Mens Health Blog. Medical Blog

HIV: ON LIVING-SOURCES OF SUPPORT: FRIENDS

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:28:39 +0000

Another vital source of support is friends—anyone from a partner, lover, or confidant to a person to have fun with, a neighbor, a co-worker, another person affected by HIV infection, or anyone who shares interests. Sometimes, because some of these people feel less intimately connected to you than family, they actually find it easier to be good companions and sources of support. June said that with her son’s sickness, she really needs her friends: “I need all the support and prayers and love I can get from anyone. My friends call and say, ‘I just wanted to know how you were. And how your son is. I’m thinking of you.’ My friends are such a source of strength. They’re there.” Sometimes friends are also less intimidating to talk to than family. You choose your friends in the first place for what you have in common, and because they will not judge what you say. People commonly say of a friend, “I can say anything to her.” Alan is quiet and not especially talkative, but he gets together with other people who have HIV infection and listens to them talk. “It helps to hear other people talk,” Alan said. “They say your feelings for you. You relate to people who think the way you do.” Many people affected by HIV infection have found their friends more helpful than anyone else. Their friends bring them food, help them do their laundry, cook meals, clean their houses, pick up medication, bring flowers or books or videos, drive them to the doctor, get them out of the house, and are just generally on call. Dean’s friends brought him a birthday party when he was in the hospital: “Balloons everywhere,” he said, “and cake, cards, presents, everything. I had lost track of the date, and had forgotten it was my birthday. I felt so good I cried.” If friends honestly offer these services, do not” be shy about accepting. Your friends are certainly concerned about you—and some of them love you—and helping you is a way for them to show how they feel. Even co-workers can be a support: some people feel the people they work with are a kind of family. When Dean had his second opportunistic illness, a co-worker called his hospital social worker and asked what she and other colleagues could do. The social worker’s answer was a good one to give anyone who asks such a question: “Don’t leave him alone. Give him openings to talk but don’t push. And stick around and don’t head for the hills.”*231\191\2*

LIVING WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY: MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF WORK

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:23:42 +0000

Work is the backbone of many people’s lives. It provides some definition of who we are. Work will probably be a key issue as you reenter the “real world.”You may have no difficulty reentering your old profession. If you are an accountant, an English teacher, an editor, or a computer specialist, job modifications may be minor. If you are a dancer, a window installer, or a professional soccer player, you’ll have to think about switching careers. However, before deciding on a change, stop and consider: if you love your line of work, look for a creative way to continue. If you were a professional baseball player, what about coaching or managing a team? And dance companies need choreographers and managers, whose work can be done primarily on computer. You may need additional training to stay in your chosen career in a new, creative way.Jerome Lee’s story is an interesting example of creativity in combining an old career with new limitations and new skills. Jerome worked in construction for twenty-two years before a random shooting injury caused his paraplegia. During rehabilitation, his positive attitude helped motivate and encourage many younger patients. When he left the rehabilitation hospital for a vocational training program, it seemed logical to work in human services. Jerome earned certification as a human services assistant, but although he liked helping people, he hated to throw away all those years of experience and all that he knew and loved about construction work.After many consultations with the business opportunities division of his vocational training program, Jerome worked out a way to combine his old skills in construction and site management with his new skills in human services and motivation. He became the manager of the painting crew for the large outpatient center that housed the vocational training program, recruiting many workers with disabilities. “I bid on jobs, organize the workload, order supplies, assemble the work teams, supervise the jobs – and do a lot of the plastering and painting myself … I teach my crew members a trade they can really use . . . We sometimes surprise people who don’t expect to see individuals with disabilities doing this kind of work. To me, we are proof that no one should be denied the chance to work because he or she has a disability.”
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REDUCING YOUR RISK OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE: DOES AGE MATTER? OLDER AGE GROUPS & WHEN SHOULD YOU HAVE YOUR CHOLESTEROL CHECKED?

admin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 08:16:15 +0000

Older Age Groups. The evidence that lowering cholesterol helps to diminish or at least slow down, the development coronary artery disease in some people provides a strong rationale for advocating cholesterol control beyond middle age. People in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s who have coronary artery disease or risk factors already present have the highest risk of problems if the disease progresses. Thus, many doctors believe that it is never too late to institute cholesterol-lowering measures, although at present this opinion remains unproven.WHEN SHOULD YOU HAVE YOUR CHOLESTEROL CHECKED? The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that all adults older than 20 years start with a blood test that measures the total cholesterol level. If your total cholesterol is more than 200 mg/dl, then have your LDL, HDL, and triglyceride values checked. Subsequent cholesterol checks should be done at regular medical checkups. If your cholesterol is high and your doctor recommends dietary changes or other treatments, you will probably have your cholesterol re-checked in about 3 months to determine the effect of treatment. At that point, your doctor can decide whether added treatment is advisable.*248\252\8*

