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Saliva Test Detects Early Signs of Stroke

A simple saliva test could help doctors identify patients most at risk of a life-threatening stroke.

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New research shows that high levels of the hormone cortisol in saliva are directly linked to the build-up of fatty deposits in arteries carrying blood to the brain.

When these deposits – called plaques – break loose, they can cause a blockage that starves the brain of blood and oxygen.

A simple saliva test-> CLICK & SEE

Research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests many strokes could be prevented if doctors routinely tested patients’ saliva.

Strokes are the third most common cause of death in England and Wales, after heart disease and cancer. They occur when a clot cuts off the blood supply to the brain.

Clots are often caused by fatty deposits that get dislodged and travel towards the brain. Once they get into smaller blood vessels in the skull, they cause a blockage.

In the latest study, experts at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Holland, and the Technical University of Dresden in Germany tested volunteers to see if cortisol levels in their saliva pointed to diseased arteries.

Each volunteer provided four saliva samples throughout the course of one day and underwent ultrasound tests to check for plaque deposits in their carotid arteries (in the neck).

The results showed those with the highest cortisol levels also had the largest build-up of plaques.

Sources:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/

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Ailmemts & Remedies

Eclampsia

Pregnancy comparison. 26 weeks and 40 weeks. 2005

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Definition:Eclampsia is a serious complication of pregnancy. It is the occurrence of seizures (convulsions) that are unrelated to brain conditions. Usually eclampsia occurs after the onset of pre-eclampsia though sometimes no pre-eclamptic symptoms are recognisable. The convulsions may appear before, during or after labour, though cases of eclampsia after just 20 weeks of pregnancy have been recorded.

Eclampsia, a life-threatening complication of pregnancy, results when a pregnant woman previously diagnosed with preeclampsia (high blood pressure and protein in the urine) develops seizures or coma. In some cases, seizures or coma may be the first recognizable sign that a pregnant woman has preeclampsia. Key warning signs of eclampsia in a woman diagnosed with preeclampsia may be severe headaches, blurred or double vision, or seeing spots. Toxemia is a common name used to describe preeclampsia and eclampsia.

There has never been any evidence suggesting an orderly progression of disease beginning with mild preeclampsia progressing to severe preeclampsia and then on to eclampsia. The disease process can begin mild and stay mild, or can be initially diagnosed as eclampsia without prior warning.

* Approximately 5-7% of all pregnancies are complicated by preeclampsia.

* Preeclampsia usually occurs in a woman’s first pregnancy but may occur for the first time in a subsequent pregnancy.

* Less than one in 100 women with preeclampsia will develop eclampsia or (convulsions or seizures) or coma.

* Up to 20% of all pregnancies are complicated by high blood pressure. Complications resulting from high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and eclampsia may account for up to 20% of all deaths that occur in pregnant women.

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Causes:
The cause of eclampsia is not well understood. Researchers believe a person’s genes, diet, blood vessels, and neurological factors may play a role. However, no theories have yet been proven.

Eclampsia follows preeclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy marked by high blood pressure, weight gain, and protein in the urine.

It is difficult to predict which women with preeclampsia will go on to have seizures. Women with very high blood pressure, headaches, vision changes, or abnormal blood tests have severe preeclampsia and are at high risk for seizures.

The rate of eclampsia is approximately 1 out of 2000 to 3000 pregnancies.
The following increase a woman’s chance for preeclampsia:

* First pregnancies
* Teenage pregnancies
* Being 35 or older
* Being African-American
* Multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets, etc.)
* History of diabetes, hypertension, or renal (kidney) disease
.
* Since we don’t know what causes preeclampsia or eclampsia, we don’t have any effective tests to predict when preeclampsia or eclampsia will occur, or treatments to prevent preeclampsia or eclampsia from occurring (or recurring).

* Preeclampsia usually occurs with first pregnancies. However, preeclampsia may be seen with twins (or multiple pregnancies), in women older than 35 years, in women with high blood pressure before pregnancy, in women with diabetes, and in women with other medical problems (such as connective tissue disease and kidney disease).

* For unknown reasons, African American women are more likely to develop eclampsia and preeclampsia than white women.

* Preeclampsia may run in families, although the reason for this is unknown.

* Preeclampsia is also associated with problems with the placenta, such as too much placenta, too little placenta, or how the placenta attaches to the wall of the uterus. Preeclampsia is also associated with hydatidiform mole pregnancies, in which no normal placenta and no normal baby are present.

