Author: abrogers

Detection Of Bladder Cancer In An Easy Way

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Earlier the test that was used to diagnose bladder cancer was cystoscopy, which is an invasive procedure, but now there is introduction of a new test, which is known as the urine test through which the bladder can cancer can be diagnosed.

The urine test that is going to change the world of diagnosing the bladder cancer as this is a noninvasive test and will prove to help a lot of people throughout the globe. In this test, an enzyme telomerase is being measured, which is a major part of cellular repair. If the levels of this enzyme are abnormally high, then this represents the presence of a bladder cancer.

The most important thing that the urine test is going to help with is that it will cause an early diagnosis of the bladder cancer and will help millions and millions of men throughout the world.

According to the statistics, there are about 64,000 people all around the world who suffer from the bladder cancer each year. The bladder cancer is more common in men than in women. According to another statistic there are about 13,000 men who die each year from bladder cancer.

The first indications of the bladder cancer is that there is an increase in the frequency of the bathroom. Currently in order to diagnose the bladder cancer, the individuals go through a very painful procedure of cystoscopy in which a tube is inserted through the urethra and then it is moved into the bladder. There is a camera in the tube that helps the doctors visualize the internal lining of the bladder and they can remove the tissue of the bladder so that they can perform the histology analysis on that tissue and then make a diagnosis of the bladder cancer.

Even though the cystoscopy gives an accurate diagnosis, this procedure is very painful and bears risk of infection and bleeding. On the other hand the urine test is not invasive and it is easy to perform and gives an accurate diagnosis of the bladder cancer by detecting the abnormally high levels of telomerase.

According to the recent statistics, the smokers have a very high incidence of developing the bladder cancer and this discovery is going to help a lot of men throughout the world.


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What You Should Know About Blood Pressure Monitors

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Blood pressure is a vital that needs to be monitored in various clinical conditions and the monitoring can include checking of the blood pressure at different times in the day. Self monitoring of the blood pressure helps the individuals to know as to what are the readings of their blood pressure at different times.

The benefits of checking the blood pressure at different intervals include the reduction of risk of stroke, cardiovascular diseases, etc. The physicians mostly ask their patients to check the blood pressure at regular intervals in a day for a week or so and then ask them to bring in the readings at their visit so that they can see as to how their blood pressures had been so that the can strategize as to how they are going to manage the blood pressure crisis.

So from the above, we can clearly see that how important it is for the individuals to get the accurate readings of their blood pressure so that they can record the exact readings and are able to manage it properly.

There are different companies that are making reliable blood pressure monitors, which include Microlife, Omron, Braun and A&D monitors. They have proven that the technology they are giving in their products is the most reliable one and would give the individuals the accurate readings of their blood pressure. The blood pressure monitors that these companies are developing are used in the doctors offices and a lot of individuals who depend on getting accurate readings to manage their blood pressure and their health.

The most reliable technology being used these days in the blood pressure monitors include the Digital Filter Technology in which there is a sensor that totally eliminates the noise and gets a reliable reading.

There are automatic blood pressure monitors that operate with just a single push of a button and then they take a reliable reading of the blood pressure, as well as pulse. There is an automatic inflation and deflation of the blood pressure cuff and it occurs really fast with a gentle push on the button.

There is another technology that is taking a whole lot popularity these days is the Motion Artifact Extraction Technology, which takes the accurate readings of the blood pressure even if the individual is moving and eliminates any faulty readings that are recorded on the other blood pressure monitors. With this technology one can check their blood pressures even while they are moving in a vehicle.

There are machines that take the blood pressure either from the wrist or the fingertip. These blood pressure monitors are not reliable and are not recommended because they do not take the same measurement of blood pressure as is being taken from the arm.

Another very important thing that is being mentioned is that when the blood pressures are taken, they must be taken at the regular times every day and they should not be taken after exercise, as this may result in erroneous readings.


