Archive for August, 2009

Cerebral Palsy And Coping With Poor Nutrition

Brought to you by instant health insurance quote. Children with cerebral palsy do not only have problems with their motor skills. This can, actually, be defined or referred to as insufficient growth and development. Children would cerebral palsy would often experience difficulty in eating. Difficulties would include unable to swallow, hyperactive gag reflex, and inability to control feeding. These challenges could be factors on why most children with cerebral palsy are malnourished.

There are several issues or reasons why children with cerebral palsy find it difficult to eat. For example, the mouth and the throat of a person could be affected by cerebral palsy making it difficult for patients to eat. Others would find it difficult to control their tongue. In some cases these could end up choking the patient when their food is directed towards on the tracheas down to the lungs.

There are also some who does not want to be touched on the face, lips and mouth. This could also affect whenever you are feeding the patient. Because of the numerous problems on feeding, it takes a while before children with cerebral palsy would finish their food. A longer time and process of feeding would totally tire the child, therefore more calories were being burned.

There are researches from the University of California, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, showing the malnutrition has become a common problem among patients of cerebral palsy. In the research, it was stated that in severe cases of cerebral palsy, malnutrition is evident. But in less severe cases of cerebral palsy, malnutrition is barely noticeable.

What is malnutrition?

Malnutrition is a condition where the body does not gain enough vitamins, nutrients and minerals that the body needs. Malnutrition is not only about being undernourished, there are also cases of malnutrition where the body is over nourished.

Lack of nutrition while the baby is undergoing fetal development can be a risk factor for cerebral palsy. If the baby is not getting enough nutrition, there could be problems with the brain development. Therefore, even if the baby is still in the stomach, it is very important to eat foods that will provide sufficient vitamins and nutrients. This would help lessen the risk of any abnormalities.

It is important to treat or address malnutrition immediately. When unnoticed and unattended, malnutrition could even lead to making their conditions worse and in worst cases, could even lead to death.

So what can we do about it?

There are different ways to address malnutrition for cerebral palsy patients. It may be necessary for parents to give nutritional supplements. A speech therapist is also somebody who can help about malnutrition and cerebral palsy. A speech therapist helps the patient to have more control with the mouth muscles. This would help the individual to intake more food.

Treatment could also involve the use of support systems and other devices. For example, there are surgical procedures that can done like inserting gastronomy tubes which would allow the children to have more feeding. For those children who are finding it hard to grasp other objects, larger eating utensils can be given to them so that would be able to wait for the laptop.

There are about 35% of children with cerebral palsy who are malnourished. This is a very important issue and needs to be addressed. Problems like this with feeding and nutrition can even worsen the children’s condition.

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A Glimpse Into Cerebral Palsy

Brought to you by cheap online health insurance quotes. One of the most prevalent yet enigmatic disorders known in the medical world today is cerebral palsy, but hoping to get a glimpse into cerebral palsy will help people understand why it happens and what can be done to deal with it.

Cerebral paralysis is also known as CP for short. The condition was discovered by the British surgeon named William Little in 1860. His discovery led to the study and formulation of theories with regards to asphyxia at birth as the main cause of the problem.

But it was only in 1897 that famed psychoanalyst and now the Father of Psychology Sigmund Freud pushed for the idea that a difficult birthing is not the true cause of cerebral paralysis. Then a neurologist, Freud said that the problem may have been a symptom and an effect of a far more complex problem on fetal development. He was right and the condition is one of the effects of what is called cerebral palsy.

But despite the years of research and the ongoing debate on the subject, no one still know even now what exactly causes cerebral palsy. Nothing is ever certain when it comes to this problem. This is despite the fact that a lot of findings point fingers to problems caused by a lack of oxygen during fetal development. Some also include exposure to radiation, internal infection during pregnancy, trauma in the brain during childbirth and delivery as some of the other causes of cerebral palsy.

However, these are just some of the causes but are not necessarily the main and primary reasons for cerebral palsy. No less than 50% of all children born prematurely are believed to develop cerebral palsy upon their delivery. Medical experts believe that premature infants are vulnerable to cerebral palsy, in part because their organs have not yet fully developed when they were born, thus increasing the risk of hypoxic injury due to the lack of oxygen circulation to the brain that is largely responsible for those studied with cerebral palsy.

There are basically three common types of cerebral palsy, first is the spastic where someone with spastic cerebral palsy does not have the capacity to relax their muscles or may even be stiff.Next is athetoid, for which those with this type of cerebral palsy affects the patient’s ability to control their muscles, which is usually characterized by the patient’s hands and feet fluttering uncontrollably.