* There is nothing that any woman can do to prevent preeclampsia or eclampsia from occurring. Therefore, it is both unhealthy and not helpful to assign blame and to review and rehash events that occurred either just prior to pregnancy or during early pregnancy that may have contributed to the development of preeclampsia.
Symptoms:
* Seizures
* Severe agitation
* Unconsciousness
* Muscle aches and pains

Symtoms of preeclampsia include swelling of hands and face, gaining more than 2 pounds per week, headache, vision problems, and stomach pain.

The majority of cases are heralded by pregnancy-induced hypertension and proteinuria but the only true sign of eclampsia is an eclamptic convulsion, of which there are four stages. Patients with edema and oliguria may develop renal failure or pulmonary edema.

Premonitory stage
this stage is usually missed unless constantly monitored, the woman rolls her eyes while her facial and hand muscles twitch slightly.
Tonic stage
soon after the premonitory stage the twitching turns into clenching. Sometimes the woman may bite her tongue as she clenches her teeth, while the arms and legs go rigid. The respiratory muscles also spasm, causing the woman to stop breathing, leading to cyanosis. This stage continues for around 30 seconds.
Clonic stage
the spasm stops but the muscles start to jerk violently. Frothy, slightly bloodied saliva appears on the lips and can sometimes be inhaled. After around two minutes the convulsions stop, leading into a temporary unconscious stage.
Comatose stage
the woman falls deeply unconscious, breathing noisily. This can last only a few minutes or may persist for hours.

* A common belief is that the risk of eclampsia rises as blood pressure increases above 160/110 mm Hg.

* The kidneys are unable to efficiently filter the blood (as they normally do). This may cause an increase in protein to be present in the urine. The first sign of excess protein is commonly seen on a urine sample obtained in your provider’s office. Rarely does a woman note any changes or symptoms associated with excess protein in the urine. In extreme cases affecting the kidneys, the amount of urine produced decreases greatly.

* Nervous system changes can include blurred vision, seeing spots, severe headaches, convulsions, and even occasionally blindness. Any of these symptoms require immediate medical attention.

* Changes that affect the liver can cause pain in the upper part of the abdomen and may be confused with indigestion or gallbladder disease. Other more subtle changes that affect the liver can affect the ability of the platelets to cause blood to clot; these changes may be seen as excessive bruising.

* Changes that can affect your baby can result from problems with blood flow to the placenta and therefore result in your baby not getting proper nutrients. As a result, the baby may not grow properly and may be smaller than expected, or worse the baby will appear sluggish or seem to decrease the frequency and intensity of its movements. You should call your doctor immediately if you notice your baby’s movements slow down.

Diagnosis:

If you experience any of the above symptoms call your provider immediately and expect to come to the office or hospital.

* Be sure to review all of your signs, symptoms, and concerns with your provider. Your provider should check your blood pressure, weight, and urine at every office visit.

* If your provider suspects that you have preeclampsia, he or she will order blood tests to check your platelet count, liver function, and kidney function. They will also check a urine sample in the office or possibly order a 24-hour urine collection to check for protein in the urine. The results of these blood tests should be available within 24 hours (if sent out), or within several hours if performed at a hospital.

* The well-being of your baby should be checked by placing you on a fetal monitor. Further tests may include nonstress testing, biophysical profile (ultrasound), and an ultrasound to measure the growth of the baby (if it has not been done within the previous 2-3 weeks).
Treatment:
A woman with eclampsia should be continously monitored. Delivery is the treatment of choice for eclampsia in a pregnancy over 28 weeks. For pregnancies less than 24 weeks, the start of labor is recommended, although the baby may not survive.

Prolonging pregnancies in which the woman has eclampsia results in danger to the mother and infant death in approximately 87% of cases.

Women may be given medicine to prevent seizures (anticonvulsant). Magnesium sulfate is a safe drug for both the mother and the baby.

Medication may be used to lower the high blood pressure. The goal is to manage severe cases until 32-34 weeks and mild cases until 36 weeks of the pregnancy have passed. The condition is then relieved with the delivery of the baby. Delivery may be induced if blood pressure stays high despite medication.

The treatment of seizures in eclampsia consists of:

* Prevention of convulsion
* Control the blood pressure
* Delivery of fetus

Prevention of convulsion is usually done using magnesium sulfate with a loading of Magnesium sulfate 20% solution, 4 g IV over 5 minutes. Then maintain with 1 g magnesium sulfate (10%solution) in 1000 ml fluid drip 1g/hr.

The blood pressure may be controlled by hydralazine 5 mg IV slowly every 5 minutes until blood pressure is lowered. Repeat hourly as needed or give hydralazine 12.5 mg IM every 2 hours as needed.

