Friday, March 5, 2010

SLAP Tear

The term SLAP tear refers to Superior Labrum from Anterior to Posterior tear. It may happen in ball and socket joints of shoulders and knees. The socket is completely shallow and therefore, the joint consists of labrum which is there for the end point of humerus, where it moves. This kind of tear happens to the area of the labrum, where it attached to the tendon, from. There may be several reasons for it. A sudden fall leading to overstretching of the arm or repeated movement of the arm in a very short span of time are the two common of causes. Sometimes, due to lifting of too much of weight that is beyond his capability, causes arms to get stretched so much that tear happens.

The part of the labrum which gets SLAP tear, is very likely to get hurt in comparison to its other parts due to the reason that other parts are capable of healing because of adequate blood supply. Due to this kind of tear, the shoulder pain really badly. Other symptoms may be pain getting into deeper areas of shoulder and strange painful sensations in the shoulder with particular movements. As the pain gets too much to bear with, it is better to get it diagnosed so that the treatment plan is made and implemented, for relief from this hard pain.

SLAP tear need to be diagnosed by an expert examiner who is skilled enough to diagnose it correctly. There are some tests that need to be performed to find the exact areas that are impacted. These tests also include physical examination tests. Also, the person is asked about the symptoms he had been experiencing since he got injured. To test difficult cases, MRI scan tests are done with the help of gadolinium injection given to the injured shoulder.

Diagnosis of Throat Cancer

Diagnosis of any disease or disorder is done with the help symptoms as experienced by the patient. Same rule applies for diagnosis of throat cancer. As you go for its diagnosis, your doctor would first ask about all sorts of symptoms experienced by you, mild, moderate and severe ones. Suspecting the issue to be cancer, he may also ask about your family history to know if anybody in your family had the same problem. He would then conduct a physical examination to confirm if these symptoms are really related to the main problem. He also finds out the intensity of these symptoms.

After the physical examination is done, he then would recommend some important diagnostic tests that would help him diagnose and finally confirm about the disease. These tests are endoscopy and certain imaging tests like computerized tomography test scan (CTT scan), positron emission tomography scan (PET scan) and magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI scan) test. During endoscopy, thin and long tubes with very tiny video camera are inserted to see the throat and entire respiratory tract. The areas covered for observation purposes are esophagus and bronchi. Tissue samples are also taken from the areas, when required. The entire process is shown and guided through a TV. All this is done under anesthesia. Diagnosis of throat cancer is done pretty well through this scan.

For complete diagnosis of throat cancer, other imaging tests are also performed as additional tests. They are done to determine the state of the cancer and the areas to which it has spread. Cancer spreads in other parts of the body, if stays undiagnosed or untreated. To check this, these scan tests are performed so that no stone is left unturned while the diagnosis is on. This helps in judging out the type and extent of treatment to be given to the patient.

Deficiency of Inositol

Just like choline, inositol is also a part of vitamin B family. So we can say that inositol is very closely similar to choline. Many reasons explain about this fact. Both, choline as well as inositol, are found in lecithine, though the quantities vary. Inositol acts as an emulsifying agent for fats. Since the body produces inositol on its own it does not need the same from external resources. It is assumed that inositol is produced by the bacteria present in intestines. Normally, it is found to be in very high concentrations in the body. But the high intake of caffeine may affect its concentration and even deplete it out from the body, causing deficiency of inositol. The resources you can have it from are, grains that are unprocessed, wheat germ, raisins, nuts and citrus fruits.

Inositol performs many functions like giving nutrition to the brain cells. It does this along with choline. It is very vital for bone marrow, intestines, hair and eyes. Not only this, it is also used to treat many disorders like athero-sclerosis. Those who are not suffering from the disorder may prevent it through the intake of inositol. It reduces cholesterol level thus, helping in prevention of many heart diseases and other related complications. It helps overweight people in losing weight. Those who want healthy, attractive hair and skin may consider having inositol. Also, it helps in treatment of eczema which has become quite a common problem these days. It is therapeutically used by diabetic patients. Due to its multiple roles, deficiency of inositol may lead to numerous problems.