And the one with ataxic cerebral palsy has problems with balance and coordination.Cerebral palsy ranges from mild to severe cases, which may be characterized by the amount or degree of brain trauma or damage of the patient, however, is not generally conclusive about the actual cause of cerebral palsy.

Neurologists are the primary specialists that deal with patients afflicted with cerebral palsy, through which patients are commonly diagnosed with the analysis and assessment of the patient’s nervous system.For young patients, especially for children with cerebral palsy, they are most commonly treated by pediatric neurologists.

Treatment for young patients with cerebral palsy may also undergo therapeutic treatment by a pediatric orthopedist who will be responsible for handling problems with joints and bones. This is followed up with treatment from a developmental pediatrician, who usually monitors how young cerebral palsy patients throughout their developmental stage and by a pediatric physiatrist who treats children with disabilities.

So basically this is a good glimpse into cerebral palsy that may provide us with key and important information regarding cerebral palsy and how to better understand it.

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Don't Confuse Bacterial Vaginosis Symptoms With Yeast Infection

One reason that women don’t have a clue realize they have bacterial vaginosis is that they aren’t aware of what the bacterial vaginosis symptoms are, so they don’t recognize them when they occur.

It’s obvious that women with this condition are in need of bacterial vaginosis treatment. In several cases, women are so poorly informed about what a ‘normal’ vaginal environment is that they put up with bacterial vaginosis symptoms, believing that it is normal and just something that they have to live with. And of course, there are women that don’t have any symptoms of this disorder at all.

The Symptoms

Unpleasant Vaginal Odor

For the women who have bacterial vaginosis symptoms, the most usual one is an unpleasant or fishy vaginal odor.

The severity of this vaginosis symptom can range from

- mild, meaning the odor is barely noticeable, to
- quite severe, where the smell is noticeable to other people, also when the woman suffering from it is fully clothed.

It’s understandable that this unpleasant vaginal odor is not only the most common of the bacterial vaginosis symptoms but also the symptom that most motivates women to see their doctor.

Vaginal Discharge Changes

Changes in the vaginal discharge are also a frequent bacterial vaginosis symptom. Many women confuse this with yeast infection.

– A woman suffering from yeast infection will have a vaginal discharge that can turn whitish, think and have a structure that looks like ‘cottage cheese’.

– The discharge is thinner and has a milk-white or grayish color for patients with bacterial vaginoses and some of them will feel a mild burning sensation from it. This is the symptom that mostly is accompanied by the unpleasant fishy smell but can also occur on its own.

High PH Level

Of all the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis, the one that is the most definitive indicator of bacterial vaginosis is hard for women to diagnose for themselves. It is a high pH level. It can be difficult to identify because you can’t do it by sight or feel.

You have two options;

- go to your doctor or
- get pH testing strips that will let you know what your vaginal pH level is.

Anything above a 4.2 is considered above normal, and the alkaline environment lets bacterial vaginosis thrive.

If you have any of these bacterial vaginosis symptoms, you should go to your doctor to get a proper diagnosis, and also to rule out any other, more serious but also more rare, medical conditions. Once you have your diagnosis, you can set about bacterial vaginosis treatment and trying to get rid of the condition for good.

There is a method that has been proven to help women find relief from their bacterial vaginosis and its symptoms for good, and it can help you as well to cure your bacterial vaginosis for good.

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by Gerd Petersen and Ellen Dilga

Shoo Away the Common Colds with these Remedies

With global warming and the erratic weather around, you’d better be more careful with your health. You don’t want to catch the common colds virus – or worse, the Influenza AH1N1 virus. You don’t want to miss a day in the office and scramble at the contents of your men’s briefcase the following day just so you can make up for lost times.

But when your immune system has already failed you and have not guarded you against the common colds virus, don’t fret. It is called “common” because it is easy to remedy.

So here are a couple of home remedies for your common colds:

1. Water
If you get the cold virus, then you need to double time on your water intake. Drink as much water as you can. It doesn’t matter if you go to the comfort every thirty (30) minutes. While the virus cannot be flushed out of your system by the mere act of drinking water, taking in fluids will truly help in dealing with the dehydration. Drinking water will help ease the dryness of your throat and the discomfort of a runny nose.

Stay away from coffee and soda – at least for the time being. Beverages with caffeine content will make the dehydration worse. As a result, it would take you longer to get out of bed, take that rolling briefcase with you and hit the office once again.