Delivery should take place as soon as the woman’s condition has stabilized. Delaying delivery to increase fetal maturity is unsafe for both the woman and the fetus, after delivery the womans health relative to the condition is improved drastically. Delivery should occur regardless of the gestational age.

The closer you are to your due date, the more likely your cervix will be ripe (ready for delivery), and that induction of labor will be successful. Sometimes medications, such as oxytocin (Pitocin), are given to help induce labor.

* The earlier in pregnancy (24-34 weeks), the less chance of a successful induction (although induction is still possible). It is more common to have a cesarean delivery when eclampsia necessitates delivery early in pregnancy.

* If the baby shows signs of compromise, such as decreased fetal heart rate, an immediate cesarean delivery will be performed.

Modern Medications:

* You may require medication to treat your high blood pressure during labor or after delivery. It is unusual to require medication for high blood pressure after six weeks following delivery (unless you have a problem with high blood pressure that is unrelated to pregnancy).

* During labor (and for 24-48 hours after delivery) you will be given a medication called magnesium sulfate. This is to decrease your chances of having a recurrent seizure.

* Medications such as oxytocin (Pitocin) or prostaglandins are given to induce labor and/or ripen your cervix. A Foley catheter is sometimes placed in the cervix to mechanically “speed” the dilation process.

Prognosis:

Women in the United States rarely die from eclampsia.
Most women will have good outcomes for their pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia or eclampsia. Some women will continue to have problems with their blood pressure and will need to be followed closely after delivery.

Most babies will do well. Babies born prematurely will usually stay in the hospital longer. A rule of thumb is to expect the baby to stay in the hospital until their due date.

Unfortunately, a few women and babies experience life-threatening complications from preeclampsia or eclampsia.

Possible Complications:

There is a higher risk for placenta seperation (placenta abruptio) with preeclampsia or eclampsia. There may be baby complications due to premature delivery.

Click to know details of Eclampsia , pre-eclampsia: the facts and Unifying hypothesis of pre-eclampsia pathophysiology

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to be a substitute for professional medical advise or help. It is always best to consult with a Physician about serious health concerns. This information is in no way intended to diagnose or prescribe remedies.This is purely for educational purpose

Resources:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000899.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclampsia
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/eclampsia/article_em.htm

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Advances in Treatments for Enlarged Prostates

 

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Drugs, including those such as Viagra and Botox, have become the new focus in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

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Growing older has its perks — heftier income, respect of one’s peers — and its drawbacks such as, for men, a steady enlargement of the prostate gland.

Soon, men with this problem may have a broader set of therapeutic options.

A 2003 study already has revolutionized the standard of care men get for this common condition. And new ideas about treating the symptoms of prostate gland enlargement now have doctors treating men with drugs better known for their effects on erectile dysfunction and wrinkled skin.

Viagra and Botox are just two of several drugs being studied for treating problems with urination and benign prostatic hyperplasia, the term for overgrown but noncancerous prostates that occur in most men as they age.

The oft-reported numbers are startling: At least 2 of 3 sixtysomething men have symptoms of an enlarged prostate gland, the organ that produces semen. Symptoms can be merely bothersome — the need to urinate often, poor urine flow and incomplete emptying of the bladder. Or they can be serious enough to require treatment: bladder and kidney dysfunction; stones or infection in the bladder; and urinary retention — inability to urinate at all.

Drug use is fairly recent

Using drugs to treat enlarged prostates is fairly new. “Twenty years ago, we never used medications,” says Dr. Steven Kaplan, a urologist at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. Instead, when the condition became advanced, surgeons would cut away excess tissue.

Then a five-year study of 3,047 men published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 caused a shift in medical practice. It found that a combination of two drugs helped relieve symptoms and halted the progression of the condition. “Now medications are the standard of care,” says Kaplan, a coauthor of that research. Surgery is now reserved for men with very large prostates or intractable symptoms.

One of the drugs tested in that study is doxazosin (Cardura), which relaxes muscle in the prostate and bladder. This helps men maintain a steady urine stream and empty their bladders more completely.

The other drug, finasteride (Proscar), blocks the synthesis of a hormone thought to spur prostate growth and can reduce prostate size.

Study coauthor Dr. Claus Roehrborn, a urologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, says that interim results from a second long-term study of 4,800 men have corroborated the superiority of combination therapy, although with different drugs — the alpha blocker dutasteride (Avodart), a drug in the same class as doxazosin, and tamsulosin (Flomax), which, like finasteride, is in a class of drugs called 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors.

Doctors agree that alpha blockers are primarily responsible for ameliorating symptoms. But preventing the big risks, urinary retention and surgery, requires the combination.

And new approaches are under study. “What used to be a two-horse race has just exploded,” Kaplan says.