Deficiency of inositol may cause eczema, eye-related issues, hair problems and increase in cholesterol. Die to rise in cholesterol level, the person faces greater risk of having many heart problems. People may gain too much of weight because of this deficiency.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Broken Nose Treatment

Broken nose treatment should be carried on with all the necessary precautions as single mistake can ruin down all your efforts. In simple cases, where the nose is not displaced from its original place or crooked, the patient may just need to be given pain killers or pain relievers and other treatments like application of ice. In case there is a major breakage of the nasal bone, the doctor would try to readjust the pieces. As this process may be extremely painful for the patient, he would do that under anesthesia. Though it is not necessary that he would be successful in this mission yet he would try his best to give the nose its original form.

If the nose bleeding doesn’t seem to stop, the doctor may give nasal packing aid to he nose. Even if the bleeding stops, don’t try to remove it. The doctor himself would remove it when required, in about 2-4 days. Along with the packing, the doctor would also administer pain-killers and antibiotics for relief and healing. If still, the wound does not heal, he would perform some tests that would help him diagnose the problem and find a solution to it. Depending upon the severity of accident, the broken nose treatment might take time. It either may help in very less time or may get prolonged.

The medications given during broken nose treatment may also vary according to severity of the case. Medicine like acetaminophen or ibuprofen may be given to treat the pain. One should consider strictly adhering to instructions and dosage of the medicine. Over dosage of these drugs may take heavy toll on one’s health. By the time you are undergoing the treatment, make sure you don’t rest anything on your nose, not even sunglasses or your very important specs. Mind this, until your nose is fine and back in form completely.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Treatment of Myasthenia Gravis

The treatment of myasthenia gravis is possible only after its correct diagnosis. The doctor first needs to understand exactly muscles of which part of the body are affected. The doctor then, adopts the required method of treatment which can either be through medications or surgery. The medication may commonly include cholinesterase inhibitors and immunosuppressants. These drugs help in reduction of autoimmune processes. Neostigmine and pyridostigmine are acetylecholiesterase inhibitors that enhance muscle function by discouraging down the enzyme cholinesterase activity. This enzyme is responsible for degrading acetylcholine. Initially, very low doses of the drugs are administered. The dosage is increased in accordance with the response.

Immunosuppresant drugs that comprise of prednisone and azathioprine are given to the patient for treatment of myasthenia gravis. These drugs are given in combination with other drugs that inhibit cholinesterase. As the patient starts with these medications, he should not expect sudden relief because they may take enough time like weeks or months before showing their effect. If the myasthenia case is severe then plasmapheresis may be given for removal of the culprit antibody from circulation. If these antibodies are not removed they are made to bind with the help of immunoglubulins that are administered intravenously.

When treatment of myasthenia gravis does not seem to be achieved through medications, surgery is performed. Thymectomy is the type of surgery that is performed to remove thymus. It is though, not necessary that it would work in every case. There are various approaches of this surgery through which the objective can be achieved. The ultimate objective of the treatment is relieving muscles from getting tired abnormally and enhancing their normal function. The treatment may take time depending upon the case. Some patients may not need medications for longer periods whereas some may require them for longer. Except in severe cases, the patients may expect a normal lifestyle after the treatment.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Hair Transplantation

Hair transplantation involves a surgical procedure in which the skin having active hair follicles transplanted from one part of the body to the balder area, where the growth of hair desired. Here, the transplanted organ is the skin that contains hair follicles. Generally, the technique is applied to treat male baldness. It has brought about a revolution in hair growing science. Not only, does it work on bald heads but it has also been adopted to restore eye lashes, brows and beard hair. It also helps people regain their original look that had been disturbed due to some accidental incident. The process is also known as hair harvesting.

