Author: ashu

Iron overload, medically known as hemochromatosis, is an inherited metabolic disease in which the body absorbs too much iron from food. Normally, the body recycles iron from old red blood cells and absorbs new iron when its reserves are low. In hemochromotosis, this natural control goes awry, and the body both recycles its own iron and extracts more from food. Eventually, deposits of iron in many of the body’s organs and tissues become dangerously high, resulting in possible diabetes and damage to the heart, liver, pancreas, Joints, and testicles. Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of death among people with hemochromatosis.

Symptoms rarely appear before age 20 and are observed most commonly between ages 40 and 60. Manifestations include chronic fatigue, aching joints, gastrointestinal pains, jaundice, an enlarged liver, and cardiac arrhythmias. Many people also develop abnormally ruddy skin, especially on the face. About one person in 10 carries the responsible gene, but to develop the disease, a person must inherit it from both parents, who may themselves be asymptomatic carriers. Hereditary, or primary, hemochromatosis is far more common than previously thought, affecting more than 1 million Americans. Men outnumber women five- to tenfold; this is attributed to the fact that women lose iron periodically through menstruation or pregnancy.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, or JRA, is the most common type of arthritis in children. It develops before the age of 16 and can take one of three forms: Pauciarticular JRA, the mildest type, affects only a few joints, especially large ones such as the knees, ankles, and elbows. Different joints on either side of the body are usually involved. Polyarticular JRA, a more severe type, generally attacks five or more joints, often those of the fingers and hands, as well as weight-bearing joints, such as the hips, knees, and ankles. This form of JRA affects the same joints on both sides of the body. SystemicJRA, or Still’s disease, the most severe form, attacks many joints, usually the large ones, as well as some organs, often the heart and eyes. The first typical symptoms are joint stiffness and discomfort upon arising in the morning. Systemic JRA, however, may begin with symptoms like those of an infection: high fever, especially at night; a rash on the chest and thighs; and swollen lymph nodes. As in the adult form of rheumatoid arthritis, symptoms may come and go over many months or years. In severe cases, the swollen, inflamed joints become distorted. Though the disorder may disappear by early adulthood, in some people it recurs throughout life. The cause is unknown, but many medical researchers believe it is an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system attacks normal body tissue as if it were a foreign invader.

Diagnostic Studies And Procedures
There is no single test that can diagnose juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. When doctors suspect the disease, they usually refer the child to a rheumatologist for additional blood tests, X-rays, and an analysis of synovial fluid taken from the affected joints.

Medical Treatments

Treatment depends on the type and severity of the disease. If only a few large joints are mildly affected, a doctor may inject cortisone or another steroid drug directly into them. This can reduce inflammation and alleviate pain without the growth problems, weight gain, bleeding problems, and other side effects of taking oral steroids. In most cases, aspirin is the drug of choice. However, it must be taken on a regular schedule and in high doses, which can cause ringing in the ears and possible hearing loss. Because a young child may not be able to report such problems, parents should be alert for signs, such as tugging of the ears and poor response to normal sounds. If aspirin proves insufficient, a doctor may recommend stronger nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen or naproxen, available in both prescription and over-the-counter strength. For severe cases, the more potent drugs used to treat adult rheumatoid arthritis, such as injections of gold salts and systemic steroids, may be tried. Because steroids interfere with normal growth and development, their use must be carefully monitored. The child should be checked every few months for any complications of the disease. These include pericarditis, inflammation of the outer lining of the heart; pleuritis, inflammation of the membrane covering the lungs; and blood abnormalities, such as anemia. Because the eyes are often affected, an ophthalmologist should be seen regularly. A pediatric orthopedist may be called in to evaluate joint deformity and if necessary, do corrective surgery.

Alternative Therapies

Although medical treatment is essential to control the disease, supplemental techniques can be helpful.

Herbal Medicine

Herbalists often recommend capsules of evening primrose oil to control joint inflammation; feverfew tea to alleviate fever and other symptoms; and garlic, fresh or in capsules, to reduce joint damage.

Hydrotherapy

Hot baths or cold compresses help many patients. For others, contrast baths work best; these involve sitting in a hot tub for about 10 minutes, then standing in a cool shower for 2 or 3 minutes.

Pet Therapy

A child with JRA often lacks self-esteem and becomes lonely and withdrawn. Providing a gentle, companionable pet can foster a sense of responsibility and help compensate for not being able to engage in overly strenuous activities.

Physical and Occupational Therapy

Physical therapists teach patients special exercises that can strengthen muscles and help maintain mobility without causing joint damage. They also provide splints and other devices to protect inflamed joints. Occupational therapists teach new approaches to daily tasks, such as getting dressed, that minimize aggravation of painful, inflamed joints.

Self Treatment

Children with JRA should be encouraged to take part in physical activities, but these may have to be modified. Finding the right balance of rest and exercise is important. See that the child sleeps at least eight hours each night and takes a nap during the day. Make sure that the child maintains normal weight, because excess weight increases the burden on joints. To help prevent stomach irritation, always give aspirin or nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs with milk or food.