2. Chicken Broth
True, parents usually hand their sick children chicken soup. At the outset, you might think that the effect of this is purely psychological. But researchers, however, have discovered that there’s more to chicken broth than just the simple tender loving care of your parents.

First, this type of soup acts as an anti-inflammatory. This means that chicken broth helps inhibit the action of your immune system’s inflammatory response to foreign objects. Second, the rich aroma of the chicken broth is a temporary decongestant. Even for just a short period of time, broth helps speed up the movement of the mucus along the nasal membrane. Therefore, you will have temporary relief over that runny nose.

Water and chicken broth: these are just two of the most common and least costly things that you can find at home. These are two of the things that can help ease the discomfort of having the common colds. These are the simple things that you can have so you can rise and shine once again, take your laptop briefcases and strut to the office healthy and kickin’.

Panic Anxiety – How Can You Cure It?

by Gary Gui

What is Panic Anxiety Actually?

An increasing number of people go to their doctor and complain about stress, run down and problems coping with their lives. Telling the doctor they have experienced weird symptoms recently and get a shock when he tells them that they are suffering from panic attacks or anxiety. Most people have heard about these disorders without actually knowing what they are.

Which Symptoms Indicate A Panic Attack?

The symptoms of a panic attack are very easy to recognize. Most symptoms are typically located in the upper body.

Heart Related Symptoms

The most characteristic and dramatic symptom is heart palpitations. Their pulse starts to race very quickly or the heart pounds very loudly. When the heart is pounding pain in the chest will often follow.

Symptoms Related To the Stomach

Stomach related symptoms like nausea and sometimes bloating are also common.

Breathing Symptoms

Breathing difficulties represents the third main symptom. They often experience they can’t get oxygen enough or they can even feel unable to catch their breath. Some patients even feel like they are being buried all of a sudden.

Dizziness and Lightheadedness

People also experience dizziness or experience brief “weak spells” where they feel like they are about to collapse. Many people actually do collapse and faint. The same thing can happen with lightheadedness ? instead of feeling dizzy someone gets lightheaded very quickly and has to quickly sit down to avoid collapsing.

Other Physical Symptoms

There are more physical signs of panic anxiety as well: a person’s skin may lose color or they may experience hot flashes or chills.

Panic attacks should only last a few moments but unfortunately, for some people, they can last for as long as a few minutes.

What Causes a Panic Attack?

Most doctors believe that Panic Attacks are caused by a psychological malfunction in the body’s “alarm system.” The above symptoms of panic attacks occur naturally when a person feels that their life is in some way threatened. Only when someone has a panic attack, their mind convinces their body that something terrible is about to happen to them.

As for social anxiety and anxiety in general, fear is the root cause of panic attacks even if the actual fears themselves are different. It’s believed that major life stress can suddenly trigger the beginning of panic attacks and that even some medications make someone more likely to experience panic anxiety or attacks.

Panic Disorder – Here Is How You Can Get Rid Of It

People who have never suffered from a panic disorder have no clue how many people who actually suffer from it. As much as one out of every seventy-five people are affected by panic disorders in North America alone. Panic attacks are the key indicator of a panic disorder.

These attacks typically start with a sudden occurrence of intense anxiety without any reasonable external cause. The severity and duration of the attack can vary from person to person. People who have never had such attack tend to believe that such attacks are simply the same as being “stressed out”, but unfortunately it is much more serious than that. Panic disorders can be devastating keeping people from living normal lives.

The Symptoms

The common symptoms are:

- Fast raising pulse
- Problems with breathing
- Paralyzing
- Tingling and numbness in fingers and toes
- Sweating or quivering
- And in the most serious cases we can see dizziness, nausea, choking and chest pains.

Some patients report that a panic attack is like knowing they are going crazy without being able to do anything about it.

The symptoms people who suffer from this anxiety disorder have would be considered as normal reactions if they were in response to an appropriate situation. If you encountered a bear in the woods, the symptoms described above would make sense, a normal ‘fight or flight’ response to a real danger. The fact that these symptoms are not happening under dangerous circumstances but for no reason at all, is what make them a disorder.

panic attacks rarely do any physical damage even though they can be experienced as life-threatening and prevent you from living a normal life. Often complications are associated with panic disorders such as depressions, phobias, substance abuse and others. In most cases these complications are not caused by the panic anxiety itself but rather by the fear of having that next attack.

Which Treatments Are Available?

