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Archive for January, 2010

DEPRESSION and anxiety disorders are psychosomatic conditions, i.e., a combination of psychological and physical factors. While the physical (or somatic) component of the condition is treated with anti-depressants, the psychologcal component is treated through psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy involves talking to a mental health professional such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or a counselor who first identify the reason for an anxiety disorder and how to alleviate the impact of the reason on the patient’s psyche. The particular type of psychotherapy that has been found very useful in treating anxiety disorders is: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). As its name suggests, CBT comrpises two elements: the cognitive element, and the behavioral element.

Cognitive element: The cognitive element of CBT helps people amend the thought structure that generates the fears and anxieties that have caused the anxiety disorder.

Behavioral element: The behavioral element of CBT encourages people to change the nature of their reaction to anxiety-causing situations.

Illustrations of how CBT works: Suppose a psychiatrist is treating a patient suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in which he or she is afraid of being infected by germs, so keeps washing hands repeatedly. A psychiatrist or a trained professional in mental health will allow this patient’s hands to get dirty and wait for increasing lengths of time before allowing him or her to washing them. When this exercise has been repeated several times, and the patient find that no infection has been caused despite the dirty hands that remained unwashd for so long, his or her fears of infection through germs will decrease.

Another example of how CBT works is, say, in the treatment of social phobia. The patient is encouraged to be present in social situations he or she fears and is allowed to commit social errors or inetiquettes. It will then be pointed out to him that nobody has really noticed – or might have noticed but did not give it any importance, or, better still, some others too have committed the same errors and are yet socially very comfortable – the patient will become more receptive to the social setting he or she once feared.

CBT usually lasts around three months and is administered individually or in groups. It may begin directly with the patient or may begin with videos and pictures depicting the situation the patient fears and how he overcomes the fears.

Finally, CBT can only work with the patient’s cooperation. The patient must acknowledge that an anxiety disorder afflicts him/her and must therefore want to take this therapy. Backed with administration of anti-depressant drugs, CBT can enable people with anxiety disorders live a normal and full life.

While children usually get all the vitamins they need from their foods if given a proper diet, nutritional supplements may be needed to help kids get the right minerals. Children often dislike the deep leafy greens that are iron-rich foods, and may need to get iron from nutritional supplements instead.

Kids and adolescents sometimes need nutritional supplements containing iron to prevent anemia. Babies who drink milk instead of formula may also need nutritional supplements containing iron. Once they start on solid foods, babies who don’t eat iron-enriched cereals may also need nutritional supplements containing iron. Adolescent girls are also susceptible to anemia when they hit puberty, especially if they have heavy periods, and nutritional supplements may help.

In addition to nutritional supplements containing iron, some children may need nutritional supplements containing calcium. Calcium is necessary for strong teeth and bones. Children who don’t like milk or who have milk allergies may prefer to get their calcium from nutritional supplements. Supplements of calcium are also found in many nutritional products that are fortified with calcium, such as certain brands of orange juice.

Even if your children take multivitamins, they may still need nutritional supplements for calcium, since many only contain 20 percent of the minimum daily requirement.

So nutritional supplements for iron and nutritional supplements for calcium may be important for your children, and there’s another: nutritional supplements for fluoride. Fluoride builds healthy teeth. Although most municipal water systems include fluoride in the water, if you use well water your children may need to take supplemental fluoride. Make sure they aren’t getting it from other sources, however, because too much fluoride can stain teeth.

The principle of treating cancer with radiation is that radiation is a devastating effect on living cells. In this case, the radiation is used for medicinal purposes only focus.

There are two types of radiation therapy for prostate cancer: this outward radiation radiation and brachytherapy.

Teletherapy

The most common type of radiation therapy in cancer, including prostate cancer, is teletherapy. In order to irradiation of prostate tumor was targeted before treatment is carried out to identify the desired area using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Currently, there are special programs that allow you to create three-dimensional “picture” of the tumor and direct rays of radiation directly to tumors.

Intensive modulated radiation therapy allows the physician to modulate, ie, modify the intensity of the radiation dose to deliver the greatest number of the tumor and reduce the dose of radiation that affects the surrounding healthy tissue (the bladder and rectum). In some medical centers frequently used proton radiation, which allows the doctor to better modulate the effect of radiation, however, this type of treatment has not been fully understood and is under clinical trials. The advantage of this type of radiotherapy is that radiation is directed at the pathological focus, without affecting or minimally affecting the surrounding tissues and organs.

Regardless of the type used distant radiation therapy, radiation exposure is carried out within 5 days a week, and the course of radiation therapy lasts 7 – 8 weeks. Typically, radiation therapy is conducted on an outpatient basis, that is, a patient comes to irradiation and again after it goes home.

Brachytherapy

Among the main advantages of remote radiation therapy can be noted better than prostatectomy, portability, lower risk of developing complications such as Impotence and incontinence, as well as the possibility of outpatient treatment.