Prostate health is by definition a man’s issue. Yet one of the most promising new treatment drugs is borrowed from women’s troubles with urinary urgency, termed “overactive bladder” by doctors. Doctors avoided the drugs in the past, fearing that supressing bladder activity would increase the risk of urinary retention in men. That fear has not been borne out in several studies, including a 2006 trial of more than 800 men published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. In it, tolterodine (Detrol LA), used to treat urinary incontinence, decreased urinary symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate. Side effects were minimal, and rates of urinary retention were low and unaffected by drug treatment.

No study has shown that drugs for overactive bladder are better than combination therapy, but they may be helpful in men whose symptoms are due to a bladder issue rather than the effect of the prostate leaning on the bladder, researchers say.

Another new drug development comes from anecdotal reports that men taking drugs for erectile dysfunction were urinating better. In response, drug companies, including Pfizer (which markets Viagra) and GlaxoSmithKline (which markets Levitra) and Eli Lilly & Co. (which markets Cialis) are studying their erectile dysfunction drugs in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

One of these studies, of vardenafil (GlaxoSmithKline’s Levitra), was published earlier this year in European Urology. In it, 222 German men were given either vardenafil or a placebo for eight weeks. Those receiving the drug reported improved urination equivalent to that obtained with Flomax, as well as improved erectile function and quality of life.

And Roehrborn this month will present results from an Eli Lilly-funded clinical trial at an American Urologist Assn. meeting showing that tadalafil (Cialis) was as effective or better than the alpha blocker drugs in improving enlarged prostate symptoms.

Roehrborn says prescribing these drugs for benign prostatic hyperplasia may help remove the stigma of erectile dysfunction. “Think about the psychology. Men take it for a medical condition, a legitimate reason. But because they take it daily, their sexual function is adequate 24/7.”

Botox possibilities

Another development in the works: Botulinum toxin (Botox), which causes muscle paralysis and is used cosmetically to treat wrinkles. A small 2006 study of 41 men, published in the journal BJU International, found improvement in lower urinary tract symptoms and quality of life when Botox was injected into the prostate. Prostate size decreased by an average of 15%, but even in subjects whose prostates did not shrink, urinary function was normalized. Additional Botox studies are underway, including one sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and led by Dr. Kevin McVary, a urologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

For now, McVary says, standard treatment means that a patient with many symptoms who desires treatment should be offered an alpha blocker. If the gland is large, he should also be offered a 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor to avoid long-term consequences. Developing an enlarged prostate is the first time many men confront the likelihood of taking drugs every day for the rest of their lives. “People still have this notion that they can ‘make the disease go away,’ ” Roehrborn says. They cannot, he adds. “You stop the medication, the prostate actually physically grows back,” he says.

But future medications will be applied with more precision, Kaplan predicts. “You have to tailor the therapy to the size of the prostate, as well as the type of symptoms,” he says. “Some prostates do better by shrinking them; some prostates do better by relaxing the muscle. . . . I think the challenge is to figure out which drugs work for which patients.”

You may also click to see:->

* Diet and exercise looked at as risk factors for enlarged prostates
* Conflicting studies on saw palmetto’s effect on prostate
* Surgery options for enlarged prostate

Sources: The Los Angles Time

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Sow the Seeds of Good Health

 

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In some studies, moderate use of alcohol is linked with higher HDL (good) cholesterol levels. But take it easy there, Dino. People who consume moderate amounts of alcohol (an average of one to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women) have a lower risk of heart disease, but increased consumption of alcohol can bring other health dangers, such as alcoholism, high blood pressure, obesity, and cancer.

Johnny B good
A B vitamin called niacin reduces LDL (bad) cholesterol at the same time it raises beneficial HDL. In fact, niacin can be more effective at treating these things than popular cholesterol-busting drugs, which tend to act more generally on total cholesterol and gross LDL. (Be careful, though. While the niacin you get from foods and over-the-counter vitamins is fine, super-high doses of niacin can have serious side effects and should be taken only under a doctor’s supervision.)

Time for some tea.
Three recent studies confirm that drinking green tea can help lower your cholesterol level and reduce your risk of developing cancer. In a 12-week trial of 240 men and women, researchers at Vanderbilt University found that drinking the equivalent of 7 cups of green tea a day can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 16 percent. Seven cups a day is a lot of tea, but even 1 or 2 cups a day could have a beneficial impact. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Rochester recently determined that green tea extract can help prevent the growth of cancer cells, and Medical College of Ohio researchers found that a compound called EGCG in green tea may help slow or stop the progression of bladder cancer.

