RPM Campaigns Blog

Archive for July, 2009

If you suffer from acid reflux disease finding the treatment that controls your symptoms is very important. Fortunately there are a good variety of options available to those who suffer with this condition including medications that help control and prevent even the worst symptoms. The severity and how often the symptoms occur will play a role in which type of medications will work best and the best place to start finding relief is a visit to your doctor.

The first thing your doctor will recommend for relief is making some dietary and other lifestyle changes. Eating a healthy diet and avoiding foods that are known to exacerbate the symptoms of acid reflux are all part of this change, as well as stopping smoking, not drinking alcohol, and reducing stress. This strategy works for many people but for those who continue to suffer symptoms the next step up the treatment ladder are acid reflux medications.

Relieving the heartburn, pain, discomfort, and bitter taste of GERD is one of the purposes of taking this type of medication. The second reason is to prevent any further damage to the esophagus, larynx, and throat while giving these organs a chance to heal.

There are four classes of acid reflux medication on the market today. Which ones you use will depend on the severity of your condition and how well you respond to other forms of treatment.

Antacids have been used for many years to neutralize stomach acids for those who suffer heartburn and upset stomachs from time to time. They include such well know products as Rolaids, Tums, and Mylanta which all work by neutralizing gastric acids on contact. While they can be effective for mild acid reflux symptoms in people who have infrequent attacks and they work quickly their effectiveness is limited and does not last for very long.

Pepcid, Tagamet, and Zantac are what are known as H2 blockers which help reduce the amount of acid produced in the stomach. They were once available by prescription only but can now be bought over-the-counter at any pharmacy. These types of acid reflux medications can be a good choice for chronic sufferers with mild to medium symptoms.

Proton Pump Inhibitors include such medications as Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Nexium, and Aciphex. These are more powerful GERD medications that can only be obtained with a prescription from a doctor. They work by stopping the release of excessive amounts of digestive acids from the stomach and intestine and are used to help those who suffer the most severe symptoms of acid reflux disease. They can also be used to treat esophagitis and stomach ulcers.

Promotility agents can be used by acid reflux sufferers but because they can have bad side effects their use is limited. They work by increasing the speed with which food leaves the stomach, which in turn keeps excessive acid secretion at bay. Reglan and Maxolon are the more well known names for these types of drugs.

Choosing the right acid reflux medication is important for the proper treatment of symptoms and prevention of the long term complications this disease can bring. By working with your doctor you can find the right combination of lifestyle changes and medicines that will work for you.

Narcolepsy is a malfunction of the sleep/wake regulating
system in the brain which until recently was of unknown
origin. Its most common manifestation is Excessive Daytime
Sleepiness and sleep attacks.

Symptoms of Narcolepsy includes:

a. Temporary paralysis on falling asleep or awakening (sleep
paralysis).

b. Hallucinations – vivid images or sounds – on falling
asleep or awakening (Hypnagogic and hypnopompic
hallucinations respectively).

c. Moments (but sometimes extended periods) of trance-like
behaviour in which routine activities are continued on
“auto-pilot” (Automatic behaviour).

d. Interruption of night-time sleep by frequent waking
periods, marked by quickening of the heart rate, over-
alertness, hot flushes, agitation, and an intense craving
for sweets.

Is there any treatment?

There is no cure for narcolepsy, but the symptoms can
be controlled with behavioral and medical therapy. The
excessive daytime sleepiness may be treated with stimulant
drugs or with the drug modafinil. Cataplexy and
other REM-sleep symptoms may be treated with antidepressant
medications.

Medications will only reduce the symptoms, but will not
alleviate them entirely. Also, many currently
available medications have side effects. Basic lifestyle
adjustments such as regulating sleep schedules, scheduled
daytime naps and avoiding “over-stimulating” situations may
also help to reduce the intrusion of symptoms into daytime
activities.