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Trans Fats Should Be Under One Percent Of Calories

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At this day and age there are a lot of people who are suffering from heart diseases and the number is increasing day after day. There are a lot of things that are being said to be the cause of the cardiovascular diseases and it is being said that the people must start to think about their health and must adopt the ways that are healthy. The way that these diseases can be prevented is through prevention and the care that we can offer to ourselves. There are a lot researches that have been conducted on the topics as to how to prevent heart diseases and what are the different things that must be done so that the large number of cases of heart diseases can be cut down. The American Heart Association also known as AHA has set new guidelines in which they have said that there should be less than one percent of the total calorie intake of trans fats in our diets.

It is also being mentioned by the American Heart Association that the lethal killer of people in US is heart disease and the organization is encouraging people to adopt better and healthier lifestyles so that they are able to prevent falling a victim of this disease. According to the recommendations made the individuals should work on reducing the intake of the saturated fats and the trans fats. It is also being recommended that the individuals must cut down the intake of food and drinks that have sugars as additives in them. It is very good that the people adopt a healthy lifestyle by taking active participation in sports and sport related activities so that they are able to control the gain of weight. People should eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. It was also mentioned that the individuals must not use any tobaccos or cigarettes. If the people can follow the above outlined advices then they can maintain a very good level of cholesterol, blood pressure and the blood glucose levels.

The researchers at the American Heart Association also added that before it was being advised to people that they should have a healthy diet and that their diet should have a specific pattern, but now according to the recent research and by finding the new ways and exploring how people can benefit more so that they are able to prevent being a victim to a cardiovascular disease, it was said that it is also important that people should adopt a lifestyle that includes exercise and a healthy life pattern. It is not one thing on which we can say that the people can protect themselves from getting heart diseases it is just a set of things that they have to look for such as diet, exercise, stress free life, good sleeping habits, quitting drinking and smoking and controlling the weight so that they are able to live a healthy and a better life, not only for them but for their loved ones too and also to make an example for the rest of the people to follow so that they can also protect themselves from the harm of the cardiovascular diseases.

According to the American Heart Association, they say that they are putting more stress and focus on the number of calories that are being taken on a daily basis and that how many calories are being burnt on a daily basis. It was also being added that it is really important that the individuals who are preparing the foods must keep that in mind that they are not using a lot of saturated fats while cooking the foods, as well as salt and sugar, so that it can ensured that the food that is being cooked is a truly healthy food for everyone to eat and poses no threat or risk to health.

The guidelines that are being given by the American Heart Association are also valid for the children who are growing up, the elderly, people who are suffering from the metabolic syndrome, along with people who are suffering from or are at risk of the cardiovascular diseases as well as the kidney disease. By undertaking and understanding the recent trends by the people who are currently eating out, these people are certainly at risk because they are not taking care of the portion size and the amount of fats and sugars that they are ingesting and they are obviously not burning the amount of fats that they need to in order to maintain the right caloric requirement that they need to for the day.

The American Heart Association is trying to bring awareness among all the people throughout the country that they need to learn as to what are the healthy ways of living and what are the different things that are needed for all of us to be aware of so that we can help each other to stay healthy. For example if the restaurant makes different foods and in that they are making sure that they are not using trans fats and saturated fats or are using very low amounts of that then they are helping everyone to stay healthy. If this becomes a trend that people eat smaller portion sizes then this would be a big breakthrough where people would able to not eat compulsively and would eat right. They also suggested that people must also add eating of the fruits and vegetables as well as fish in their diets.

The saturated diets are present in the animal products and can also be found in the oils such as coconut oil and palm oil. The trans fats are used to make the crackers, French fries, cakes, pies, as well as cookies and bread.

People do not have to totally change as to what they love to eat, but they just have to change a little of the direction that they are currently going in and the best thing is to change the lifestyle and eat what is healthy and best for you and involve yourself in exercising regularly.


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High Blood Pressure And Acupuncture

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High blood pressure is a very serious condition, which occurs because of a lot of different medical conditions, which causes a rise in the pressure of blood. The rise in blood pressure occurs in various conditions, which include diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, heart valve problems, pulmonary problems, anxiety, etc. The blood pressure is a condition that requires prompt treatment because increased hypertension is an emergency.

The patients who are suffering from increased hypertension get immediate treatment in the emergency room in order to prevent the serious conditions from arising. There are a lot of medications that are available to treat the hypertension on a chronic basis so as to keep it within a normal range.