Although the symptoms of panic anxiety may vary from one person to another, there is help for everyone. Most doctors or therapists are using a treatment called cognitive behavioral therapies which have proven to be very effective when dealing with panic attacks. I happen to know one specific treatment that has cured thousands of people from their panic disorder permanently. If I told you that you can stop letting your anxiety problems ruin your life in short time, would you believe me?

by Gary Gui

Remedies For Strep Throat That I Use

So you have been to the doctor and you have received your antibiotic but you still need to find remedies for strep throat that you can use until the antibiotics do their thing. There are plenty of options available for you in helping you deal with this uncomfortable condition. Remedies for strep throat can be found right in your kitchen cupboard and most are really simple to use.

Salt water is a great tool for helping ease the scorching feeling in your throat. There is nothing more soothing than a good salt water gargle when you have this condition. I have to admit that this is my favorite of the natural remedies for strep throat. This simple concoction is comprised of, you guessed it: water and salt. Thats all there is to it.

You have to make sure that the water is warm enough to completely dissolve the salt and you want to gargle on a consistent basis. This is one of the home remedies for strep throat that go unnoticed but it is one of the most effective. I can feel the difference immediately when I gargle with salt water. I also use this sore throat remedy when I have any discomfort in this area.

Since you are using water to gargle, you might as well put some aside for drinking. Any infection will be washed away from your system quicker if you have a sufficient intake of fluids.

Drinking a lot of liquids is not one of the most appealing remedies for strep throat because the idea of swallowing is painful in itself. Try drinking right after you gargle to ease the discomfort.

Moisture is important in the healing process. Many of the remedies for strep throat that I have used involve water in some shape or form. This includes a nice, hot, steamy shower to moisten your throat. You could also do well with a humidifier as well. Saline solution is great for addressing dry nasal passages but it is another great natural strep throat remedy that does wonders.

Another favorite remedy would be sleep. Giving your body time to recuperate allows it to heal much faster. Spend the day curling up in bed and get up to gargle or drink water, and you will be sure to get relief from strep throat in no time.

Remember that these remedies for strep throat are to be used in conjunction with the treatment that your doctor prescribes. They are useful in helping you get better sooner, but this condition is serious and you should seek medical attention right away.

Anxiety Self Help – Effective Treatment

Anxiety is a condition in which the sufferer experiences irrational and constant worry or fear in situations where such reactions are not rational. General Anxiety Disorder is a condition in which this worry and fear interferes with professional or family life.

Some of the symptoms of general anxiety include fear of public places (agoraphobia), low self-esteem, lack of confidence, regular or recurring nightmares, fear of failure, excessive crying, and physical symptoms such as diarrhea and nausea. If you exhibit any of those symptoms you should seek treatment, either from a professional or through self-help, rather than worrying about the condition itself.

Anxiety self-help tips are widely available. Not all of the tips you will find will work for you; the efficacy of any single strategy varies from individual to individual. Eventually, through trial and error, you will find a set of tips and strategies that will help you deal with and ultimately resolve your personal anxiety.

anxiety self help – Find out the trigger for your anxiety attack

Finding the cause is always the first line of action to solve any
problem and hence to cure panic attacks, you have to first figure out what causes you to panic. For this, you will have to expose yourself to situations that can trigger you so that you can get to the root cause of the anxiety problem using conventional methods instead of medicines.

You can start by identifying all the various triggers that could
possibly trigger a negative response in you. Once you have them all listed out, expose yourself to each of them. Now record your response to each one and identify which is most triggering.

Anxiety attacks are usually manifested in response to certain phobias, or fear in general, some kinds of foods or drinks or even due to retained memories of old accidents. These factors trigger different kinds of responses in different people, hence you have to watch and observe yourself closely to find out which one has the worst effect on you.

Avoid these triggers

We all believe that prevention is better than cure and this is exactly how you can deal with anxiety attacks. For example, if you realize that your attacks are triggered by a certain food product try to avoid it or at least reduce the quantity progressively. Usually caffeine is the triggering factor and to avoid this, you need to stop drinking soda’s and energy drinks.

Limit, or eliminate, your alcohol intake as alcohol excites the brain, and add more fluids to your diet. Begin exercising regularly each day so you can vent your stress and anxiety.

Anxiety Self Help Treatment – Practice regular meditation and yoga

Yoga and meditation are not only effective for relaxing your body and mind, it also controls anxiety. At least seven hours of sleep each night is also important in Anxiety Self Help Techniques.

Also, control your anger and be as patient and tolerant as you can be in both actions and thoughts. Anger triggers anxiety and controlling it will reduce levels of anxiety and is a very important anxiety self-help technique. If you try these anxiety self-help ideas, you are bound to find your level of anxiety has been reduced or possibly even eliminated.