Drug Therapy

Stimulants are the mainstay of drug therapy for excessive
daytime sleepiness and sleep attacks in narcolepsy patients.
These include methylphenidate (Ritalin

Prostatic cancer is the most common cancer in men over the age of fifty.
Adenocarcinoma is the most common form.
Prostate cancers seldom produce symptoms until the cancer is in the advanced stage so early diagnosis is essential as in the early stages the disease is curable.

Location and Function
The Prostate is an organ forming part of the male reproductive system. It is located immediately below the bladder and just in front of the bowel. Its main function is to produce fluid which protects and enriches sperm.

In younger men the prostate is about the size of a walnut. It is dough nut shaped as it surrounds the beginning of the urethra, the tube that conveys urine from the bladder to the penis. The nerves that control erections surround the prostate.

Signs and Symptoms

o Waking frequently at night to urinate
o Sudden or urgent need to urinate
o Difficulty in starting to urinate
o Slow flow of urine and difficulty in stopping
o Discomfort when urinating
o Painful ejaculation
o Blood in the urine or semen
o Decrease in libido (sex urge)
o Reduced ability to get an erection

Most men tend to accept the onset of one or more of these symptoms as being a natural consequence of aging. However, anyone experiencing any of the above symptoms is advised to consult a doctor without delay. Early expert diagnosis and treatment is important and may avert potentially serious health consequences.

Prostate cancer is usually one of the slower growing cancers. In the past, it was most frequently encountered in men over 70, and many of those men died of other causes before their prostate cancer could kill them. This led to the old saying “most men die with, not of, prostate cancer”.

However, that is certainly is not true today. Three developments have changed things considerably:

o Men are living longer, giving the cancer more time to spread beyond the prostate, with potentially fatal consequences.
o More men in their early sixties, fifties and even forties are being detected with prostate cancer. Earlier on-set, combined with the greater male life expectancy, means those cancers have more time to spread and become life-threatening unless diagnosed and treated.
o Prostate cancer in younger men often tends to be more aggressive and hence more life-threatening within a shorter time.

Risk Factors and Testing
Risk factors for prostate cancer include diets high in fat and low in vegetables. Risk factors include age; 75% of cases are in men over 65 years. Prostate cancer is most often discovered by physical examination or by screening blood tests, such as the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test.

The PSA test measures the blood level of prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme produced by the prostate. The risk of prostate cancer increases with increasing PSA levels.

The majority of men who reach age 85, in fact, have cancerous prostate cells, but the disease is developing so gradually that it never threatens their quality of life.

Genetic factors play a role, particularly for families in whom the diagnosis is made in men under 60 years of age, and the risk of prostate cancer rises with the number of close relatives who have the disease.

Preventative measures
Researchers at Harvard University found that men who ate cooked tomatoes or foods made with them (tomato sauce or ketchup, for instance) more than twice a week were less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Daily use of anti-inflammatory medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen may decrease prostate cancer risk.
Frequent ejaculations also seem to have a definite protective effect against Prostrate cancer.

Many prostate cancers are not destined to be lethal, and most men will ultimately die from causes other than of the disease. Because many prostate tumors are slow growing, survival rates are excellent when the disease is detected in its early stages.

Treatment
The most appropriate treatment is primarily determined by the stage and aggressiveness (how quickly it is growing and spreading) of the disease when it is discovered. Detecting prostate cancer early is the key to beating the disease.
Many factors affect the decision whether or not to treat the disease: the patient’s age, whether the cancer has spread, the presence of other medical conditions, and the patient’s overall health.

Treatment for prostate cancer may involve watchful waiting, surgery, radiation therapy including brachytherapy and external beam radiation, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), chemotherapy, cryosurgery, hormonal therapy, or some combination.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Delusional disorder may arise from a preexisting paranoid personality disorder. Beginning in early adulthood, people with a paranoid personality disorder demonstrate a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others and their motives. Delusions are associated with a wide range of nonpsychiatric medical conditions, which suggest that biological factors may play some role in the development of delusional disorder.

Among patients with neurologic disorders (primarily dementia, head injury, and seizures) conditions involving the basal ganglia and temporal lobe are most commonly associated with delusions. There are different types of delusional disorder based on the main theme of the delusions experienced. The types of delusional disorder include.