Since the medications are being taken to maintain a normal blood pressure, there is another alternative way so as to control the blood pressure, which is acupuncture. Acupuncture is an old Chinese way to treat a lot of different medical conditions and it promises to treat the problem of high blood pressure as well.

What exactly happens in blood pressure is that it exerts excessive pressure on the walls of the arteries and thus this damages the walls of the arteries and leads to arteriosclerosis, which is hardening of the arteries.

It is really important for us to understand as to what are the different symptoms that occur because of hypertension and its effects on the human beings. The side effects include flushing of the face, dizziness, nervousness, severe headaches, restlessness, breathing difficulty, inability to sleep. An individual is said to be suffering from hypertension when they have a continued rise in blood pressure consecutively for about three days.

The acupuncture therapy is used to lower the blood pressure. The question arises in minds is that whether this therapy is good to lower the blood pressure than the conventional therapies. In my opinion the acupuncture therapy is better than the blood pressure medication because the medications have side effects but the acupuncture therapy has no side effects. The most common side effect that one suffers from the medications is that of the low blood pressure because when these medications are taken then these blood pressure medications cause lowering of the blood pressure, then when the blood pressure goes down significantly then the physicians adjust these medicines to bring the blood pressure in the normal range and then these medications are taken at the adjusted dosages.

Some of the common side effects of the blood pressure medicines include headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, tiredness, weakness, drowsiness, lethargy, diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, weight gain, nervousness, increased anxiety, chest pains, palpitations, arrhythmia, cough, congestion, upper respiratory tract infections, skin rash etc.

The way the acupuncture works is that the needles are being that are inserted on the inside of the forearm just above the wrist and along with the insertion of these needles, there is electrical stimulation that is being done, which causes the reduction in the blood pressure.

In order to see the mechanism of action of this therapy is that when the needles are inserted and the electrical stimulation runs through them, this causes the release of the opioid chemicals in the brain and in the brain and thus reduces the excitatory responses, which results in an eventual decrease in the activity of the heart and the need of the increased oxygen levels, which thus reduces the blood pressure to a significant extent.

Along with this therapy, there are different herbs that are being used to lower the blood pressure, which includes Gastrodia Rhizome, Prunella, etc. to reduce the high blood pressure in order to produce better results to lower the blood pressure.

Along with the insertion of the needles, another method that is being used includes pressing of the skin at the back of hand and between the thumb and the index finger.

This is a proven method to lower the blood pressure and has caused improvement in the heightened blood pressure in a lot of individuals.


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Arthritis Drugs And Cancer

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There is information that is taking air at a very high pace, which is that the use of the rheumatoid drugs may increase the development of the cancer and serious infections in individuals.

The medications that can cause the development of cancer include the Humira and the Remicade. It is being said that these medications can triple the chances of causing the cancer and the chances of getting a serious infection with these medications is double. The chances of having cancers or the serious infections in the individuals depends on how higher the dosage is being taken.

There were some analyses drawn which I would like to put in front of you. It was said that for every 154 patients who are taking this drug, the doctors believe that the chances of development of cancer is in one out of every 154 patients in about 6 to 12 months. The individuals who are expected to have infections gets to about 59 out of the total number of patients treated in a year, which is in a time span of about 3 to 12 months.

According to the study there were about less than 1% of patients who developed cancer. These results were brought about when the researchers put together the data of about nine different trials that was involving about 5000 patients. In this study, the patients had been randomly assigned the drugs.

The drugs Humira and Remicade treat the different inflammatory conditions, which include rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory disease of the bowel known as Crohn’s disease, as well as psoriasis, which is a skin condition. These drugs are being given to individuals who do not get any benefit from any other medicines or therapies.

The mechanism of action of these drugs is that these drugs are antibodies and their function is to stop the anti-inflammatory effects, which they do by blocking the tumor necrosis factor or TNF, which is an inflammatory protein. There are about 500,000 people who are currently using these drugs to treat the various inflammatory conditions.

It is being stated that the people do not need to quit these medications, but the doctors must be prescribing these medicines at lower doses so that there is a decreased chance of developing cancer or any serious infections.

There was another comment concerning therapies with these drugs was that the individuals who are taking these medications must be screened for cancer so that the chances of developing cancer can be ruled out.

