Weight loss and diet plan for a healthy lifestyle.

HIV: CAUSES OF CONSTITUTIONAL SYMPTOMS-LYMPHOMA

admin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:38:51 +0000

Lymphomas are tumors of the lymph glands that can occur in anyone but are more common and more severe in people with HIV infection. In some people, the only symptoms of lymphoma are the constitutional symptoms. In other people, the symptoms of lymphoma are very large lymph glands in the neck, under the arms, or in the groin; these symptoms are more commonly caused by persistent generalized lymphadenopathy (PGL). In some people, the symptoms of lymphoma differ according to where in the body lymphoma occurs: lymphoma in the intestines causes pain and diarrhea; in the brain, focal neurologic problems; in the lung, pneumonia. In people with HIV infection, lymphomas often progress rapidly, more rapidly than they do in other people. Treatment is with radiation and with chemotherapy using the same drugs used for other types of tumors. The treatment is given by specialists, either radiation therapists or oncologists. The success of the treatment is variable; some people do extremely well. Curing lymphoma is increasingly likely, so talk to your physician about the side effects and potential benefits of each treatment.*141\191\2*

LIVING WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY: ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE FOR HOUSING

admin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:32:07 +0000

The Rural Housing Services in the Department of Agriculture is an excellent source of information. Many communities also choose to use Development Block Grants through Access Modifications Funds to help individuals make their homes physically accessible. You can contact your local Office for Persons with Disabilities or your local HUD office for help, especially if you feel your civil rights have been violated in the housing arena.When Kelsie Collins, who had suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident, was looking for an already-accessible rental unit, she had a real estate agent who believed that “anything was possible.” The agent was convinced that Kelsie could buy her own home, and set out to make this happen. Kelsie was living on a fixed disability income and didn’t think she could get financing for her own home. Like many people with spinal cord injury, she had spent a lot of “down time” in the hospital and both her credit and income history had suffered.The real estate agent thought that a steady income was the bottom line for obtaining a mortgage and that Kelsie’s disability income was likely to be her permanent source of income because her disability was so severe (quadriplegia). With the help of an independent living center and a mortgage company that was willing to at least consider Kelsie’s application, the agent was able to get the Social Security Administration to confirm that her disability income was projected to be lifelong. With this virtual guarantee, Kelsie’s disability check became an asset rather than a liability. She was able to buy a condominium, with mortgage payments only slightly more than her previous rent. The condo was already accessible inside. Only the addition of a ramp was needed to give accessibility to the parking lot.Kelsie’s story illustrates the power of persistence and creative problem-solving in dealing with housing needs. It also provides several insights into home-buying:
1. Seek financial counseling if you need to clear up your credit record.2. Make a budget or get advice on how to build up savings.3. Write a letter of explanation if your credit rating has suffered because of lengthy hospitalization or job loss following your injury.4. Look into FHA (Federal Housing Administration) mortgages and other federal assistance programs.5. Shop around for a loan officer and get approved for a loan before you shop for a home.6. Try to persuade banks to waive some fees.7. When negotiating the sale, ask the seller to finance home modification costs.
Once you’ve picked out your home, look to community organizations, church groups, or private firms to help with home modifications. These sources can supplement any federal or state assistance you receive. Above all, don’t give up!
*136/156/5*

EPILEPSY AS A PSYCHO-SOCIAL DISEASE: WHERE COUNSELING HELPS – KAREN’S TREATMENT

admin — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:13:19 +0000

“Helping Karen took a year. We would reexamine the thoughts she recorded in her journal. I challenged her to do things. At the start, she was tired all the time, had no energy, wanted only to sleep. We wondered if this was medication, but it probably was depression. Karen enjoyed athletics but had given them up because of her epilepsy and her school problems. We got her involved in just one sport and watched her energy level increase. When she found she could participate despite her epilepsy, things began to go better.”Initially Karen was having seizures every few months. With medication adjustment (and as she got older) she would go for almost a year without a seizure. It seemed as if she’d almost made it; our state then required a person to be seizure-free for one year to get a driver’s license. The rug was pulled out from under her each time. But, through counseling, she had become a stronger person and was able to deal with the recurrence of seizures. With each recurrence she was, of course, disappointed and angry, but most of all she was determined. Most of those recurrences happened when she had tested the limits of how little sleep she could exist on, of how much she could drink, or of how long she could miss her medication. Gradually she learned those limits and that the seizures and the driving were under her control. With each of these recurrences, she would come back to see the doctor and to see me. She would be angry and extremely upset, but I could support her. I never made light of her problems, and that is very important. What may seem to be small problems to the counselor and possibly to the parents can be big problems to the teenager.”*222\208\8*

