Disease and Treatment
Frequently Asked Questions about Arterial Venous Fistula’s (AVF)
1. Why should I get an Arterial Venous Fistula (AVF)?
Fibromyalgia and Magnesium
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals found in the human body. It is involved in more than 300 enzymatic reactions involving all of the bodily systems. There is an important fact that needs to be understood. The routine test done to determine magnesium levels is a test performed on the blood's serum. This is the test that was probably performed on you if you have had a blood chemistry screening. Only 1% of your magnesium is found in the serum. Slightly over 31% is found in your muscle cells (intracellular) and the rest is found in your bones and other tissues.
Fibromyalgia and Free Radicals
Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that can be harmful to our cell membranes and the cellular damage they can produce puts additional stress on the already dysfunctional immune system found in the fibromyalgia syndrome. Free radicals are produced during the oxidative processes in the production of energy. An excess of harmful free radical production can result from the effects of air pollution, radiation, toxic wastes, food additives and pesticide residues.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Irritable Bowel Syndrome
An interview with Anthony Weiss, M.D., Clinical Instructor in Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology.
Dr. Weiss is a board certified gastroenterologist, a medical doctor who specializes in diagnosis and treatment of conditions of the gastrointestinal tract.
What exactly is IBS?
What is a Gastroenterologist?
Gastroenterologists are internists who specialize in diseases of the digestive tract. Nowadays, the prerequisite training includes a medical internship and residency in internal medicine.
Areas of subspecialization include
Advanced endoscopy (ERCP and endoscopic ultrasound)
Transplant hepatology
Motility
Inflammatory bowel disease
Esophagology
Nutrition and metabolism
What Causes Dementia?
The exact cause of Alzheimer's Disease, a form of dementia, is still unknown. However, scientists have been able to indentify several contributing factors. Alzheimer's Disease is known to have a genetic componant as well as an environmental one. While Alzheimer's is a form of dementia, dementia is not necessarily Alzheimer's. There are many forms of demetia, some which are entirely curable. It is imporatant to understand the distinction between Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
Management of Problems Associated with Dementia
Behavioral problems commonly coexist with cognitive deficits during the course of Alzheimer's and other dementing diseases. They cause significant morbidity, interfere with the performance of activities of daily living, and often have a greater impact on the quality of life of family and caregivers than cognitive impairment.
You Can Make a Difference: 10 Ways to Help an Alzheimer Family
"We like to go out, but my husband's too much to handle alone. I could use some help."
"Call me, If I can't talk, I'll let you know."
"It's difficult when friends stay away."
Asthma Hits Hardest At Night, So Should Medication
Expert says traditional treatment ignores timing of severe symptoms.
The symptoms suffered by some 10 million Americans with asthma can be as different as night and day, with the time of day often a key factor in their severity, according to an expert who contends the patterns of the disease should be considered when treating it.
The Truth about Fitness
The spine you have is the only one you ever get!
Through the miracle of modern medicine, many organs that fail or wear out can now be replaced. Heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and even artificial lenses for the eyes can make someone feel like new. Unfortunately for the spine, the one you were born with must last you your entire lifetime!
Conceiving in NATURE'S WAY
Human conception is an elegantly simple and marvelously complex series of events. Before we can begin to discuss the reasons certain couples have difficulty conceiving, it is important to have a full understanding of the way things are supposed to work. A good working knowledge of normal events will make the steps that can be taken to evaluate a couple's fertility make more sense. Understanding "nature's way" will also provide a framework for understanding the rationale behind some of the therapeutic measures that will be discussed later.
THE MALE
Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Possibly Other Dementias
Given the reduced risk of AD for persons with at least 8 years of education, it is reasonable to recommend active, regular use of thinking skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic. For example, research in the area of use-dependent plasticity has shown that persons who use language skills have larger, more elaborate connections in the areas of the brain related to language function. Also, we routinely see, clinically, patients with AD who have particular talents that are well preserved until moderately demented.
Risk Factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD)
Aging
Aging is still the largest risk for becoming demented, with the prevalence doubling every 5 years between ages 65 and 85 ( 1% at age 65, 5% at age 75 and 15-25% at age 85).
Family history of AD
Dementia: Definition, Causes and Symptoms
Dementia is a general term that includes specific disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Vascular or Multi-infarct dementia, Pseudodementia, and others. Dementia is defined as a loss in at least two areas of complex behavior, such as language, memory, visual and spatial abilities, or judgment, that significantly interferes with a person's daily activities.
Dementia affects over 4 million Americans, is the 4th major cause of death, and costs society $100 billion annually.
Causes
Glossary of Medical Terms
Abortion: the premature termination of a pregnancy; may be induced or spontaneous (miscarriage)
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS): a fatal disease caused by a virus that destroys the immune system's ability to fight off infection
Medications for Erectile Dysfunction
Few Drugs Used for Erectile Dysfunction Treatment are Listed Below:
Infertility Medication: Brand vs. Generic
What do FSH, HCG and HMG stand for?
FSH, HCG, and HMG are abbreviations for three different medications used to treat infertility. The following table summarizes generic and brand names that correspond to each abbreviation:
Long-Term Hormone Treatment Significantly Lowers Mortality Risk
Postmenopausal women who have taken long-term estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) have an overall lower risk of death from all causes than women who have not taken ERT, according to a study in the January 1996 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The primary apparent effect of long-term ERT use was a reduction in coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death for women.
Dr. Attwood's Low-Fat Prescription for Kids
Do kids in America eat too much fat? That's practically a given. Just look around you at all of the obese children (many of whom have obese parents as role models). But that doesn't tell the whole story. Because something much more insidious and deadly is going on in the cardiovascular systems of America's children. Fatty deposits are forming in the coronary arteries of more than 70% of kids who consume a typical American diet. Kids are being taught by their parents -- who usually mean well -- to love, cherish, seek out, and consume fatty foods by the grocery-cartful.
10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease, a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain in which brain cells die and are not replaced. According to the Alzheimer's Association, its ten chief warning signs are:
Recent memory loss that affects job skills
Difficulty performing familiar tasks
Problems with language
Disorientation of time and place
Poor or decreased judgment
Problems with abstract thinking
Misplacing things
Changes in mood or behavior
Changes in personality
Loss of initiative