Other Causes of Joint Pain

Rheumatic fever, Lyme disease, and bone or joint infections can produce joint pain and inflammation.

Cardiac arrhythmias are characterized by an abnormal series of heartbeats, classified as bradycardia (too slow), tachycardia (too fast), or irregular (erratic). During bradycardia, fainting may occur because the brain does not get enough oxygen. In some forms of tachycardia, such as fibrillation, the rhythm is lost entirely, dissolving into quivering of the heart muscle. Arrhythmias are usually caused by damage to the heart muscle or the sinus node, the heart’s natural pacemaker. Such damage may be due to a heart attack, congenital defect, damaged heart valve, or a heart infection such as bacterial endocarditis .

Diagnostic Studies And Procedures

Diagnosis begins with an electrocardiogram, or ECG, to measure the heart’s electrical activity with electrodes placed on the patient’s chest, preferably during a period of arrhythmia. If the problem is episodic, a portable ECG machine, called a Holter monitor, may be worn for 24 to 48 hours. When computers are used to enhance the ECG, a process called signal averaging, it becomes possible to predict, in some cases, whether or not the patient is likely to experience ventricular arrhythmias. Transesophageal echocar diography, which produces ultrasound images of the heart through a tube inserted into the esophagus, makes it possible to evaluate the atria, the heart’s two upper chambers, and look for potential causes of arrhythmias arising from this area of the heart. A new diagnostic approach, called electrophysiology testing, is used in special circumstances, such as for patients who have experienced sudden, unexplained cardiac arrest. Electrodes are guided into the heart through a catheter, then drugs are administered to provoke an arrhythmia.

Medical Treatments

Most arrhythnlias can be controlled with beta blockers and other drugs that stabilize heart rate. Some cases, however, require implantation of an artificial pacemaker, a tiny, battery operated device placed under the skin with electrodes attached to the heart. Fibrillation and certain other serious arrhythmias are usually treated by the administration of an electrical shock (defibrillation) to the heart in order to reestablish a normal heart rhythm.

Alternative Therapies

Any alternative therapies that help to prevent heart disease can also prevent cardiac arrhythmias.

Herbal Medicine

Chinese herbalists recommend several herbal combinations: bupleurum, cinnamon, and ginger or bupleurum and dragon bone formulas for the treatment of palpitations pinellia and magnolia for tachycardia, and the atratylodes and hoelen herbal combination for treating bradycardia.

Shiatsu

Pressing upon certain points along the inner forearm is said to help slow down palpitations that are precipitated by anxiety.

Yoga and Meditation

The breathing exercises of these relaxation therapies help some people control palpitations related to stress.

Self Treatment

All cardiac arrhythmias that are persistent or serious require medical treatment. During an attack of tachycardia, however, it is sometimes possible to slow the heart rate by rubbing your neck or bearing down as though you’re having a bowel movement. Dizziness due to bradycardia can be temporarily overcome by resting with the head lower than the heart. On a long term basis, the best approach is to reduce stress, abstain from using alcohol and tobacco, and limit daily caffeine intake.

Other Causes of Arrhythmias

Certain drugs, including allergy medications and diet pills, can cause irregular heartbeats. In some people, exercise can trigger arrhythmias.

You don’t need to be a scientist to understand what cholesterol is and how to effectively manage your cholesterol levels for better health. You do, however, need to take a moment to consider what is happening on the inside of your body to keep you alive. While most of us take for granted that we don’t need to think about the constant maintenance of the body that we inhabit, these are miraculous ongoing processes of life. Cholesterol is an essential part of this life process.

Defining Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a necessary and natural part of each cell in the human body and in the bodies of other animals. Cholesterol helps to maintain the structure of the walls of cell membranes, and it also works to keep our brains healthy. The liver uses cholesterol as raw material in the creation of important hormones such as adrenalin and the sex hormones and to create digestive enzymes (such as bile acids that break down fats, among other things). Cholesterol is integral both to thinking and to sexual activity, as well as to other essential life processes. Cholesterol, therefore, is a subject that is definitely worthy of our close attention.

Fact: Most gallstones that are formed in the gall bladder are composed primarily of cholesterol. The liver responds to the presence of dietary fat by producing cholesterol to synthesize bile to digest the fats. If too much dietary fat is consumed, the liver may over-produce cholesterol, leading to formation of gallstones.

A healthy liver manufactures cholesterol, a waxy “lipid” (fat-like substance). In addition to being manufactured in the body, cholesterol gets into the bloodstream through the food that you eat. In particular, if you eat too much saturated fat, which is fat primarily from animal sources, the result is an elevated blood cholesterol level. The big picture, however, is not as simple as that. Many other factors playa role in the composition of cholesterol levels. Even if you are a vegetarian who eats no foods that contain cholesterol, you will have cholesterol in your body.