Category: Health Care

Gallstones are small, hard pellets that form in the gallbladder, the pouch like organ situated just under the liver, in the upper-right portion of the abdomen. Most gallstones are composed of cholesterol crystals, although some are made of bile salts, which are digestive substances manufactured in the liver and stored in the gallbladder. The stones can be as tiny as the head of a pin or as large as a walnut. It is not clear why they form, but it may be because of an imbalance in the substances that make up bile; excess cholesterol in the bile juices seems to be an important contributing factor. If a gallstone blocks one of the ducts that carry bile from the gallbladder to the intestine, the result can be an attack of biliary colic, producing such symptoms as severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bloating, belching, sweating, and jaundice. The presence of gallstones can also cause gallbladder inflammation and infection, a condition known as acute cholecystitis. More often, however, the gallbladder harbors stones without causing any symptoms; an estimated 16 to 20 million Americans over the age of 40 have gallstones, but only a million experience attacks in the course of a year. Gallstones most often afflict middle aged, overweight females. Women taking birth control pills or replacement estrogen also have an increased risk of the condition. For unexplained reasons, about 70 percent of Navajo Indians of both sexes have gallstones.

Diagnostic Studies And Procedures

A doctor usually makes the initial diagnosis of an acute attack on the basis of symptoms. During an attack, abdominal pain occurs suddenly, soon after eating, and continues in waves as the duct contracts to get rid of the stone. An episode may last for several hours, stopping abruptly when the gallstone passes into the intestine. Diagnostic studies include blood tests and imaging the gallbladder with X-rays, ultrasound, and CT scanning.

Medical Treatments

“Silent,” or asymptomatic, gallstones do not require treatment. Those that cause recurrent painful attacks are most often treated by removing the gallbladder, an operation called a cholecystectomy. During this procedure, the bile is redirected so that it flows directly from the liver to the intestines. A relatively new type of surgery, called laparoscopic cholecystectomy, reduces the length of a patient’s hospital stay and speeds convalescence, though it is not recommended for persons who have had prior abdominal surgery. This operation involves making four small punctures in the abdomen and inserting a laparoscope, a catheter with a miniature television camera. The surgical team passes its special operating instruments through the laparoscope, and performs the surgery while viewing the gallbladder and the surrounding organs on a video monitor. The team then removes the gallbladder through the laparoscope. Instead of taking out the gallbladder, a physician may advise pulverizing the gallstones with shock-wave treatment, known as lithotripsy. Medications, such as ursodiol or chenodiol, can dissolve gallstones, but these drugs take months to work and must then be taken for life to prevent more of the stones from forming.

Alternative Therapies

Alternative therapies are unlikely to cure gallstones, but they may alleviate the colicky pain of an attack.

Acupuncture and Acupressure

Pain may be relieved by stimulating points on the meridians that serve the gall bladder, stomach, and liver.

Herbal Medicine

Herbalists recommend alfalfa tablets or dandelion, either in capsule form or as an extract mixed with water, to enhance gall bladder function. Turmeric capsules are also thought to have a protective effect. European herbalists advocate peppermint oil capsules.

Homeopathy

Homeopaths often prescribe celedonium, podophyllum, and berberis. 1aken in highly diluted form, these are said to be similar to the substances that cause gallstones.

Nutrition

In addition to advising a low fat, high fiber diet, nutrition therapists may recommend vitamins E and D, lecithin, and bran supplements to reduce blood cholesterol levels.

Shiatsu

Practitioners of this Japanese form of pressure point massage apply rhythmic pressure in circles around the abdominal area of the gallbladder to alleviate pain.

Dentists in places like Woodland Hills and other parts of western Los Angeles have to be well educated if they are even going to be legally able to actually practice dentistry. This is a benefit that you can use because it means that only the best possible person is going to be allowed to work on your teeth. The education requirements that Woodland Hills dentists have to follow are very strict.

A Special School is Needed

A dentist must study at a special school in order to be eligible to handle dental services. A dentist has to do the following in order to get into a dental school for any kind of purpose:

• The student must have completed a four year undergraduate degree. There is no real requirement as to what field is needed but it is best for someone to have a degree in anatomy or biology among other related fields.
• A student also has to pass the Dental Admission Test in order to get into a school. This is administered by the American Dental Association for accredited schools.

What Goes Into a Program?