INTRA-ABDOMINAL INFECTIONS: LIVER ABSCESS

admin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:18:33 +0000

Pyogenic liver abscesses are relatively uncommon, with an incidence of 0.005% for all hospital admissions. The most common cause of pyogenic liver abscess is biliary tract disease leading to ascending cholangitis. Other routes of infection include the portal vein (draining an intraabdominal infection), the hepatic artery (with systemic bacteremia), direct extension from a contiguous focus of infection (e.g., cholecystitis, subphrenic abscess), or penetrating trauma to the liver. One quarter of all hepatic abscesses are cryptogenic, with no direct cause found.
The etiologic organisms are primarily enteric bacteria, with E. coli and K. pneumoniae being most common. Enterococci and viridans streptococci are also likely, particularly in cases of polymicrobial abscesses. Two thirds of liver abscesses are polymicrobial, and one third involves anaerobes. S. aureus is more common in children and in patients with bacteremia. Entamoeba histolytica is responsible for 10% of liver abscesses.
A minority of patients present with the classic triad of fever, jaundice, and right upper quadrant pain (Charcot’s triad). More often, fever and constitutional symptoms, including malaise, fatigue, anorexia, and weight loss, are present. Patients often have an enlarged liver and may have point tenderness. Suspicion of an amoebic liver abscess may be elicited by a history of travel or diarrhea, although impaired immunity also appears to be a risk factor in the absence of a travel history.
Peripheral leukocytosis is common, as are elevated serum alkaline phosphatase levels, usually without an elevation in bilirubin. Stool examination to look for E. histolytica trophozoites or cysts is usually not helpful, since most patients do not have detectable parastites in the stool. Serologic testing with enzyme immunoassays specific for E. histolytica is often useful.
Computed tomography is the most accurate imaging technique in the diagnosis of liver abscess, with a sensitivity of 95% or greater. Ultrasonography is the study of choice in patients with suspected biliary tract disease or in patients who must avoid intravenous contrast agents. An amoebic liver abscess is more likely to be solitary than pyogenic abscesses and is usually limited to the right lobe of the liver.
Treatment of a pyogenic liver abscess requires drainage as well as antibiotics. The initial procedure of choice is percutaneous drainage, which has a success rate of almost 90%. Surgical drainage is usually reserved for cases that do not resolve with the percutaneous approach. Empiric therapy for pyogenic liver abscess is the same as that recommended for secondary peritonitis. Amoebic liver abscess can usually be treated with medical management alone. Metronidazole is the drug of choice and is given as 750 mg three times a day for 10 days. This should be followed by a luminal agent (typically paromomycin or diloxanide furoate) to treat asymptomatic colonization.
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HAS MENSTRUAL CYCLE ANY RELATION WITH HER SEX DRIVE?

admin — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:07:41 +0000

Yes, many women experience a heightening in sex desire at a specific time in their menstrual cycle, generally, just before; during, or just after menstruation. Man should know about the variation in arousal of sex desire of a female.

Why women avoid sex?

When a woman always seems to find an excuse to avoid sex her husband may feel resentful and rejected. But husband Should try to find out the cause behind it.
For relief of sex tension man need not be giving equal pleasure to his partner while female depends for satisfaction in intercourse on feelings of being needed and loved. This love for woman may mean sentimental attachment, sexual involvement, possession of a partner or total submission to sex partner.

Do wives need reassurance?

Generally wife feels that love means reassurance. If it is not understood by husband wife thinks that she is only an instrument in a mechanical process of intercourse and may become indifferent to husband.
Why females avoid sex during pregnancy?
Perhaps she does not find comfortable position for intercourse. She may have a fearof abortion if excited too much. But it is a groundless fear.

Why female develops low sex drive after child birth?

Woman is physically tired and she has a fear that penetration will be painful. It may become more if she had a difficult labour or required stitches after child birth. Husband should be considerate and wife should also explain her feelings to husband so that he may not misunderstand.
Can woman refuse sex if time or place does not suit?

If she is keeping one ear open for sounds from the children’s bedroom she may reject the choice and place of her husband although may be interested in sex. Sometimes if parents are in adjacent room and will hear each creak of the bed it may make it difficult for them to relax. When a family is going through a period of great strain and anxiety woman may find herself unwilling or unable to respond to her partner’s sexual approach. Wife lying awake at night fretting and anxious about the future may become angry on the sexual demand of her husband. Woman may grow impatient with a man who regularly makes sexual advances at an inconvenient time of early morning before getting up.

Why blue films are banned?

Normal sexual behaviour is the intimate private act between husband and wife. But blue films often exaggerate the act to the ridiculous. Abnormal sex, rape and multipartners are common themes of these films. These encourage unrealistic pattern of sexual behaviour which is not desirable in society hence are banned.
Can girl remain virgin although practising masturbation?

