made headlines in the popular press. Reactions were swift and strong. Hypertension patients who agonized over bland, low-salt diets for years threw up their hands in disbelief and despair. Reducing sodium intake was no longer a good idea, to the contrary it increased the risk of early death. It should be of little surprise therefore that countless numbers of people felt deceived and misled. The resultant fatalistic view toward health care and medical advice was understandable. What the headlines didn't say is that the people adversely affected by low sodium intake were hypertension patients taking drugs to lower blood pressure. In other words the results were based on a very specific population group that didn't represent the population at large or even mainstream hypertension patients. Also it was undetermined whether the study population engaged in other behaviors (cigarette smoking, sedentary lifestyles, etc.) that might be more responsible than sodium for heart disease.

Hot dogs are another good example. Researchers found that children who eat more than a dozen hot dogs a month had nine times the normal risk of childhood leukemia. This was the featured headline in a nationwide television news show broadcast during prime time. Public reaction bordered on the hysterical. Scared parents overreacted partly be­cause of irresponsible practices in television journalism and partly because they didn't demand all the facts. They believed the story was completely true simply because it was reported in the news. In the big picture of leukemia research, this was just one very preliminary study that had some serious short­comings. For instance, the results were based on crude dietary histories. Also, researchers could not determine whether it was the hot dogs or something else that hot dog eaters do or eat that might increase the risk of leukemia. If there is a cause-and-effect relationship between hot dogs and leukemia, it will take larger, more sophisticated studies to prove it.

The point of these examples is that an appropriate approach to health information is to adopt a skeptical and suspicious attitude, especially toward extreme and sensational health claims. The First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press, also guarantees Americans the right to publish health-related hogwash. The more you read, generally the more conflicts and contradictions you will uncover. This should not make you feel uncomfortable but, to the contrary, make you realize that medicine is still as much art as science.

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Sleep Panic Attacks - No Rest For The Weary

Sleep disorders and panic attacks seem to go hand in hand. With all the stress and busyness in our lives we seem to be sleeping less and doing more on less sleep., thus not giving our bodies that much needed break from life for the eight hours that it requires to rebuild and strengthen our bodies back to normal. Having a sleep disorder can make a person more prone to anxiety attacks and then panic attacks which are worse than anxiety. Panic attacks can occur while you are asleep when they get really bad and you wake up into a full blown panic attack which is the worst.

When you fall asleep at night your body goes through the dreaming processes to that it can relax and the mind can sort and deal with the days events. If you have a problem and need a solution, when you go to bed and get a good nights sleep then in the morning you can usually come up with the answer to the question. This has allowed your body and mind to collect thoughts and ideas that were pertinent to the solution. When you are running on empty that is just what is happening. The mind has no more energy to think because the brain has used all the body's reserves.

The brain uses most of the body's calories and requires the most refueling from the food we eat. Also not getting enough sleep will deprive the body of reserves for the brain to think and be able to deal with the stress. When you have those sudden overwhelming feelings of too much stress that we seem to be getting now a days and you have not gotten the proper sleep then the brain cannot deal with processing those emotions and will send your mind and body into a tailspin thus it can cause an overwhelming response to those stressers that are causing you distress and then comes the dreaded anxiety. Then with further insomnia and not enough sleep you can get the dreaded panic attacks which are worse than anxiety and get them when you do sleep.

Most people who have sleep panic attacks are in a vicious cycle. Panic attacks can cause insomnia and when they are very tired can have panic attacks right in their sleep bringing them fully awake into a panic attack thus creating a vicious cycle. We need to slow down and catch our breath and say is it really worth worrying about. If it is then we need to get help to deal with the problem that may be making us miserable because it may the body's way of saying hey you need help dealing with this or stop and slow down, I need a break. Medications and therapy will go a long way to combat this sleep destroyer and give people back their peace of mind. A doctor can prescribe several different kinds of medications that will combat the panic attacks and also a sleep medication so that a person can get their mind at ease to deal with todays stresses.

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Relapsing Polychondritis - Skin Disorders

Patients with relapsing polychondritis usually present with dramatically swollen, painful, red ears. Sometimes, the nose is involved in a similar manner. These skin changes reflect the presence of massive inflammatory changes in the underlying cartilage. Such changes occurring in the larynx, trachea, and bronchi may result in death. Ocular and articular abnormalities may also be present.

Reiter's Syndrome

This disease occurs almost entirely in men. The cutaneous lesions of Reiter's syndrome are essentially identical with those that occur in psoriasis. Pustular plaques on the palms and soles, together with small red scaling plaques on the glans penis, are characteristically present. Ocular inflammatory disease, sacroiliitis, and arthritis of the spine and larger peripheral joints complete the syndrome. Most patients with Reiter's disease have an HLA haplotype that includes B27. Episodes of disease activity may be triggered by a variety of infectious etiologies.

Behcet's Syndrome

Behcet's syndrome is characterized by the presence of aphthous-like ulcers of the mouth and genitalia. These changes are usually accompanied by arthritis, uveitis, and a variety of neurologic changes. Thrombophlebitis, gastrointestinal involvement, erythema nodosum, and a peculiar pustular response to skin trauma (pathergy) are occasionally present.

Sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis is characterized by the presence of noninfectious, noncaseating granulomas of many organs, including the skin. The most distinctive skin lesions consist of clusters of small, nonscaling, violaceous to skin-colored, dome-shaped papules. These papules are most often found on the face and neck. Coalescence of the papules to form annular plaques is frequently noted. Larger nodules and plaques are sometimes found on the trunk and extremities. Involvement of cutaneous scar tissue with sarcoidal granulomas is highly characteristic. Erythema nodosum of the lower legs frequently accompanies active lesions of sarcoid occurring in the lungs. Biopsy of the skin lesions (except those of erythema nodosum) reveals the characteristic granulomas and allows confirmation of diagnosis to be made on clinical examination. Recently, a mycobacterial origin for sarcoidosis has been postulated.

Acquired Immuno dificiency Syndrome (AIDS)

Several types of skin lesions are found in AIDS and, in fact, are often of help in making this diagnosis. The lesions of Kaposi sarcoma occur in about 25% of the patients. They consist of red to violaceous, smooth-surfaced papules and nodules. Lesions may be found anywhere on the body, but the most frequent distribution includes the face, arms, trunk, and mucous membranes. The lesions of AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma differ from those of classical Kaposi's sarcoma in that the former are smaller in size, are violaceous rather than blue-black, and are distributed on the upper half of the body instead of the legs. Less characteristic findings in AIDS include oral candidiasis, oral hairy leukoplakia seborrheic dermatitis of the face, minute pruritic erythematous papules and pustules of the trunk, and various other types of cutaneous opportunistic infections.

Author writes about free beauty tips. He also writes about yoga and skin care advice.

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