These drugs have made possible to better the life of a lot of individuals, but they should be pursued with extra precaution.


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Alteration Of Hormones Due To Migraine Drug Overuse

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There was a study that suggested that individuals who suffer from chronic migraines are the individuals who can overuse the pain relieving medications and the overuse of these medications can cause abnormalities in the hormonal responses.

According to the previous studies, it was found that the people who overuse the migraine medications are the ones who can suffer from the precipitating headaches that can become chronic and it is also being suggested that this can be due to the alteration of the hormone regulation.

The migraines are head pains, which occur as episodic attacks and are often accompanied by nausea and vomiting and are followed by an aura, and can be brought upon by the light and sound. The basis on which an individual is being labeled as an individual who is suffering from migraines is the one who has a history of migraine attacks at least 15 days out of a month for a period of about three months.

It is being shown that the chronic use of the migraine medications such as the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, the ergot alkaloids and the triptans can alter the hormones such as the growth hormones and the cortisol, which is also known as the stress hormone.

The study was conducted in about 18 adults who had been suffering with migraines and about 18 individuals who were healthy. It was found that most of the individuals who were suffering from migraines were using the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and were not using the specific medications for migraine.

The tests were conducted in the individuals who were participating in the study, they were injected with the hormone releasing hormones such as GnRH, which is growth hormone releasing hormone, the cortisol, thyroid stimulating hormone and the adrenocorticotropic hormone. After this, the results were compared with the healthy individuals and it was found that the individuals who are suffering from chronic migraine headaches showed a reduction or increase in the levels of these hormones.

The researchers added that they need to do more studies so that they are able to find the relation of the overuse of the drugs to treat the migraines with the alteration of the hormones and they added that they really need to be sure that the alteration of these hormones are linked to these medications, which will definitely require a lot of studies in the coming years to establish this relationship.


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Risk Of Having A Small Baby Due To Work Conditions

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According to the latest report there is a very stunning data that has been brought into light, which shows that the working women who are pregnant and are exposed to the various occupational conditions are at risk of having a small infant, which is due to irregular or shift work schedules.

It is also being stated that if these factors are eliminated that are the basis of the causation of a birth of a small infant before the 24th week of pregnancy, then it surely brings down the risk to the women who have been unexposed.

Another thing that the readers must know is the term SGA, which means small for gestational, which means that the infant is the one that is smaller in size than a normal infant. The birth weight of these infants fall below the 10th percentile and thus leads to a lot of different problems and puts the infants at risk of low oxygen levels as well as blood sugar levels at birth.

This has been a very important study to raise awareness among the women who are working that the hectic and irregular work environments can lead to the development of the low birth weight of the infants. This awareness can bring about a tremendous change in the attitudes of women to care for this situation and this will result into decreased number of cases of pregnancy with infants with low birth weights.

In the study it was found that the women who have been working night hours, or had irregular work schedule or shift work schedules, the women who have been working heavy loads or have to stand for long hours or are being exposed to high noise levels in their job places, all these factors lead them to give birth to infants who are low at birth weight, which leads to a lot of clinical problems in infants.

This study has opened the grounds for women who are working in these stressful environments to either change their working environments or go on leave of absence so that they are able to minimize the chances of putting their infants at risk of low birth weight.


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Headaches Due To Medication Overuse

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Headache is the most common medical condition that almost everyone goes through in their everyday life. There are a lot of causes of headaches and they range in severity from being mild, moderate and severe. The most common step that people take when they are suffering from headaches is that they will use medication that will take the edge off pain.

A lot of times these medications benefit the individuals and they will find that their pain goes away with the administration of the medication, but there are times that even when the medication is being taken, the pain does not go away. It might be because they have developed tolerance to the medication that they have taken to relieve the pain or they have developed rebound due to the use of analgesia.

This is a vicious circle in which no matter how many pain killers an individual is taking, the pain would just grow and grow and would not go away even after taking painkillers to abort the pain. This condition in which the headache pain becomes worse even after taking the headache medications excessively is known as medication overuse headaches. Another name that can be given to this condition is known as analgesic rebound headaches.

The medications with which the headaches can occur include aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and naproxen. It is best that when the individual is suffering from a rebound headache, one must change the medicine so that they can prevent themselves from the precipitating rebound headaches.

