Bone Marrow Transplant

January 29, 2010 by essentialhealthcare

The replacement of diseased bone marrow by healthy bone marrow stem cells is what we term as bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow that are changed are either not been working for sometime or are destroyed, ablated due to exposure to harmful radiations. The tissue present in the bones is called as bone marrow. It contains stem cells which form various components of the blood. These components are namely, red blood cells, white blood cells and blood platelets. All these components perform very crucial functions and therefore should normal or else many blood disorders may happen. The ultimate objective of the transplant is to give healthy stem cells to the patient.  

Bone marrow transplant can be classified into three types, autologous bone marrow transplant, allogeneic bone marrow transplant and umbilical cord blood transplant. The procedure treats blood cancer or leukemia, multiple myeloma and lymphoma. Other illnesses like sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia, thalassemia, neutropenia and some immunity-related deficiency syndromes are also treated through this technique. In some cases, before the transplant, the patient is given chemotherapy in heavy doses so that any remaining cancer causing cells are killed. The patient is then administered stem cells straight into the blood stream, through central venous catheter. This process is termed as infusion and it lasts few hours. After the procedure is successfully performed, the induced stem cells start working in the bone marrow.  

To extract bone marrow from the donor, a small surgery is required. The marrow is taken from their hip bone. The surgery works under general anesthesia and so is absolutely pain free. There are certain symptoms that may be showed up by the patient during bone marrow transplant. These symptoms are fever, slight pain in the chest, dip in blood pressure, short breath, headache, shivers and a sense of strange flavor in the mouth. But, they are not bothersome as this happens commonly and are considered to be quite normal.

Teeth Grinding

January 29, 2010 by essentialhealthcare

Teeth grinding, also known as bruxism, is a dental issue that involves grinding or clenching of teeth during anytime as you perform any activity in the daytime or while you sleep at night. It is considered to be a medical as well as a dental problem as it may affect your teeth and other parts of the body. This problem is found to be somewhat similar to snoring, though it may involve more botherations. People consider it as a habit. There can be various factors responsible for it. The most known cause is stress. According to a majority of dentists, this may happen due to incorrect alignment of teeth with each other.

Teeth grinding may be a problem with kids also. It is quite possible that this problem may not be permanent among kids. It may diminish with time, after they have their permanent teeth that may be well aligned. But this cannot be the case adults as they have no scope for natural teeth realignment. Though the problem among kids may not be a complex issue yet there is no harm in visiting the dentist for the same. The problems or complications arising from this issue can be broken or missing tooth and many more.

The symptoms of teeth grinding may vary in forms and appearances, based on the cause. You may experience some or all of them. You may be told about your this problem by others who sleep along side you. Before jumping onto any conclusion, it would be wiser if you pay a visit to your doctor or dentist. He would solve this dilemma of concluding whether you have this problem or not. Depending upon the cause your doctor would give you the advice. If the cause is stress, you may be referred to an able psychiatrist. If the problem is teeth alignment related, he would prescribe you a mouth night guard that suits your requirements of protecting your teeth and its enamel.

Cavities

January 29, 2010 by essentialhealthcare

Cavities are known to be the most popular cause of concern among mothers who find their children having them of and on. It can happen to other ages as well as it is caused due to decay of the teeth and this can happen to anyone who is not considerate enough to clean off the plaque depositing onto the teeth and gums. The plaque combines with sugars and starch present in the food that eaten. This results in formation of harmful acids that impact the teeth so bad that they start decaying. Cavities can well be avoided through regular tooth brushing and cleaning away the floss. Teeth should be brushed twice a day.

It would be better if teeth are brushed after every meal. This may sound really weird and impossible to the busy public. The best alternative for them can be gargling and rinsing of the mouth with the help of an effective mouthwash. Cavities, if are not taken care of on time, can be very hazardous for the entire tooth. They can lead to painful tooth that finds difficult to perform its function of chewing. At times, due to this sore tooth, the entire mouth pains. In the end, the tooth decays completely and dies leaving an ugly vacant space.