The program that actually occurs at a dental school will involve many key topics:

• First, a dentist must work with two years of lab and class study. This will involve studies in oral health and diagnosis procedures.
• Second, the dentist has to study for two more years in an externship. This involves working in a dental clinic and taking care of patients while they are being monitored and examined by the professionals that they have to work for.
• A further study is required as well. This will involve about two to four years of study in a field relating to orthodontics, pediatric dentistry or oral surgery among many other forms. This study must be completed so a person can legally work with a specific field of dentistry.
• Sometimes a residency will be added to the program. This involves training within a dental office.

All of these points have to be studied so a dentist can legally practice one’s work in an appropriate environment. A dentist who successfully completes all of one’s studies will be able to get a degree as a Doctor of Dental Surgery or as a Doctor of Dental Medicine. The need to get a certification in another part will also be important in order to make sure that the dentist is allowed to practice with a certain function in mind.

You have to see this so you can understand what your Woodland Hills dentist will have gone through before getting into one’s practice. You should see it because it will make you feel a little more comfortable knowing that the dentist who is going to help you out has been properly trained to help you out with the needs that you might have. The education is used to make one’s knowledge of the subject as thorough as it possibly can be.

Lead interferes with several vital enzyme activities if it is chronically inhaled or ingested in sufficient quantity to accumulate in the blood. Developing fetuses, infants, and young children are most vulnerable to damage from lead; even small amounts can cause harm. Some 2 million preschool children are afflicted by varying degrees of lead poisoning in the United States each year. Severe childhood lead poisoning can cause neurological and kidney damage, anemia, and even death. Moderate poisoning can produce stomach upsets, vomiting, convulsions, an abnormal walk, headaches, irritability, hyperactivity, learning and behavioral disorders’ delayed mental development, and perhaps retardation. In adults, toxic levels of the metal can do extensive damage, especially to the nervous system and kidneys. Its symptoms include high blood pressure, headache, loss of appetite, intestinal upset, memory loss, an impaired gait, and a metallic taste in the mouth. During pregnancy, lead poisoning can cause miscarriage, severe congenital defects, or death of the fetus. Although laws now ban lead in gasoline and other products, large amounts still remain in the environment.

Paint

Before 1971, lead was used in most paints. Toddlers may eat chips of old paint from peeling walls or inhale lead dust when walls are scraped or sanded. Youngsters may also chew on lead painted toys and furniture.

Drinking Water

Lead can leach from plumbing and brass fittings, especially if water is hot or naturally corrosive.

Leaded Glassware Ceramics And China Dishes

Foreign imports or U.S. products made before 1971 may contain problematic amounts of the metal.

Soil

Lead from water and other sources can accumulate in soil, posing a hazard to children who play in it.

Manufacturing Processes And Miscel Laneous Products

Emissions from can manufacturing plants, foundries, and smelters may contain lead. Less potent sources include food from cans sealed with lead, lead foil at the tops of wine bottles, and antique pewter.

Diagnostic Studies And Procedures

A simple blood test detects the presence of lead. Many states now require pediatricians and health clinics to screen young children for lead levels. Testing is recommended when a child develops any of the symptoms listed earlier. Some obstetricians advise women planning to become pregnant to have a blood test for lead exposure.

Medical Treatments

Moderate lead poisoning can be treated with an oral chelating drug, such as succimer, that binds to the lead, which is then excreted in the urine. The pills must be taken for 19 days and may cause a rash, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and a metallic taste in the mouth. Severe lead poisoning requires taking one or more intravenous drugs, usually dimercaprol (BAL) and calcium disodium EDTA. Regimens vary, but the medication is usually given several times a day for five to seven days, and the therapy is repeated every two to three weeks until blood tests are normal.

Alternative Therapies

Chelation is the only effective therapy However, because it may also remove other metals from the body, zinc and iron supplements may be needed to restore these minerals.

Self Treatment

There are several measures you can take to prevent lead exposure.

• If your house was built before 1971, you almost certainly have lead based paint. You can seal off painted smfaces with plasterboard, paneling, or wall paper. If you are doing renovations, anyone in the house during sanding or stripping must wear a filtering facial mask. Pregnant women and children should stay elsewhere until several days after all renovation is completed.
• If children play in the soil around your home, have it tested for lead. Cover soil that contains high lead levels with a hard top surface or at least eight inches of low lead top soil.
• Test water, ceramics, china, and glass ware for lead contamination. Some state and local health departments offer water testing, or you can go to a private lab. Home kits are available to test dishware.
• If testing reveals a high level of lead in your tap water, have pipes replaced or purchase a home water purifying system. Until you do this, do not use water from the hot water faucet for drinking or cooking. Instead, let the cold water tap run for a few minutes or until water reaches its maximum coldness before using it.
• Look for lead free labeling when buying ceramic, china, or glass tableware, especially if it is manufactured abroad.
• Save leaded crystal glassware for special occasions. Don’t store wine or any other beverages in leaded crystal, or acidic foods in glazed ceramic ware.