The modern hair transplantation technique involves transplantation of hair mimicking natural ones. The latest technique is termed as Follicular Unit Transplantation. Hair harvesting is done in two ways, strip hair harvesting and follicular unit extraction (FUE) hair harvesting. Strip harvesting is achieved by the removal of a scalp strip and then implantation of the same scalp tissue cut into small pieces of scalp tissues. These pieces of tissues are called as grafts. All this is done under general anesthesia. In FUE harvesting method single hair follicles are reinserted separately. This is done under local anesthesia.

The hair transplantation treatment was quite expensive when it was newly started. But now that it has become very common, it is less expensive. The extent of its popularity is too much. More and more people suffering from ‘dire’ consequences of hair loss are visiting hair treatment labs, seeking quick hair growth. The patience level of people has really come down as everybody wants to get good looks in no time. But before seeking such a treatment, one should understand that this would require thorough care even after the procedure is over. The post-operation care is very important for long-lasting results. One should also note that they may also have to face side effects of the treatment. Some of the common side effects are thinning of hair, hair loss visibility as bald patches and swelling in the treated areas. Some of these side effects can be treated though medications.

Dental Headache

Headache is a very common problem. Almost everyone must have experienced this problem, in their lifetime. There can be numerous causes of headaches of which stress and mental tension is considered to be the commonest. Dental headache are caused due to a bad bite made by the muscles of your jaw. This may news to some but an experience for many. The muscles that enable you to chew, moving your jaw and holding the head straight work really hard. They work without a break. If you have any dental issue like broken tooth or vacant space between the teeth or if there is improper alignment of teeth within themselves, these muscles may need to work harder and harder.

While working harder the muscles get strained and start paining while performing their function. As you ignore the issue, the pain may get intense reaching your head causing dental headache. This kind of pain has its unique characteristic that makes it different from other kinds. You may feel it surrounding your head as if some hard band is pressing it hard. To some, it may be felt as a milder one. The common symptoms of the headache are pain near the eyes, tiredness in jaw muscles, grinding of teeth, pain in the scalp and difficulty in the chewing process.

Along with the jaw and head areas, dental headache may also be felt in cheeks spreading to other parts of the face and head. For treatment, you should contact a dental specialist who would perform examination tests of your teeth, jaw and other facial muscles, jaw joints to find at which point are the muscles and joints stressed or overworked. He would then correct the bad bite thus relieving muscles from stress and pain. He would also give you tips to ease down the tension in the muscles. This would automatically fetch you relief from the related headache.

Dryness in the Mouth

The saliva in the mouth always keeps it moist. It saves from lot many bacterial and fungal infections. The saliva is produced in the mouth itself. When the production of saliva stops, the mouth becomes dry. This may bring many problems for the person. Dryness in the mouth may happen due to many reasons. The most probable reason for dry mouth can be the medication one had been following for quite some time. Drugs that treat psychological problems like depression and some meant for treating cold, hypertension, asthma, diarrhea and other problems like urinary inconsistence cause objection in production of enough of saliva. People using sedatives for pain relief and good sleep have also reported about the same problem.

Dryness in the mouth can also occur in the form of one of the symptoms of many diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS, diabetes, arthritis and anemia. People suffering from mumps and Parkinson’s disease also complain of this symptom. This happens as these conditions impact salivary glands producing saliva. During the treatment of some diseases like cancer sometimes these glands get damaged due to the radiations led by chemotherapy and so the saliva production gets impacted.

Other factors that harm the salivary glands may be the accident that may have destroyed the nerve running in the areas like head and neck. This may happen even during any surgical operation of the area. Dehydration also may cause dryness in the mouth. As the body loses water and fluids through other modes, the loss may also be seen in the mouth. Habits like smoking, chewing of tobacco also dry the mouth. All the saliva gets eaten up by tobacco and other harmful components present in these hazardous products. This can be treated through simple methods. Generally people are advised to lick and chew sugar-free candies and gums. One should have ample water for moistening the mouth. People who keep their mouth open during breathing also encounter this problem as the air passing in and out of the mouth dries it. Breathing should be done through the nose only.