PREGNANCY SHAPE-UP: NUTRITIONAL NEEDS

admin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:50:13 +0000

It’s true that during pregnancy the body’s demand for vitamins increases. Just keep in mind that vitamins don’t mean calories!No matter how happy a woman is about being pregnant, there is always stress involved: worries about whether the child will be healthy, whether there will be enough money to pay the bills, whether you’ll have to leave your job, and so on. And these stresses take their toll on mother and fetus.The body responds to stress by producing more adrenal hormones. These provide the extra energy that’s necessary when action is called for. But if there’s no physical outlet for the energy, it’s redirected to the digestive or nervous system or to some other organ system. In many instances, this is what’s responsible for pregnancy fatigue, headaches, insomnia, and morning sickness. But, more important, this accelerated adrenal hormone production revs up the metabolism to such a degree that stores of valuable calcium are depleted, along with protein, phosphorus, and potassium, which are rapidly excreted just when the growing fetus needs them most.*5/137/5*

WOMEN’S HEALTH: IS YOUR DIET ADEQUATE?

admin — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 08:39:28 +0000

Many women in this age group take supplementary iron and vitamins. A good all-round diet, including vegetables, fresh fruit, a reasonable amount of meat and dairy products, nuts, fish and poultry, will usually provide all the items necessary for good health. Just the same, an added multi-vitamin capsule or tablet may assist, in the event of an absorption deficiency being present in the bowel. So will a daily iron tablet or capsule (dosage is usually written on the label). A blood test indicates whether there is anaemia.Apart from this, getting hooked on masses of so-called ‘health foods’ and fringe medicine medications is often quite useless and enormously expensive, a waste of time, money and effort. Stick to well-known proven principles, and let the fringe medicine ideas quietly slip by.Think positively: A positive, happy outlook on life, claiming confidence, eating sensibly, exercising regularly and becoming involved in outside activities, will enable an enjoyable and action-packed life for many years ahead.Happy days. Happy nights, and a happy lifetime ahead.*118\45\4*

PREDICTABILITY, ORDER AND DISORDER IN ‘MENTAL ILLNESS’

admin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:19:59 +0000

Almost all psychiatric textbooks speak of mental diseases in terms of ‘disintegration of the personality’ and ‘unbalanced and chaotic states.’ Such descriptions are based upon the unexpressed assumption that the ideal person is able to correspond to the statistical average, and this average is taken as a measure of order, balance, harmony and health. Thus, it seems as if individuals going through psychotic states appear as the chaos and disorder for a culture with aparticular idea of order and sanity. This black/white, polar classification of the human being lies at the root of DSM III, which only weakly tolerates the concept of a wellness-notwellness continuum of inner experiences. Change and differentiation are needed (cf. Boyle and Morriss; Engel, Greist et al., 1982).Process concepts understand ‘mental illness’ as an extreme state which everyone goes through. As we shall see in the following chapters, process science perceives psychotic states not as chaotic, but as highly, even mathematically, ordered structures; they are not disintegrations, but highly patterned evolutions.The concept of chaos and unpredictability is related to the therapist’s or observer’s awareness and experience. Predictability is a concept relative to a given observer and is not an absolute characteristic of a patient. As far as the therapist is

SCARLET FEVER: SYMPTOMS, SIGNS AND MORE

admin — Sun, 29 May 2011 15:01:53 +0000

An acute contagious disease beginning, usually, from several hours to a week after a person has been exposed to it. Like other infectious diseases, scarlet fever begins with vomiting or chills, followed by high fever, rapid pulse, sore throat, swelling of the glands in the neck and a scarlet-red eruption which appears on the skin. The tongue is heavily coated at first, and red at the tip and edges. Later, the papillae of the tongue become red and swollen, giving the tongue the appearance that is called strawberry tongue. Scarlet fever seems especially to damage the kidneys and one of the most important steps is to make sure that everything possible is done to protect the vital organs.The discovery of the sulfonamide drugs and the antibiotics is chiefly responsible for the tremendous control that has developed over scarlet fever. The condition is now kept mild, and the secondary complications related to the nose, throat, ears and kidneys are quite rare. Scarlet fever is a member of the group of diseases that are caused by streptococci, which, fortunately, are especially susceptible to the antibiotic drugs.*34/318/5*