Other Causes of Metal Poisoning

Numerous minerals and heavy metals, including iron pills, arsenic, and mercury, can cause metal poisoning.

Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones lose calcium and other minerals. There are two forms: type I, the most common, occurs in postmenopausal women or younger ones whose ovaries have been removed; type 2, or senile osteoporosis, develops in both men and women, usually after age 75. The decline of estrogen, the major female sex hormone, plays a major role in type I. Up to half of all American women over the age of 45 have some degree of type I osteoporosis. Such bone loss is especially pronounced in the first decade following menopause. Other risk factors linked to osteoporosis include cigarette smoking, heredity, and being thin, fine boned, and of Asian or northern European extraction. Symptoms generally begin with mild back pain, which worsens as the vertebrae become compressed, caused by tiny crush fractures that afflict about one third of women over age 50. Compression of the spinal column also leads to height loss and a deformity commonly called dowager’s hump. Wrist and hip fractures are common.

Diagnostic Studies And Procedures

Standard X-rays can detect decreased bone density of the vertebrae, but only after 25 to 40 percent of calcium has been lost. Bone density studies, such as single photon absorptiometry, dualenergy absorptiometry, and quantitative computed tomography, provide earlier and more accurate assessments of bone density, but are costly. A scanning technique called X-ray densitometry is less expensive and is gaining wider use.

Medical Treatments

Treatment can usually slow bone loss, and sometimes even reverse it. The earlier that treatment begins, the more likely it is to increase bone density. One or more of the following drug treatments may be combined with the alternative therapies discussed below.

Postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy

lowers the incidence of vertebrae and hip fractures. It is most effective when started within four to six years after menopause . calcitonin, a thyroid hormone that regulates calcium metabolism and inhibits the loss of calcium from bones, shows promise as a drug to halt osteoporosis; it may also increase bone density. Although the hormone must usually be administered by injection, a newer form, calcitonin nasal spray appears to be equally effective. Etidronate (Didronel), a drug first used to treat Paget’s disease, another bone disorder, is under study as a treatment for osteoporosis. Research suggests that it can increase vertebral density and reduce the risk of fractures. Tamoxifen (Nolvadex), an estrogen­blocking drug used for treating breast cancer, also appears to prevent osteoporosis; how it works is unknown. In addition, several promising new drugs are being used experimentally; these include alendronate, a drug that decreases bone demineralization.

Alternative Therapies

Exercise and Physical Therapy

Bones are constantly being rebuilt, a process that requires a certain amount of stress. Thus, walking and other weight bearing activities are key components of any treatment program. If you already have osteoporosis, a physical therapist can develop an exercise regimen and teach you how to use your body more efficiently to reduce the risk of fractures. Also helpful are an orthopedic support, heat, and gentle massage.

Nutrition Therapy

Calcium and vitamin D are essential to building and maintaining bones. The best dietary sources of calcium are low fat milk and milk products; canned sardines and salmon with bones; and certain green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and kale. However, beet greens, spinach, and other vegetables high in oxalates bind to calcium and prevent its absorption. Too much bran or other high fiber food also hinders absorption of calcium, while citric acid enhances it. Experts recommend that post menopausal women get at least 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day, especially if they are not taking estrogen or are over age 65. For most women, this means adding supplements. Calcium citrate and calcium carbonate are the most absorbable forms; many brands are combined with vitamin D, which the body needs in order to absorb calcium. Dolomite and bone meal are not recommended because they sometimes contain lead and other contaminants.

Self Treatment

Preventive self care measures include:

• Do not smoke. Tobacco use appears to lower estrogen production.
• Limit caffeine intake to the equivalent of three cups of coffee daily.
• Abstain from alcohol, or use it in moderation, defined as no more than two alcoholic drinks a day.
• Try to spend 30 minutes in the sun two or three times a week; this enables your body to produce vitamin D. Otherwise, make sure that your calcium supplement or milk is fortified with this vitamin.
• If you take antacids, avoid brands containing aluminum salts, which impede calcium absorption, in favor of those containing calcium carbonate.

Other Causes of Bone Loss

Secondary osteoporosis may be caused by endocrine disorders such as diabetes; drug side effects, such as long term use of corticosteroids; rheumatoid arthritis; and prolonged bed rest.