Posts for category ‘Health’

At least 20% of the world’s population today experience nocturnal panic attacks once in their lives. If you belong to this 20%, you should read on and learn about nocturnal panic attacks. This condition is usually common in young children and young adults, and most senior adults. This could be due to a stressful activity or coping problems due to separation from parents or loved ones. These panic or stress attacks usually occur at nighttime. Panic attacks usually occur more frequently during daytime and only occasionally at nighttime.

Nocturnal panic attacks are harder to diagnose. Because of its occurrence at nighttime, it is always misdiagnosed as a nightmare or a bad dream. Recurrent nocturnal panic attack can be associated with sleep disorder. Nocturnal panic attacks are sometimes very intense that if you frequently suffer from it you would be afraid to go to sleep. This can drain your strength and lower your immunity.

What you can do about nocturnal panic attacks.

As with other panic attacks, the best way to treat nocturnal panic attacks is understanding it. Education, medication and psychotherapy are three of the best ways to treat nocturnal panic attacks. “Know your enemy” is not just an idiom, it applies in treating all ailments, and conditions, knowing what you are combating will prepare you to strategise on how you could defeat it and how you could prevent it from defeating you.

Psychotherapy will teach you how to deal with nocturnal panic attacks. You will have to learn relaxation skills as well as learn coping abilities. A person with a positive and cheerful disposition will be likely to overcome nocturnal panic attacks than those who have a sour disposition or who are pessimistic. Your loved ones can also act as your support group, discuss with them possible psychotherapy activities that they can help you with.

You should only take in medication if other remedies have failed or if the condition is disabling and there is a need to give medication simultaneous with other treatments.

You should also stop smoking, stop excessive drinking of alcoholic drinks, and reduce your caffeine intake all of these things trigger nocturnal panic attacks. You should also refrain from stressful situations and activities.

If it is your child who is experiencing nocturnal panic attacks sleep in his room and reassure him that you are just nearby if he needed you. Your reassurance will make him relaxed and safe. Be sure to make him comfortable when he sleeps; elevate some parts of his body by putting pillows under an arm or a leg. This will encourage better blood circulation and a more relaxed sleep.

Do not let a child who is suffering from nocturnal panic attacks watch horror movies before bedtime this can trigger scary thoughts, which may trigger panic attacks. Young adults who are suffering from nocturnal panic attacks because of separation from parents (coping with growing up) should be reassured of parental love and concern.

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Who are prone to cardiovascular diseases? What tests are performed to determine this? How could one prevent this? Vital questions about the heart that we should answer.

People who are overweight or obese , who are hypertensive, have sedentary lifestyles, smoke and drink alcohol and who have a family history of heart attacks and strokes, are usually prone to cardiac ailments. If you have ticked two or more of these, then you must have an ECG stress test, thallium stress test, ECG, CT scan, and echocardiogram, and of course, the LIPID panel test. In the laboratory, the cardiac panel test commonly consists of :

1. CHOLESTEROL
2. TRIGLYCERIDE
3. HDL
4. LDL

The accepted values for each are:

* Cholesterol <200> 40 mg/dL (1.04 mmol/L)
* LDL-cholesterol <100 style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">Eat lots of vegetables and fruits; e.g. apple, banana, oranges, grapefruit, garlic, watergourd, cucumber, and oatmeal. Fruits and vegetables are antioxidants (have carotenoids and flavonoids) and have lots of fibers to increase metabolism and reduce lipid build up. Oatmeal fibers help carry the bad cholesterol out from the body instead of allowing it to be absorbed by the blood.

2. Exercise 30 minutes everyday : 10 minutes of stretching and 20 minutes of brisk walking. The exercise will increase your blood flow, thereby avoiding the formation of lipid plaques or emboli in your blood vessels.

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3. Lessen fat and dairy intake. This includes meat fat , ice cream, butter , etc. These are sources of LDL (bad cholesterol) which increases the blood levels of the lipids. When lipids are in excess in the blood, they tend to amass in the inner linings of the vessel and form “plaques”. The plaques prevent the normal flow of blood and may plug blood vessels when they rupture. Plaques may also block the vein in the heart and cause a heart attack.

4. Lower salt and sodium intake – this is to prevent the risk of hypertension. High sodium in blood increases the risk of stroke because of hypertension and renal dysfunction. Avoid canned vegetables, luncheon meat, pickles, bacon, cheese, canned soups because they are rich in sodium. Cereals can also be a rich source, so read food labels carefully.