Go for the grapefruit.
If you want to make one simple dietary change for better health, the best thing you can do is eat a single white or ruby grapefruit every day. Grapefruit is gaining ground as a power food. New research shows that it can fight heart disease and cancer, trigger your body to lose weight, and even help you get a better night’s sleep. A grapefruit a day can lower your total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 8 and 11 percent, respectively.

Gain with grains and beans. Researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto had people add several servings of foods like whole grains, nuts, and beans to their diets each day. One month later, the test subjects LDL (bad) cholesterol levels were nearly 30 percent lower than when the trial began. In another study, this one at Tulane University, researchers found that people who ate four or more servings a week had a 22 percent lower risk of developing heart disease (and 75 percent fewer camping companions) than less-than-once-a-week bean eaters.

Don’t let your tank hit empty.
A study in the British Medical Journal found that people who eat six or more small meals a day have 5 per cent lower cholesterol levels than those who eat one or two large meals.

Refrain from fries.
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the exercise and nutritional habits of 80,000 women were recorded for 14 years. The researchers found that the most important correlate of heart disease was the women’s dietary intake of foods containing trans fatty acids, mutated forms of fat that lower HDL (good) and increase LDL (bad) cholesterol. Some of the worst offenders are french fries.

Sow your oats.
In a University of Connecticut study, men with high cholesterol who ate oat bran cookies daily for 8 weeks dropped their levels of LDL cholesterol by more than 20 percent. So eat more oat bran fibre, such as oatmeal. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that two servings of whole-grain cereal a day can reduce a man’s risk of dying of heart disease by nearly 20 per cent.

Rise and dine
In a study of 3,900 people, Harvard researchers found that men who ate breakfast every day were 44 percent less likely to be overweight and 41 percent less likely to develop insulin resistance, both risk factors for heart disease.

Fortify with folic acid
A study published in the British Medical Journal found that people who
consume the recommended amount of folic acid each day have a 16 percent lower risk of heart disease than those whose diets are lacking in this B vitamin. Good sources of folic acid include asparagus, broccoli, and fortified cereal.

Order a chef’s salad Leafy greens and egg yolks are both good sources of lutein, a phytochemical that carries heart disease fighting antioxidants to your cells and tissues.

Be a sponge
Loma Linda University researchers found that drinking five or more 8-ounce glasses of water a day could help lower your risk of heart disease by up to 60 per cent — exactly the same drop you get from stopping smoking, lowering your LDL (bad) cholesterol numbers, exercising, or losing a little weight.

Give yourself bad breath
In addition to lowering cholesterol and helping to fight off infection, eating garlic may help limit damage to your heart after a heart attack or heart surgery.

Researchers in India found that animals who were fed garlic regularly had more heart-protecting antioxidants in their blood than animals that were not.

Snack on nuts
Harvard researchers found that men who replaced 127 calories of carbohydrates decreased their risk of heart disease
by 30 per cent.

Source: The Times Of India

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Kids of smoking parents have more nicotine

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A new study has found that children, who have at least one smoker parent, have 5.5 times higher levels of cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, in their urine.

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The study, published online ahead of print in Archives of Disease in Childhood, showed that having a smoker mother had the prime independent effect on cotinine in the urine – quadrupling it. Having a smoking father doubled the amount of cotinine, one of chemicals produced when the body breaks down nicotine from inhaled smoke to get rid of it.

The study was led by researchers from the University of Leicester Medical School and was done in collaboration with Warwick University.

Sleeping with parents and lower temperature rooms were also linked to increased amounts of cotinine.

Cotinine was measured in 104 urine samples taken from 12-week old infants. Seventy one of the babies had at least one parent that smoked and the parents of the other 33 were non-smokers.

“Babies affected by smoke tend to come from poorer homes, which may have smaller rooms and inadequate heating. Higher cotinine levels in colder times of year may be a reflection of the other key factors which influence exposure to passive smoking, such as poorer ventilation or a greater tendency for parents to smoke indoors in winter,” the authors said.

Sleeping with a parent is a know risk factor for cot death and the authors suggest that one reason for this could be breathing of, or contact with clothing or other objects contaminated with, smoke particles during sleep.

Nearly 40 percent of under-fives are believed to be exposed to tobacco smoke at home, and smoke may be responsible for up to 6,000 deaths per year in the US alone in young children.

“Babies and children are routinely exposed to cigarette smoking by their caretakers in their homes, without the legislative protection available to adults in public places,” the authors said.

But they admitted that there are realistic difficulties in preventing smoking in private homes because it relies on parents or caretakers being educated about the harmful effects of passive smoking on their children and then acting on that knowledge.

Source:The Times Of India

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