Social Anxiety – How Can You Cure It For Good?

by Gary Gui

People who don’t know what social anxiety really is, put it in the same category as extreme shyness, but we are talking about a quite different issue. It’s hard to understand for people without this disorder that the patients’ lives can be completely destroyed because of the pain the anxiety can cause even when doing ordinary things like going on a bus, sitting in a classroom or attending a party, things most people take for granted.

Social anxiety is a diagnoses used when a person’s anxiety in social situations is so is so severe that inability of functioning in everyday life is dominating. Although many of these people are aware of the dysfunctions of their feelings and actions, they are incapable of doing anything to stop it. The symptoms of this anxiety disorder can be divided into two groups; specialized anxiety and generalized anxiety.

The specialized anxiety is triggered in particular social situations where others are involved; for example a party, holding a speech or sitting in a room full of strangers. The symptoms of generalized anxiety are a persistent and intense fear of any situation where social interactions are involved.

The generalized disorder is dominated by fear of being judged by others as well as fear of what the patient’s own actions might cause in terms of embarrassment and humiliation. These unhappy individuals simply don’t trust themselves to interact with others; they fear that they will do something that will end up with them being embarrassed or that other people will criticize them harshly.

In addition to psychological symptoms such as severe fear and anxiety, numerous physical symptoms are involved. These can include excessive sweating, trembling, blushing, heart palpitations, nausea, and stammering just to mention a few. panic attacks can also occur especially if the patient is upset. Severity and duration of these symptoms may vary from person to person.

To avoid the pain anxiety in social situations cause, some people medicate themselves with drugs or alcohol to an excessive point. This doesn’t solve their problems but rather create substance abuse problems in addition to the anxiety problems. Some patients feel they simply can’t function in social situations without substance abuse serving to boost their confidence.

A disorder that has such a negative impact on the patient’s everyday life causes a high demand of various treatments. The supply is accordingly. Fortunately there are other treatments for anxiety in general and social anxiety as well as panic attacks in particular such as herbs, natural remedies, acupuncture and similar as well as alternative psychological therapeutic approaches.

Bipolar II Disoder: Everything You Should Understand

Bipolar disorder is also called manic depressive disorder. It is a mental sickness that presents itself as mood swings or mood cycling. There are actually two sorts of bipolar disorder types, and few folks know about it. The sporadic mixed episode, as well as raging mood cycles that include episodes of intense depression and mania comprise Bipolar I disorder. Symptoms of hallucination are also felt by patients.

Fast mood cycling with episodes of depression and hypomania, on the other hand, is what outlines bipolar II disorder. Bipolar II disorder does not occur with crazy or hallucinating symptoms. Additionally, a patient experiences an increased period of exhilaration or happiness with hypomania, which is a softer form of mania. Depression with bipolar II patients is often more severe than in patients with bipolar I disorder. Suicide, suicide threats, suicide attempts, and thoughts of suicide are much more common in bipolar II patients than bipolar I patients.

When a patient has had one or more major episodes of depression, no manic episodes, and one episode of hypomania, a diagnosis of bipolar II disorder is suitable.

Symptoms of depression with bipolar II disorder include reduced energy, unexplained weight changes, feelings of despair, increased irritation, and wild crying. Sleeplessness, excess energy, rash judgments, distractability, and racing thoughts are some evidence of hypomania. These are less harsh versions of symptoms like mania.

A combo of support or therapy and medicine is needed to treat bipolar II disorder. Anti-depressants like Celexa and mood stabilizers like Topomax are the common medicines prescribed. Mood stabilizers are critical in treatment of bipolar aberrations, because anti-depression drugs alone could cause the patient to enter into a manic or hypomania episode.

Misdiagnosis as clinical depression is common with bipolar II disorder. The reason is because hypomania barely shows in treatment sessions because they’re usually optimistic, so depression is more easily seen. If a patient indeed has bipolar II disorder, this will be exhibited when a treatment of anti-depressants often for those with clinical depression brings the patient into a hypomanic state.

Conventional counseling techniques that debate lifestyle changes and cognitive behavior care are included in counseling and care treatment possibilities for bipolar II disorder. Patients with a mild case of bipolar II disorder may benefit from counseling or therapy alone without medication. Thanks to the seriousness of the depressive states, however, this is commoner with bipolar II rather than bipolar I disorder.

As soon as signs of bipolar II disorder are clear, it’s vital to seek a psychological heath pro for help. At least half of suicide cases each year are bipolar II disorder patients. Early diagnosis and ongoing treatment is necessary to avoid suicidal behaviour in bipolar II patients.