5. Stop smoking – carbon monoxide facilitates the elevation of cholesterol and impedes the transport of oxygen; thereby increasing the risk of cardiac disease. Smoking lowers HDL (good cholesterol) too.

6. Maintain a healthy weight – Obesity is one factor that leads to hypertension and to cardiac disease. e.g. for a 50 yr old female of 5 feet the ideal weight is 128 lbs. There is no consensus however as to what exactly is an ideal weight. This will depend on the body fat , musculature, metabolism and health of the patient. Almost all clinics have a BMI chart to which you can refer to.

7. Be sure you do not have diabetes – having diabetes is one predisposing factor to cardiac ailment. Diabetic patients have greater chances of acquiring heart disease because of insulin resistance that may lead to hyperlipidemia (increased blood concentration of lipids). The formation of plaque or emboli in the veins (atherosclerosis) is also enhanced in a person with diabetes.

8. Daily intake of aspirin has been proven in studies to have reduced by 25 % the risk of vascular attacks according to the British Journal of Medicine dated January 2002. The risk of internal bleeding however, should be considered in patients who may adversely respond to it. Aspirin has an anti-platelet activity which prevents emboli formation inside the blood vessels. A dosage of 80- 160 mg is usually the standard dose. Your attending physician should decide whether it is beneficial to you or not.

9. Stop alcohol consumption –Alcohol elevates triglycerides which can lead to stroke and heart attack. It also increases blood pressure and leads to obesity; all factors that contribute to the increase of heart attack. Researches claiming that red wine reduces HDL are still not approved by the AHA (American Heart Association) because there is no scientific proof to the claims. Locally, the old folk in the barrio drinking “tuba” (sugar cane wine) or “tapey” ( rice wine) are observed to have long lives. This can be explained by the sources of the “wine” – natural food, which have been fermented naturally. Wheat and sugar cane have lots of fiber and antioxidants which can increase HDL (good cholesterol), which is not true with commercially prepared alcoholic beverages.

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If, however; after following these preventive measures and you still experience the following:

1. Chest discomfort
2. Discomfort or numbness in the arms, neck, jaw , back or stomach
3. Shortness of breath
4. Nausea
5. Lightheadedness
6. Cold sweat

You are having a heart attack. Rush to the nearest hospital. It will save your life.

If , on the other hand, you feel one or more of the following:

1. Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
2. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
3. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
4. Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
5. Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Then it is a stroke. Do not wait for other symptoms to become apparent . Consult your doctor immediately. One heart is all you’ve got!

References:
cnetwork.org
nhlbi.nih.gov
quitsmokingsupport.com
americanheart.org
americanheart.org
Calbreath, Donald F: Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry

All images from: Free Patient Clipart

If animals have rights, then more so with people going to the hospital for treatment. However, some people do not know about these rights because of misinformation.
Below are these basic patient rights in condensed form as endorsed by The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)

The Patient’s Bill of Rights are now being adopted by many hospitals internationally.

PATIENT’S BILL OF RIGHTS:

The patient has the right to:

1. Impartial access to treatment or accommodations that are available or medically indicated, regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin, or sources of payment for care.

2. Considerate, respectful care.

3. Confidentiality of all communications and other records pertaining to the patient’s care.

4. Expect that any discussion or consultation involving the patient’s case will be conducted discreetly and that individuals not directly involved in the case will not be present without patient permission.

5. Expect reasonable safety congruent with the hospital practices and environment.

6. Know the identity and professional status of individuals providing service and to know which physician or other practitioner is primarily responsible for his or her care.

7. Obtain from the practitioner complete and current information about diagnosis, treatment, and any known prognosis, in terms the patient can reasonably be expected to understand.

8. Reasonable informed participation in decisions involving the patient’s health care. The patient shall be informed if the hospital proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation or other research/educational profits affecting his or her care or treatment. The patient has the right to refuse participation in such activity.

9. Consult a specialist at the patient’s own request and expense.

10. Refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law.

11. Regardless of the source of payment, request and receive an itemized and detailed explanation of the total bill for services rendered in the hospital.

12. Be informed of the hospital rules and regulations regarding patient conduct

These rights are not to be abused however, there will always be an extraordinary case wherein one has to forgo them for some valid reasons.

Source : Tricare.osd.mil
medlib.med.utah.edu