Cavities are very likely to happen to anybody, especially those who are fond of different types of tasty foods. Fried foods are too oily and foods that contain too much of spices and sugar should be avoided for the sake of general health as well as oral health. Snacks and drinks contain substance that, if not brushed away from the teeth remain there on the teeth and later combine with other substances present in the mouth to form harmful substances. If you cannot avoid that food, you can atleast consider having immediate oral cleaning.

Depression and Women

December 31, 2009 by essentialhealthcare

There is no single similar feeling of depression for all. Infact, the experiences vary individual to individual. Situations under which individuals get under depression lead to these variations. Apart from situations, another important factor that is said to be responsible for these experiential differences is gender of the individual suffering from depression. For women, depression may have different definition as they are found to be more prone to it then men. For her, a lot many factors are there that throw her to various stages of depression. These factors can be biological, hormonal as well as social. Social causes of depression are very common ones for female depression. The social issues are sometimes so annoying that they result in depression and women find it really hard to get out of it.

Depression can impact life of a woman in many areas like relationships, job, career, family, physical and mental wellbeing. At times, the woman feels her life is worthless and that she should end up her life. When this stage is reached, it is known as major depression that needs to treated, with immediate effect. Though the treatment of depression is not a day’s task yet there need to be given some fast aid, that can atleast take the person away from that very intense feeling. Extreme feelings of guilt, failure in life, inability in developing and maintaining concentration, constant headache and tiredness, loss of appetite and insomnia are some of the symptoms of depression and women suffering from them find their lives difficult leading.

A most common cause of depression among women is recorded to be any traumatic experience like rape, incest or physical and mental abuse that took place in her life. Sadly, such incidences are found to have increased past few decades. Separation from someone dear, due to accident, death or other reasons has been another cause of female depression. As women are more sensitive than men, they are more likely to get into depression. Depression and women are separable with the help of expert counseling, meditation, medications and some lifestyle changes.

Laser Back Pain Treatment

September 1, 2009 by essentialhealthcare

Back pain problem can really be debilitating and can get very difficult to manage with. At times it becomes unbearable to an extent that the person is not able to stand, sit or lie on his own. Many imaging tests are performed to know about the reason and origin of back pain. If you have prolonged back pain problem including pain in the lower back, legs and numbness in legs, you should seek a suitable treatment mode for yourself until it gets too late. Many factors can be responsible for this problem like age factor, family history or pregnancy. Other causes can be your lifestyle and your wrong ways of handling your body.  Laser back pain treatment helps you get rid of the problem by finding out and correcting its cause.

 

Laser back pain treatment involves four widely recommended procedures for correcting back pain problems. One of them is Percutaneous Discectomy for herniated, bulging or degenerative disc problems and sciatia. Another one is Foraminotomy for sciatia, foraminal stenosis, spinal arthritis and bone spurs. Laminotomy is performed to treat spinal stenosis, herniated and bulging discs, nerve impingement and bone spurs. The fourth one is Facet Thermal Ablation for treating facet joint syndrome, arthritis, hypertrophy and degenerative facet joints.   

 

The best part about laser back pain treatment is that unlike other treatment methods, the patient need not worry about long hospital stays and other botherations like managing with pain, etc. Any major surgery is associated with high risks to health and is subjected to numerous complications that sometimes develop much later after the surgery. The patient needs to be extremely careful regarding his diet, body postures and physical activities. He needs to follow strict medications for a particular span of time. Sometimes, this span has to be increased depending upon the recovery from the surgery. A laser procedure, on the contrary involves no such botherations. In just a matter of 5 days, and some postoperative visits the patient can look forward to leading absolutely a normal healthy life.