DIAGNOSING EPILEPSY: PET SCANNINGPET

admin — Sun, 15 May 2011 13:45:48 +0000

(Positron Emission Tomography) is a new method of scanning which is helpful in the diagnosis of epilepsy.The principle of PET scanning is to see which parts of the brain are active, either by measuring the blood flow through different parts of the brain, or by seeing how actively the different areas of the brain are metabolizing a substance, usually sugar.To do this, an injection of radioactively-labelled glucose or a dose of radioactively-labelled oxygen in water is given. The radioactivity is taken up more readily by the active areas of the brain. As the radioactivity decays, the PET scanner detects the decay products and calculates where the radioactivity has come from within the brain. The scanner then makes a map of the brain showing the active and inactive metabolic areas. It has been found that areas of the brain which have an active epileptic focus are metabolically less active between seizures, as if the brain were trying to stop the spread of epileptic activity. Not surprisingly, during a seizure this area becomes more active than the surrounding brain. PET scanning is therefore able to give some idea of where seizures are arising.SPECT or SPET (Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography or Single Photon Emission Tomography) is a less accurate scanning method essentially the same as PET but using a different radioactive chemical which is easier to use. This has the advantage that it can be given during a seizure.*22\193\2*

THE SKIN AND THE ENVIRONMENT

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:26:29 +0000

The skin is constantly exposed to environmental hazards, especially ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet A light is especially likely to cause damage within the dermis, leading to wrinkles and premature ageing, while ultraviolet В light is more likely to cause skin cancer. With the ongoing depletion of the ozone layer, ultraviolet intensity is rapidly increasing. As a consequence, the risk to our skin is greater, and our love of sun-baking does nothing to help the situation.The skin is constantly surrounded by potential enemies, not only the sun, but fungi, bacteria and viruses. Undamaged skin is very efficient at protecting us from serious infections. Other environmental hazards include various chemicals, cigarettes, creams and cosmetics. Many people do not realize that nearly every cosmetic contains at least ten different chemicals, the safety of which can be uncertain.Despite popular belief, most skin diseases are not related to food, and the majority of food allergies are not evident on the skin. True skin allergies to substances applied to the skin— particularly in the form of perfumed cosmetics, creams, medicaments, industrial chemicals and plants – do occur, however.Another misconception is that skin diseases are not particularly important to one’s overall state of health. Although it is rare for people to die of skin diseases, on a psychological level they can cause depression and social isolation.Because much of our skin is often visible, disease is easy to detect and sometimes difficult to hide. Because we place such value on the attractiveness of our skin, we are more concerned with our skin than almost any other part of our body. Cosmetic companies are able to take advantage of our insecurity, promoting all manner of skin remedies. Even the most intelligent people can be brainwashed by their advertising. Methods of minimizing skin damage, however, are available to us all, especially in the form of sun protection.
*3/150/5*

HIV INFECTION AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE EMOTIONS: FATIGUE AND ACCOMMODATION-THE CAUSES OF FATIGUE

admin — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:05:19 +0000

Fatigue often accompanies depression: people dealing with depression lose not only a sense of hope but also their physical energy. Fatigue is also an indirect result of HIV infection. In this case, it is usually accompanied by weight loss, fever, and night sweats. These symptoms are most likely to occur relatively late in the course of the infection when the CD4 count is low, usually well below 300. HIV infection causes fatigue by depriving the body of some of its sources of energy. People with HIV infection often have anemia, or lower numbers of red blood cells. Red blood cells, among other things, carry oxygen; oxygen supplies the muscles with energy. People with fewer red blood cells therefore have less energy and tire easily, though the anemia must be severe before people notice symptoms. In addition, people with HIV infection sometimes have diarrhea. With diarrhea, food is eliminated from the body before being absorbed, so food is also unavailable as a source of energy. Again, the diarrhea must be severe or last for several weeks to cause the fatigue that accompanies malnutrition. For some people, fatigue is caused by opportunistic infections like MAI or CMV. Medications can also cause fatigue or sleepiness, which is often interpreted as fatigue. These medications include, among others, narcotics, antihistamines, and antidepressants.
*71\191\2*