Thursday, July 31, 2008
Herbals To Avoid
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The Darnedest Things
Prevention Buzz
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Chin Up!
After analyzing the data from 19 different postures from all 42 people, only one factor demonstrated good ability to predict who had an MSD-UE: neck flexion angle ≥20 degrees. This means that the participants who had their heads pointing downward had a higher likelihood of having some form of upper extremity problem. In fact, all participants who identified themselves as having a neck disorder kept their heads in a downward position at ≥20 degrees. Furthermore, 90 percent of those who did not have a neck disorder kept their heads positioned more upright, with a flexion angle of 20 degrees or less.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Dinner Table Dynamics
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Exercise Advice
ScienceDaily (July 27, 2008) — It is common knowledge that regular exercise supports physical and mental well-being. Despite this and recommendations from health care providers, the majority of patients with chronic illnesses remain inactive. In a new study, University of Missouri researchers found that adults with chronic illness who received interventions focused on behavior-changing strategies significantly increased their physical activity levels.In contrast, interventions based on cognitive approaches, which attempt to change knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, and are most commonly used by health care providers, did not improve physical activity.
“The information that physicians are giving patients isn’t working. Patients are not motivated when they hear ‘exercise is good; it will improve your health.’ What works is providing patients with simple, action-orientated strategies to increase their activity levels,” said Vicki Conn, professor and associate dean of research in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing.
Behavior strategies include feedback, goal setting, self-monitoring, and stimulus or cues. Self-monitoring, any method where participants record and track their activity over time, significantly increased awareness and provided motivation for improvement, Conn said.
Conn also goes on to comment that 12 minutes per day of physical activity is enough to get a patient started toward better health. I could do that. Maybe.
Quote For Today
Weaving The Web of WellnessBe grateful, especially for family; create ways to be together and express love.Laugh more, especially at myself.Give my gifts while pursuing my dreams.Ask more questions; every person is my teacher.Honor those whose shoulders I stand on; create daily reminders and tell more stories.Cook more for others; then spend more time at the kitchen table.Push the limits, just some of the time.Remember always, what is - IS!- from You Don't Look Sick! Living Well With Chronic Invisible Illness by Joy H. Selak and Steven S. Overman, MD, MPH.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Fence Guardians
Friday, July 25, 2008
Taming The Child
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Drug-Induced Lupus
Drug-induced lupus erythematosus (DILE or DIL) is a side-effect of long-term use of certain medications. Specific criteria for diagnosing drug-induced lupus have not been formally established. However, some symptoms overlap with those of SLE. These include:
- Muscle and joint pain and swelling
- Flu-like symptoms of fatigue and fever
- Serositis (inflammation around the lungs or heart that causes pain or discomfort)
- Certain laboratory test abnormalities.
Once the suspected medication is stopped, symptoms should decline within days. Usually symptoms disappear within one or two weeks. Drug-induced lupus can be diagnosed with certainty only by resolution of symptoms and their failure to recur after stopping the medication.
By definition, drug-induced lupus is "cured" merely be stopping the offending medication. However, the complete disappearance of symptoms can sometimes take months, and the disappearance of abnormal autoantibodies may take a few years.
After recovering from DILE, some people may develop this syndrome again if not enough time has passed before they again begin to take the same medication. It would be best to avoid a medicine that has previously caused drug-induced lupus.
You can read a more detailed description of DIL in this article, found on eMedicine.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Inner Child Care
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Diversion
Ever since I had to quit work, I have been doing nothing but focusing on myself. My entire day is booked almost completely with the word ME in every time slot. There was a time when I would have thought that this would be a perfect existence. Several of my friends have commented that they would love to change places with me.
Let me tell you honestly, focusing entirely upon yourself stinks. Especially when you are a chubby 50 year old with a strange hairdo and a disease that saps your energy when you least expect or want it to.
I am just not interesting enough to warrant attention 24/7.
If I allow myself to become uber focused on my body and it’s symptoms, I become very strange and hard to live with. Every pimple, ache, or pain seems to be magnified 200% simply because, in the absence of anything else to focus on, that pimple turns into a monstrous problem. I become anxious and fretful, and even crankier than usual. It’s not pretty.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Housework Help
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Stroke Study
"Whether it's because of sleep apnea or because of restless sleep or because of any number of things, we don't know," Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, one of the researchers, said in a telephone interview.
"The study definitely does not say that for women who sleep longer, if they decrease their hours of sleep they'll be better off," Wassertheil-Smoller, an epidemiologist, added. (Emphasis mine)
The researchers said it is unclear whether the findings would apply to men and younger women.
The study, which ran from 1994 to 2005, also saw an increased stroke risk among women who got no more than six hours of sleep a night.
Friday, July 18, 2008
A Few Brain Cells Left.....
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Slushed
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sojourn With a Sjoggie
Monday, July 14, 2008
Fibromyalgia Pain and Fatigue
Fibromyalgia is a non-life-threatening, chronic disorder of the muscles and related soft tissue, including ligaments and tendons. Its main symptoms are muscle pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and tender points at certain parts of the body. Many people describe fibromyalgia as feeling like a persistent flu.
ScienceDaily (Apr. 9, 2008) — A recent University of Iowa study reveals a biological link between pain and fatigue and may help explain why more women than men are diagnosed with chronic pain and fatigue conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.The study, which was published in the Feb. 28 issue of the American Journal of Physiology -- Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, indicates that muscle pain and fatigue are not independent conditions and may share a common pathway that is disrupted in chronic muscle pain conditions. The team plans to continue their studies and investigate whether pain enhances fatigue more in females than males.
"Our long-term goal is to come up with better treatments for chronic musculoskeletal pain," Sluka said. "But the fatigue that is typically associated with chronic, widespread pain is also a big clinical problem -- it leaves people unable to work or engage in social activities. If we could find a way to reduce fatigue, we could really improve quality of life for these patients."
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Of Chocolate and Doctors
Friday, July 11, 2008
Take Two
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Movie Time
Stylin'
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Cell Phone Cure
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Researchers at MIT believe they've discovered a new weapon in the battle against tuberculosis: Free cell phone minutes.For years, doctors have struggled to get some TB patients to take all their medication, which generally involves a six-month regimen of multiple drugs.Now a student-led group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a way to use cell phones to let patients test themselves. And if the tests show patients are following doctor's orders, they get rewarded with free minutes.
In 2006, the most recent year statistics are available, 9.2 million people worldwide were diagnosed with tuberculosis and 1.7 million died.
The disease can be cured with a steady regimen of drugs. But many patients start feeling better and stop taking the medicine too soon. Others abandon the drugs because of side effects such as nausea, fever and rashes.
If the drugs are taken only sporadically, the bacteria build up resistance. The WHO estimates that 5 to 10 percent of TB deaths are patients who stop taking medication properly.
You can read the AP article in it's entirety here.
Experts agree that the concept has potential, but also stresses the importance of the continued patient to healthcare-provider interface.
I would be interested to hear what the folks over at e-Patients have to say regarding this concept. At first reading, this seems to me to be a good way to encourage patients to be engaged in their treatment, to be able to monitor their response to medication, and to be rewarded in a very concrete way for their efforts.
Patient empowerment is a good thing, regardless of the disease or state of wellness of the individual.