Asthma Triggers

August 14, 2009 by essentialhealthcare

Asthma is a disease which shows its symptoms time to time, when triggered. Triggering causes inflammation and swelling in air passages and so the symptoms like cough, wheezing and difficult breathing start showing. These asthma triggers do not bother non-asthmatic people at all but for asthmatics they can really be very problematic. They can be of many types and their impact on asthma, totally depends upon person to person. Some people are bothered by very few of them and some have to bother about many. Among kids, it is quite possible to outgrow the triggers as they grow older, with the passage of time.

 

Most of the common asthma triggers are allergens causing allergic asthma. These allergens can be many pollutants present in the environment. Seasonal changes and physical stress can also be held responsible for occurrence of asthma symptoms. So, one has to be very careful about being exposed to these triggers. Managing asthma can be possible only if you try and stay away from these triggering agents. For this, you can seek help of your doctor or allergist. He would help you to identify these triggers and take some preventive measures against these symptoms with the help of certain medications.   

 

It is though, very difficult to deal with asthma triggers as you cannot stay away from them completely, all the time. But there are some tips you can follow to keep them away to some extent. Keep your house and surroundings clean from allergens like dust and animal dander. Keep a check on cockroaches, molds and mites. Stay away from furry pets, as much as you can. Take away the carpets or rugs which are nothing but a collection of allergens. Identify the food item that may cause allergic reaction leading to asthma symptoms. Try to live in pollution-free environment. Keep good personal hygiene. By doing so, you can minimize the probability having asthma symptoms off and on.

Elimination Diet For Allergies

July 29, 2009 by essentialhealthcare

Food allergies can be very disgusting as at times, it gets really hard to determine who the culprit is. So, you might need to consult your doctor. The symptoms of food allergies are many. Due to any kind of food, you can experience any of the symptom/s like rashes, eczema, extreme tiredness, rheumatoid arthritis, disturbed bowel system, dermatitis and many more. These symptoms may keep bothering until you start with the treatment. But the key to correct treatment is its correct diagnosis. Until you know what exactly, is the reason for your botherations, you cannot keep going. Diagnosis is often done by means of blood tests but they lack accuracy. The best possible way of tracking down the problem, as the doctors say, is elimination diet for allergies. As you start following the same, ensure you follow it exactly how your doctor suggests you.

 

To check for the cause of symptoms, your doctor would tell you to eliminate the suspect food from your diet for sometime. After the symptoms are gone, he would direct you to add the food back to your diet. If the symptoms reoccur, you can conclude that particular food to be the actual culprit. Elimination diet for allergies is quite easy to experiment with, but with under strict supervision of a qualified medical practitioner or dietician.  

 

During an elimination diet for food allergies you can have all orts of foods. The diet should contain cereals, grains, flours, fruits excluding citrus ones, vegetables except potatoes, eggplant, corns and tomatoes, nuts except peanuts, refined oils except peanut and soybean oil and, all kinds of juices except citrus fruit juices. All these foods are recommended openly by the doctor but if you feel you are allergic to any of them, you may eliminate them from your diet anytime. To get relief from symptoms fast, you should have good amount of water say, atleast 8 glasses everyday. If you find no relief from the symptoms even after eliminating the food item, you may consider that particular food not to be the real cause of your problem and seek medical advice further.

Anti Aging Hormones

July 16, 2009 by essentialhealthcare

Hormones play a very influential role on one’s looks and complete body system. Studies showed that they can work wonder for anti aging and since then, anti aging hormones have been adopted by most, for the treatment to preserve youth. Many kinds of hormone supplements are there in the market that boast of containing the magical potion you want. You can buy them even without your doctor’s prescription. But, as National Institute on Aging (NIA) urges the buyers, you should stay cautious enough while buying one such supplement for yourself. The anti aging hormones are DHEA, Human Growth Hormone (HGH), Melatonin, Estrogen and Testosterone. Estrogen works specifically for women and testosterone for men.