Yes, girl is virgin till she has intercourse with male. Masturbation will not damage her chastity although her hymen may be torn during masturbation.

Are children curious about nudity?
Yes, young children are always curious to know about what brothers and sisters look like with out clothes. This curiosity is normal.
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IBS AND PRESCRIBED DRUGS: TRANQUILLIZERS AND SLEEPING PILLS – MARTIN’S EXPERIENCE

admin — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:10:35 +0000

Martin was down to 1/2 mg of lorazepam (Ativan) when his bowel troubles started. He complained of abdominal pain, and bloating, and his bowel movements were erratic: sometimes he was constipated then he would have a loose stool for several days. He had investigations which showed nothing abnormal. He noticed his bladder felt sore after drinking orange juice or beer and he found several foods he had always enjoyed now upset him. He was not convinced about the Candida connection at first but after speaking with people who had come off tranquillizers and had the same problem he decided to ask his GP for a course of Nystatin. His doctor had supported several people through withdrawal and was very helpful. He prescribed an eight-week course of Nystatin. After the first week he began to feel better, he was not so bloated and was sleeping better. He gave up dairy produce and kept to a low carbohydrate diet and small regular meals. Athlete’s foot had plagued him for months; this also cleared up.
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BACH FLOWER REMEDIES: HOLLY REMEDY

admin — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:18:22 +0000

Hatred, jealousy, suspicion, envy.
When choice of remedy suitable in the case of an active person is difficult, it is advisable to start the treatment with “Holly Remedy”.
‘HOLLY REMEDY embodies the principle of Love—the Divine Love, the universal love which encompasses everybody in its fold, giving a feeling of universal human brotherhood, a sense of one-ness with everybody else. Love is the greatest enobling quality of the Soul. Love is GOD. It is the biggest unifying force in man’s society. With love, the family remains united, the business firms and the partnerships continue to work unhindered, and they progress.
With Love as the dominant force in the world it would be “Ram Raj”, a Utopian world with peace and prosperity for one and all.
But, alas, it is not so. What we witness in this world today is the very anti-thesis of Love.
Bereft of love, there is hatred, jealousy, suspicion, fear and envy all around. The family, the society, the countries and the whole human race is disintegrating in the absence of love. “Survival for the fittest” is the order of the day.
“Everything is fair in Love & War” is another slogan coined by unscrupulous persons and used often to justify an unbecoming act. What a shame that love and war should be equated in one sentence.
Love is the positive side of HOLLY. According to Dr. Bach “HOLLY protects us from everything that is not Universal Love. It opens our heart to unite with Divine Love” It invokes in us a feeling of oneness with the other person -a feeling which raises us to a pedestal where petty ideas of jealousy, hatred, fear, envy etc do not touch us, and we consider other person as a brother having equal rights to enjoy the gifts of father GOD, in his own way. In the negative HOLLY state, man becomes the selfish creature with very strong feelings of jealousy, hatred, revenge, malice and envy.
Not that these feelings of jealousy are limited to human mind only. A pet dog of a childless couple did not take it easy when the couple were blessed with a child and started loving the child. The dog bit the child—reason jealousy. It was only after giving the dog HOLLY Remedy that he could shed-off his jealousy towards the child.
*116\308\8*

EPILEPSY AND ITS SPECIAL FORMS/EPILEPSY SYNDROMES: STURGE-WEBER SYNDROME

admin — Fri, 13 May 2011 13:10:36 +0000

Sturge-Weber syndrome is not inherited. It is an abnormality of blood vessel formation occurring early in the development of the fetal face and brain. Children with this disease are born with a red birthmark (“port wine stain”) on the forehead and, at times, extending over the eye and lower face. Birthmarks that do not appear on the forehead are not associated with Sturge-Weber syndrome.
In this disease, blood vessel malformation causes atrophy (shrinking) of the underlying brain, leading to seizures and paralysis of the opposite side of the body. The seizures that accompany this shrinkage are usually one-sided and may be difficult to control with medication. Children with Sturge-Weber syndrome may be of normal intelligence but are often progressively handicapped by mental retardation, by the seizures, and by paralysis. Surgery to remove the affected portion of the brain is sometimes indicated and should be done early in treatment.
Laser surgery for the facial birthmark (hemangioma) shows promise of alleviating this disfiguring problem.
*100\208\8*

LIVING WITH DIABETES: DEFINITIONS AND TYPES OF THE DISEASE

admin — Thu, 05 May 2011 12:44:10 +0000

Diabetes has been around for a long time. The ancient Egyptians recognized the disease, and so did the Romans, who even developed some crude treatments for it. In ancient India, “physicians” recommended exercise as a treatment for the condition we know as diabetes. Amazingly, in modern time we strongly recommend that same exercise programme.
The name of the disease comes from the Greek word “diabetes”, which means to siphon or flow through, and the Latin word “mellitus”, which means honey or sweet.
In Europe during mediaeval times, physicians diagnosed diabetes by tasting the urine of the afflicted patient. If the urine was sweet, the physicians confirmed the diagnosis. Unfortunately, these physicians could not effectively treat the disease.