First Erotomanic-Someone with this type of delusional disorder believes that another person, often someone important or famous, is in love with him or her. Second is Grandiose-A person with this type of delusional disorder has an over-inflated sense of worth, power, knowledge, or identity. Third is Jealous-A person with this type of delusional disorder believes that his or her spouse or sexual partner is unfaithful. Forth is Persecutory- People with this type of delusional disorder believe that they (or someone close to them) are being mistreated, or that someone is spying on them or planning to harm them. Fifth is Somatic-A person with this type of delusional disorder believes that he or she has a physical defect or medical problem and last is Mixed: People with this type of delusional disorder have two or more of the types of delusions listed above.

Causes of Delusional Disorder

Common Causes and Risk factors of Delusional Disorder

Genetic factors.

Biological factors.

Environmental/psychological factors.

Signs and Symptoms of Delusional Disorder

Sign and Symptoms of Delusional Disorder

Feeling exploited.

Bearing grudges for a long time.

Responding readily to perceived slights.

An irritable, angry, or low mood.

Hallucinations.

Treatment of Delusional Disorder

Common Treatment of Delusional Disorder

Medication and psychotherapy (a type of counseling). Psychotherapy is the primary treatment for delusional disorder, including psychosocial treatment which can help with the behavioral and psychological problems associated with delusional disorder.

Individual psychotherapy can help the person recognize and correct the underlying thinking that has become distorted.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can help the person learn to recognize and change thought patterns and behaviors that lead to troublesome feelings.

Family therapy can help families deal more effectively with a loved one who has delusional disorder, enabling them to contribute to a better outcome for the person.

Other medications: Tranquilizers and anti-depressants might also be used to treat delusional disorder. Tranquilizers might be used if the person has a very high level of anxiety and/or problems sleeping. Anti-depressants might be used to treat depression, which often occurs in people with delusional disorder.

A new ADHD drug, Attenace, will likely hit pharmacy shelves in early 2006. This “new” ADHD drug isn’t actually so new to the about 20,000 people currently taking Provigil “off-label” for ADHD. Attenace contains modafinil, the same active ingredient in the narcolepsy drug Provigil.

Modafinil is a stimulant drug that is chemically unrelated to the other stimulant ADHD medications. Although Attenace is a stimulant medication, it is not classified as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substance Act. This translates to the convenience of phone-in refills and less prescription hassles at the pharmacy.

Attenace has a different chemical structure but it still poses many side effects consistent with the side effects of the other stimulant ADHD medications. There are also a few new side effects, like sexual dysfunction, that adults might find less than pleasant.

Before you knock on your doctor’s door asking for a prescription, there are a few things you should know about this new ADHD medication.

First, it is not known how well Attenance will work or how it compares in effectiveness to the current ADHD drugs since the three trials conducted on Attenace only compared Attenace to a placebo instead of to its potential competitors. Cephalon conducted three 9-week double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of more than 600 children and adolescents between the ages of six and 17 with ADHD. Cephalon reports that Attenace “significantly improved” the symptoms of ADHD in children and adolescents, when compared to placebo, in three studies of the drug.

Secondly, Attenace (modafinil) has side effects ranging from mildly disturbing to potentially life-threatening. Given the relatively small test sampling to date, Attenace side effects are not fully known at this point. It can be assumed that Attenace will have similar side effects to Provigil since they are made from the same drug.

Below are a listing of common Provigil (modafinil) side effects.

_ Headache.

_ Blurred vision.

_ Dry mouth.

_ Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain.

_ Constipation or diarrhea.

_ Sleep disturbances/insomnia.

_ Loss of appetite/weight loss.

_ Stuffy nose.

_ Back pain.

_ Confusion.

_ Anxiety and agitation.

_ Nervousness, aggression, hostility.

_ Unstable moods.

_ Depression.

_ Decreased sex drive.

_ “Pins and Needles” feeling.

_ Rash or itching.

_ Dizziness.

_ Widening of blood vessels.