At the same time, with this form of radiation therapy may be affected adjacent to the prostate tissues and organs: the bladder and rectum, which is manifested and rectal radiation cystitis (inflammation of the bladder and rectal mucosa), as well as ray ulcers. Length of remote radiation therapy reaches 7 – 8 weeks to reduce damage to healthy tissue.

With this in mind, oncologists try to develop a radically new method of radiation therapy, which have impacted directly on the cancer and thus minimally affected (or possibly does not affect) the neighboring tissues and organs. In the early 20 th century were used for this particular grain, made from the radioactive metal (radium, gold).

In the 80 years of the last century has developed a new technique which allowed to establish a prostate tumor radioactive material – was used for the transrectal access (ie, through the rectum) and carried out this technique under ultrasound.

Thus, the principle of brachytherapy is that radiation affects the tumor is not outside, that is, she does not need to pass through the thick of all the surrounding healthy tissue, and inside the tumor itself.

Today, for being the introduction of brachytherapy seeds of radioactive iodine-125 using special needles. Once the grains are introduced into the prostate of the radioactive substance, needles are removed and the grains remain in the prostate. The half-life of radioactive iodine-125 is 60 days. Due to the fact that radiation is delivered directly into the prostate tissue, it can significantly reduce the dose of radiation, which helps to avoid unnecessary exposure of neighboring organs and tissues.

What explains the success of brachytherapy in the treatment of prostate cancer?

First, the 10-year survival of patients after brachytherapy is almost 80%. On the effectiveness of brachytherapy comparable with radical prostatectomy. However, the number of complications, it has advantages over the operation: for example, such complications as urinary incontinence after brachytherapy does not develop more than 4%, and impotence – no more than 15%.

Another important advantage of brachytherapy is that after this procedure, the patient is discharged from the hospital on the same or next day and returned to normal within a few days.

How is brachytherapy

The procedure for the introduction of radioactive seeds into the prostate takes about 1 hour. The entire procedure is conducted under the supervision of TRUS – transrectal ultrasound, when the ultrasound transducer device is introduced into the rectum. Radioactive seeds (usually 60 – 90) are introduced into the prostate using the special needle through the skin of the perineum. After the procedure, the bladder catheter, which is removed the next day. Then the patient is discharged home.

Some statistics indicate that the survival rate of prostate cancer can be as high as 98 percent if the disease is caught in its early stages. But, how can one go about ensuring their prostate cancer gets diagnosed in time? Even with regular prostate screenings, the tumors have to be big enough to be noticeable. Well, you might not be able to catch prostate cancer at Stage 1, but if you pay attention to your body and let your doctor aware of anything unusual during your check-ups, you increase your chances of catching it as it goes into Stage 2. To appropriately do this, you need to be aware of the 5 early symptoms of prostate cancer. They are explained in greater detail below.

1. Urinary Difficulties

The first symptoms of prostate cancer are urinary difficulties. You may be wondering why urinary difficulties in this list of prostate cancer symptoms if the bladder is not the prostate gland? It’s simple; as the tumors grow they press up against the organ, which is still very close to the prostate. When this happens a man will experience incontinence, trouble urinating at all, (despite incontinence) and a very low urine flow.

2. The Presence of Blood

Symptom 2 s even more alarming than urinary incontinence. It involves the presence of blood in a man’s urine and/or semen.

3. Erectile Dysfunction

Of the symptoms listed in the here, erectile dysfunction makes the most sense, since the prostate gland is a sexual organ. However, erectile dysfunction is such a common problem among older men, they may not even suspect prostate cancer. They may think they are experiencing a psychological problem, or perhaps that they just need a dose of Viagra. Either way, it’s not worth the risk. If you are experiencing erectile dysfunction, discuss it with your doctor to make sure prostate cancer can be fully ruled out.

4. Swelling in the Legs

How can swelling in the legs be on the list of the 5 early symptoms of prostate cancer? It’s because when the disease starts to metastasize, it will spread into the lymph nodes. As a consequence the unhealthy lymph nodes will start to accumulate in the legs, resulting in swelling.

5. Pelvic Discomfort

Pelvic discomfort is on the list of the symptoms of prostate cancer because when the disease affects the lymph nodes, it can cause them to press up against the nerves in the pelvis, resulting in pain.

In conclusion, pay attention to the list of the 5 early symptoms of prostate cancer. If you are experiencing any of them, discuss the situation with your doctor. If he or she suspects you have prostate cancer, they will perform a series of tests including a general rectal exam, an ultrasound and blood tests. Should a tumor be found, they perform a biopsy to determine if it is prostate cancer.

Our sexual desires, interest, behaviors, attitudes and problems are not separate from the rest of our life. If you are currently having a sexual problem such as feeling impotent (unable to become aroused or unable to gain control over your sexual response), you may be feeling impotent, inadequate, or helpless in other areas of your life as well. If your sexual problem is about having difficulty achieving orgasm or continuing the sexual act until your partner is also satisfied, you may have a general fear of letting go, of trusting others, and of losing control.