Definitions
Diabetes mellitus refers to the condition that results in an above-normal level of glucose in the blood, which sometimes spills over through the kidneys into the urine.
There are two major types of diabetes mellitus:
• Type I diabetes, in which the person does not produce any insulin and thus is dependent on injections of insulin to sustain life and to regulate blood glucose levels.
Type I diabetes usually occurs in children and adolescents but has been known to occur in adults. About ten per cent of all persons with diabetes have Type I. The onset of Type I diabetes is rapid, has characteristic symptoms, and often is dramatic.
• Type II diabetes, in which the person may not produce enough insulin or may be resistant to the action of the insulin produced. This person may be able to regulate blood glucose levels by diet and exercise alone; by diet, exercise and an oral anti-diabetes drug; or by diet, exercise and insulin injections.
Type II diabetes usually occurs in adults over the age of forty, those who have a family history of diabetes, those who are overweight or obese, and women who have given birth to babies weighing over four kilograms. It is possible that a woman who gives birth to a big baby had diabetes during her pregnancy (called gestational diabetes), which may not have been diagnosed.
About ninety per cent of all persons with diabetes have Type II. About eighty-five per cent of people with Type II are overweight or obese.
The onset of Type II diabetes is gradual and often without symptoms. A blood test ordered at the time of a routine physical examination often is the only way for a person to detect that he or she has this disease.
More than half of the people with Type II diabetes don’t even know they have the disease.
Since you have just been diagnosed as having Type II diabetes, you should consider yourself to be quite lucky. You’re fortunate because you can do something to control this disease and make your life happier, healthier and perhaps even longer.
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DIAGNOSIS OF HEART DISEASE: HEART ATTACK OR ACUTE INDIGESTION

admin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:26:23 +0000

“I think it’s just acute indigestion, doctor, but it won’t go away.” The voice came from a sixty-year-old man lying on a bed in the emergency room. “It started about four hours ago, although I had a little bit of it last night.” The patient made a fist and laid it over his upper chest. “It’s a bad pain right about here. At times I feel it going over to both shoulders and up into my neck.”
As the doctor felt the patient’s pulse, he noted that the patient’s color was pale, that his skin was cool and damp, and that his breathing was slightly rapid. His story was interrupted as he paused to catch his breath.
The doctor rapidly examined the sick man and just as quickly made an electrocardiogram. His suspicion was correct. The patient had an acute myocardial infarction (a heart attack). He was wheeled away on a litter and minutes after was under the care of a special team in the Coronary Care Unit. An hour later the patient was dead. Frustration was written on the faces of the nurses and doctors who had tried to save him. If he had come in an hour or two sooner, they might have done it.
This story is a painful one that repeats itself over and over again in the hospitals of our country. “It’s just indigestion, doc.” Probably half of the people who have a heart attack mistake it for acute indigestion. Perhaps they think it is their heart but are afraid to admit it to themselves.
What is acute indigestion? What causes it? Strictly speaking, indigestion means incomplete or difficult digestion of food. In itself, this situation would probably not produce any symptom other than a sensation of fullness in the abdomen. People who use the term indigestion are usually referring to other things.
One common problem in the intestinal tract that is confused by people who have “heart pain” is a disorder called hiatal hernia, or a diaphragmatic hernia. This is a condition in which a small part of the stomach is able to slide up into the chest through an opening in the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the muscular structure that separates the heart and lungs from the organs of the abdomen. The esophagus, the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach, passes through a hole (hiatus) in the diaphragm. When a person has a diaphragmatic hernia, this normal hole is larger than it is supposed to be, and when he lies down, part of the stomach slides up into his chest. This occurs only when the person is lying down, because when he is sitting or standing, gravity pulls the stomach down low in the abdomen. If a person has symptoms from this problem, one is usually a feeling of pressure or general discomfort in the upper abdomen or the lower chest. Sometimes this hernia can produce severe pain.
The clue to the diagnosis of the hernia is that usually the pain starts sometime after the person has gone to bed after a large meal. The sooner he goes to bed after a meal, the more likely he is to experience discomfort. Furthermore, most patients find that they get relief from the pain if they sit up in bed, or better yet, if they get up and walk around. On assuming a more upright position, the stomach returns to its normal position and the pain disappears. The diagnosis of this condition is confirmed by an X-ray of the upper intestinal tract.
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