_ Weakness or loss of strength.

_ High/increased blood pressure.

_ Alteration in results of liver function tests.

_ Chest pain.

_ Increased heart rate.

_ Drug dependence.

_ Allergic reaction.

Attenace may be habit forming and has the potential for abuse and dependence . You should discuss the abuse and dependence potential of Attenace with your doctor. This drug should not be taken by anyone who has been or currently is dependent on alcohol or drugs.

Symptoms of an Attenace overdose might include excitation, agitation, insomnia, sleep disturbances, anxiety, irritability, aggressiveness, confusion, nervousness, tremor, palpitations, nausea, and diarrhea.

Contact your doctor immediately or seek emergency medical attention if you experience any of the following uncommon but serious side effects:

_ An allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of the throat;

_ swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives).

_ Irregular heartbeats.

_ Low or high blood pressure.

_ Shortness of breath.

Before taking Attenace, tell your doctor if you have;

_ Left ventricular hypertrophy.

_ Chest pain.

_ Irregular heartbeats.

_ History of heart attack.

_ High blood pressure.

_ Unstable angina.

_ History of mental illness.

_ Kidney disease

_ Liver disease.

Attenace, along with all other ADHD medications currently on the market, is not recommended for children under the age of six since its safety and effectiveness has not been determined. Despite ADHD drug manufacturer’s own labels warning against prescribing these powerful drugs to young children, doctors increasingly prescribe ADD medications to children under the manufacturer recommended age.

A Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) article in 2000 noted a “disturbing” increase in the amount of stimulants and anti-depressants prescribed for children under the age of five. Parents should carefully consider the health effects of placing small children on powerful ADHD medications, even if the child’s health care provider prescribes a medication for ADHD or ADD.

People using ADHD medications know that these little pills are never the “cure-all” answer. Attention Deficit requires a multifaceted approach which requires many different tactics and combination of tactics. What works is highly individual, depending on individual needs.

Many people with Attention Deficit Disorder and parents of children with Attention Deficit Disorder find great Attention Deficit Disorder and ADHD success from diet supplementation – especially with amino acids and essential fatty acids – a shift in parenting tactics, modifying the home and school environment, biofeedback, neuro-linguistic programming, stress relief measures and exercise. The greatest successes are found by being bold and trying a combination of many measures.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Being diagnosed with prostate cancer for the first time will more than likely be traumatic for you and your loved ones, being diagnosed with recurrent prostate cancer can be devastating. Your doctor will prescribe a prostate cancer treatment plan that is designed to help you beat this disease. For those who have recurrent prostate cancer, there are many prostate cancer treatment that your physician may advise you to try.

Radiation Therapy

One prostate cancer treatment option is radiation therapy. This prostate cancer treatment includes the use of radiation of high energy from protons, neutrons, gamma rays and x-rays, as well as other sources to kill the cancerous cells and to shrink any existing tumors. There are two ways that radiation therapy can be administered as prostate cancer treatment. The first is from a machine that is located outside your body called external beam radiation therapy, or you may have material that is radioactive that is placed in your body near where the cancer is located. This is referred to as internal radiation therapy.

Hormone Therapy

Another prostate cancer treatment your doctor may employ is hormone therapy. This prostate cancer treatment will remove, block or add hormones. When you are suffering with recurrent prostate cancer, hormone therapy may aid in preventing the growth of the cancer. It is also used as a cancer treatment for breast cancer as well.

Prostatectomy

If you are not responding to conventional methods of prostate cancer treatment, your doctor may suggest that you have a prostatectomy. This is an operation that will remove some or all of the prostate. When you have a radical or total prostatectomy, the surgical team will remove the entire prostate gland as well as surrounding tissue.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a common prostate cancer treatment as well as a treatment for a host of other types of cancer. Chemotherapy can come with a lot of side effects and if this is the course of prostate cancer treatment your doctor recommends, you will learn about the possible side effects you may suffer with this treatment option. There may be other prostate cancer treatment other then those mentioned that your doctor will discuss at length with you.