Maybe your have a sexual problem that is part of a pervasive inability to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Or maybe, the enjoyment of touching and being touched has been suppressed in you because of attitudes and behaviors of others in your earliest years. And for some people, religious and spiritual beliefs have interfered with sexual enjoyment, even within the sacred space of marriage.

This article offers a summary of types of treatments available to help you to overcome sexual problems.

Medical treatments may include:

- psychotropic medications to inhibit emotional problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive thoughts and behavior, mood swings)
- medications to enhance sexual desire and sexual arousal (hormone therapy, erection enhancement, arousal enhancement)
- surgery to enhance physical attraction, change sexual characteristics, or eliminate pain symptoms

Physical treatments may include:

- Biofeedback
- Physical Therapy (e.g., Pelvic Floor Massage)
- EMDR
- Massage and Bodywork Therapies – (e.g., Massage, Craniosacral Therapy, Acupressure, Acupuncture, Pelvic Floor Treatment)

Sex Therapy treatments may include:

- Sexual History
- Anatomical Education
- Sensate Focus, Squeeze Technique, Stop/Start, Kegel Exercises
- Videos, Vibrators, Dilators, Sex Toys, Aphrodisiacs
- Tantra Sex Practices, Surrogate Partners
- Somatic Experiencing

Couples and Marriage Therapy Treatments may include:

- Listening skills, empathic reflection, and insight training
- Exploring the depths of desires, emotions, reactions and experiences
- Negotiating, compromising and communication skills
- Exploration of alternative viewpoints and lifestyles
- Extended family and family of origin dynamics
- Cultural, ethnic, religious and spiritual concerns
- Male/female roles and roles in and outside the relationship
- Learning to resolve both internal and interpersonal conflicts
- Managing, reducing or relieving symptoms of emotional distress
- Changing behaviors to improve couple functioning

Individual Psychotherapy may include:

- A specific psychotherapeutic style or an eclectic approach, incorporating several different theories, methods and techniques
- An orientation toward the past as the source of problems in the present
- Little interaction between the analyst and patient, until the analyst offers interpretations of what the patient is experiencing
- A “holding environment” that allows the client to feel safe enough to deeply explore important life issues
- Long-term treatment, sometimes several times per week

Body Psychotherapy may include:

- Somatic Experiencing
- Body Metaphors and Body Image
- Touch
- Empathy and Safety
- Body, Mind and Spirit
- Mental Health Skills

Group Psychotherapy and Workshops may include:

- Reduced isolation and greater insight from sharing with other people who have similar concerns
- Emotional containment, emotional expression, empathy and support
- Developing and adhering to guidelines and rules of conduct

Telephone and Online Counseling may include:

- Insight, understanding and support
- A sense of safety and anonymity
- Easier communication because verbal cues are not distracting

It is a vegetable that has its origins in the wild celery from the Mediterranean basin. The celery has a thick and pulpy rhizome, reduced aerial stem and big, green pinnate leaves.

It is a cultivated plant, used as a nutriment, but also as a medicinal plant. For the therapeutic recommendations are used the roots, as well as the leaves and seeds. Also it is used as an aphrodisiac, febrifuge, hypotensive, in urinal retention, kidney disease.

These uses are due to the content of minerals and sodium (55mg %), calcium (235mg%), potassium (50mg%) and phosphorus (60mg%) salts, vitamins: A, B1, B2, C and microelements: iodine, magnesium, copper.

People say that the celery rejuvenates, as it stimulates the adrenal glands.

Therapeutic features

The celery’s roots are very useful in renal affections and for cardiovascular affections. It is also recommended in case of obesity because it eliminates water excess from tissues.

Having hypoglycemic properties it is a very good anti-diabetic.

For intestinal problems it can be used as a laxative and diuretic in this way: boil 40 grams of leaves in a liter of water. Filter and drink a cup a day. As a drink, can be consumed 100 grams in the morning before eating. Also, for diuretic effects, drink 2-3 cups of decoction made of 30 grams of roots and rhizomes per a liter of water.

For ophthalmologic affections drip on the eyelid some celery tea drops.

Tonic wine: is prepared of a shredded and macerated root, left for 48 hours in a liter of white wine with 100 grams of sugar. Drink 2-3 glasses of this perfumed wine. It has a diuretic, as well as a tonic effect.

Chilblain baths: boil an entire shredded celery in 2 liters of water for about 45 minutes. The frozen parts are held in the decoction as hot as it can be. It can be reheated and used 3 times a day. The treatment lasts for 3-5 days.

The rhizome and roots can be consumed raw. They act as a laxative, aphrodisiac and decrease arterial pressure.

The decoction (is made of 100 grams of celery – leaves and roots – at a liter of water) and the tincture (shredded celery roots – 30-50 grams of celery per 100 grams of alcohol, are left 7-10 days to macerate) are used to treat skin disease.