Headaches are a very irritable phenomenon where the individual cannot focus, gets irritable and just feels to be left alone, does not like the lights, noise etc., which are pretty aggravating and can thus increase the intensity of the pain.

People who have been going through these headaches say that they have been through hell suffering from these headaches and they really need to have something to abort them because they are just unable to focus on anything in their lives.

Just to be in the shoes for a little while, how did you feel when you had that throb in the back of your head or how did you feel when you had that headache that was covering your head as a band, I believe these were the feelings that made you feel really bad and you just wanted that episode of headache to end.

You just need to know that if you are having a headache that is not being relieved by the same painkillers that you are taking, then you need to change the medication and hopefully you will be able to get out of the clutches of the pain.


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Grapefruit Juice Affecting The Absorption Of Drugs

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According to the latest research, it has been found that the grapefruit juice affects the absorption of different drugs in the body. This affect of grapefruit juice on the drug metabolism can be considered as positive as well as negative.

There is an enzyme in the intestine, which is known as CYP3A, which breaks down the drug, which was then partially absorbed. The grapefruit contains a component known as furanocoumarin, which interferes with the enzyme, CYP3A, which in turn would lead to the absorption of more drug.

This would help a lot of individuals who have problems with drug absorption due to the presence of the enzyme CYP3A and would hence be able to provide a lot of active drug to the system.
The active ingredient that is present in the grapefruit that degrades the enzyme CYP3A is furanocoumarin, which degrades the enzyme, and those people who are not being able to tolerate the grapefruit juice would be able to take the active ingredient present in the grapefruit juice to help provide the body with a good amount of drug available to the body, which otherwise would be degraded down due to the enzyme.

There was a study that was conducted to support this fact. In this study there was a group of people who have been on different medication for different conditions such as medicines for blood pressure control or birth control pills. The main object was to test the availability of the different drugs to the body system after furanocoumarin is being given.

The researchers extracted out the active ingredient and then the individuals who were taking part in the study were said to fast and then they were given the medicines such as felodipine for the regulation of blood pressure, the brand name of which is Plendil. The individuals were then given the furanocoumarin, the juice which is free of furanocoumarin, as well as orange juice randomly.

After that, the individuals just had their regular meals and then they took the blood samples to find as to the availability of the medicines and it was found that the individuals who had taken furanocoumarin had about 6-230 percent more availability of the drug Plendil to the body system, and the individuals who had taken the grapefruit juice without the furanocoumarin and orange juice had no such effect.

The individuals who take grapefruit on a regular basis must consult with their physicians so that they can get proper recommendation whether they should be taking the grapefruit or not so as to prevent any adverse effects on the body.


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Cancer Free Baby

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There has been a remarkable step that is being taken in the world of medical sciences when a couple decided that their child must not inherit the genetic makeup from their parent that would led them to develop the cancer at any point in time in his or her life.

This is a revolutionary step that is being taken by the specialists in genetics, as well as the decision by the parents that has made it possible for that child to not suffer from cancer that runs in the family genetics.

The cancer that they wanted to prevent from passing on to the child was the eye cancer and the study shows that there are about 90% chances that the child will suffer from the eye cancer.

The couple achieved the pregnancy through the process of IVF, which is also known as in vitro fertilization, which means that the sperm and the ova are being fertilized in an environment outside of the body and it is then that the doctors were able to screen the genetic material and were able to remove the genetic material responsible for the eye cancer. So in this process only the embryos were transferred to the womb of the mother that were unaffected.

After this study, it would be possible that the children can be made free of the cancer that runs in the family, and thus they will be able to live a healthy and a happy life. This is a major step that will be causing a breakthrough in the lives of millions of children throughout the globe who could have suffered from the problems with cancer if they were not being treated genetically.

Another very important thing that needs a mention here is that the genetic reading is a very expensive thing and with the passage of time this will become cheaper enough that a lot of couples are able to use this technique to prevent their children from suffering through the cancers that run in their families.

This is a major breakthrough that will change the lives of millions of people throughout the globe. I hope that these tests and services get into the affordable range of the different people and children can be saved from such deadly cancers.


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