 

Hormone DHEA is produced in the body itself and the content gradually decreases with increase in age. The DHEA supplements are known to burn down the fat and thus minimize the symptoms of aging. Similarly, HGH hormone provides strength and youthful energy to the body. HGH injections are used for anti aging. Another hormone, Melatonin is also considered to be another among anti aging hormones. It effects aging but in different way. Its safe dosage regulates sleep and cures sleep disorders thus, helps you have good sleep which is very vital for youthful look and general well being.   

 

 

Estrogen is the hormone that is widely prescribed for women. As the woman enters menopause, she finds sudden changes in her total appearance and personality. In most of the cases, the signs of aging become too prominent for them to digest. So they go for estrogen replacement therapy. Among men, the level of hormone testosterone goes down as they grow old. So they find supplements of the hormone for the help. These supplements don’t work on men having normal hormonal levels in accordance with age. Though these anti aging hormones are well known for the treatment yet many questions regarding their reliability and safe impact, keep popping up. On the contrary, many researches show that they are beneficial for health in many ways. Whatever are the claims, act wisely and consult your doctor before opting for them.

Coumadin For Heart Diseases

July 3, 2009 by essentialhealthcare

Coumadin, primarily known as warfarin, is an anticoagulant drug that is used to treat many heart complications like atrial heart arrhythmia, thrombosis and heart attack. In simple words, it is a blood thinning drug thereby hampers clotting of the blood so the blood flow stays consistent. It is also recommended after the heart valve replacement surgery. Coumadin can be taken orally but is injected intravenously in emergency cases. The dosage of the drug, vary person to person depending upon the status of his blood. The dosage of coumadin for heart diseases should be carefully determined as its overdose may result in excess bleeding which can go further uncontrollable.

 

The person taking coumadin for heart diseases should keep going for regular blood tests. For such a person, the diet should not contain too much of vitamin K. If he finds any bleeding symptoms, anywhere in the body, he should immediately consult his doctor or else it may land him onto a severe problem. The medication should be such that it maintains the normal blood level. Like most of the drugs, coumadin also has many side effects. For a person who is consuming coumadin or regular basis, there is a constant risk of heavy bleeding of any type. Even a pin-point blood ooze from the skin, can take a very bad turn.  

 

Other side effects or fears associated with coumadin are nausea, restlessness, upset digestive system, hepatitis and bleeding in the intestines. At times, the person may also have vomiting and severe or mild skin rashes. So for a person who is on coumadin for heart diseases, it is a matter of very serious concern to always stay alert regarding any of these symptoms so that he understands the situation well on time. It is very vital for him to take prompt action without making any delay because a little delay can risk his life.

Type Two Diabetes

June 13, 2009 by essentialhealthcare

Among the two types of diabetic conditions, type two diabetes is considered to be more problematic as it stays lifelong. Though the symptoms are the same as in type one, but the cause is different. This type occurs for the reason that the body does not respond to insulin the way it should. The production of insulin is ok but the body fails to recognize it. This type of diabetes occurs commonly. Type two cases are reported more than type one. Insulin plays a vital role for the body. It helps the body get energy from the food we eat. Thus, in other words, it solves the major purpose of intake of food.

Insulin is a hormone produced and released by the body itself. It breaks down the glucose present in the food into essential energy that shows you are fit and fine. But when insulin fails to function as per requirement, the sugar remains unconverted in the blood. The production of insulin goes on and on by the pancreas. This condition of excess sugar in the blood is known as hyperglycaemia. At the same time the insulin level also goes very high. So the symptoms like extreme tiredness, urination, hunger and thirst occur.

The myth about type two diabetes, that it is found among fat people only. It is not so. Even slim or thin people can also develop this long-lasting ailment. The disease is reported to be transmitted through genes. Along with this, unplanned or irregular diet, overweight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and lethargy leads to it’s possibility. The age factor also adds to it’s probability. Women who suffered from gestational diabetes are also likely to face type two diabetes. Those who think, fall into any of these categories should get diabetes tests done for diagnosis. After confirmed diagnosis, seek the treatment, but only from a specialized medical practitioner.