A new study suggests that over 300,000 of our U.S. troops are suffering from major depression or post-traumatic stress from serving in Iraq & Afghanistan. The study also revealed that over 320,000 have suffered from brain injuries. What is really sad and shocking is that only about half have sought treatment for their problems.
The researchers in the study said that those who have not sought out treatment for their mental health conditions can suffer from long-term consequences for themselves and for the Americans they are fighting to protect.
The 500-page study is the first large-scale, private assessment of its kind — including a survey of 1,965 service members across the country, from all branches of the armed forces and including those still in the military as well veterans who have left the services.
Read more at MSNBC.
New research has found that the most serious form of ovarian cancer, ovarian serious carcinoma, may originate with the fallopian tube cells rather than ovarian surface cells. This new finding may help prevent ovarian cancer, earlier detection and better treatments.
Currently there are not any early diagnostic tests for ovarian cancer so approximately 80% of the cases aren’t diagnosed until the cancer has reached a very late stage.
Dr. Keren Levanon of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, said:
“One fascinating fact is that when you diagnose ovarian cancer, you find massive invasive tumors on the surface of the ovary — usually the tumor does not invade the ovary — but you never find early pre-invasive in situ tumors.”
Levanon and colleagues studied a group of women at very high risk for ovarian cancer due to family history who underwent removal of their fallopian tubes and ovaries as a preventive measure.
When these women were closely evaluated, the researchers found that they had early cancerous growths — and these early growths were in the fallopian tube, not on the surface of the ovary. The growths were confined to a particular area within the fallopian tube called the fimbria, which is located close to the ovary.
At my son’s elementary school there are currently some cases of Fifth Disease going around. Thank goodness our school district is great at keeping us parents aware of what illnesses are going around and they always provide us with lots of information on the illnesses our children are being exposed to.
Fifth Disease is a common illness, a mild rash illness, that mostly occurs in children. The “technical” name for Fifth Disease is Erythema infectiosum.
When a child has Fifth Disease, they will typically exhibit a rash on their face that looks like slapped cheek and a lacy red rash on the trunk and limbs. The rash may itch. Other symptoms include a low-grade fever, malaise or a cold a few days before the rash breaks out. The child will not appear to be very ill and the rash usually goes away in a week to 10 days.
Fifth Disease is caused by infection with human parvovirus B19. Adults can also get Fifth Disease if they are not immune to it. An adult can either have no symptoms or develop the Fifth Disease rash, joint pain and swelling.
Fifth Disease is a contagious illness during the early part of the illness, before the rash appears. Once a child has the slapped cheek rash, they can return to school or daycare.
Fifth Disease is spread from person to person in direct contact with respiratory secretions when sharing cups or utensils. During school outbreaks, the Department of Health states that 10% - 60% of students may get Fifth Disease.
Fifth Disease is usually not a serious illness and it resolves on its own among children and adults who are healthy. The parvovirus B19 infection can cause a serious illness in people who have sickle-cell disease or other types of chronic anemia. The parvovirus B19 infection can cause a severe anemia in these individuals. People who have immune deficiencies, organ transplants, HIV, and cancer are also at risk of a more serious illness and should seek medical attention immediately.
Treatment for Fifth Disease usually just includes treating the fever, pain and/or itching.
Sandy Robinson also is the blogger for her own website, Fighting Fatigue and the Fighting Fatigue Forum. On the WebbleYou Network, Sandy is co-blogger for the American Idolist blog.
A diet that the government recommends, called the DASH Diet, has proven through a 25-year study that they might actually know what they are talking about!
The purpose of the DASH eating plan is to help women keep their blood pressure lowered and can save them from heart attack and stroke.
Researchers followed more than 88,000 healthy women for almost 25 years. They examined their food choices and looked at how many had heart attacks and strokes. Those who fared best had eating habits similar to those recommended by the government to stop high blood pressure.
The DASH diet favors fruits, vegetables, whole grains, milk (low-fat), and plant based proteins instead of meat. Women who followed the DASH eating plan, or one that closely resembled it, compared to those who followed a typical American diet were 24% less likely to have a heart attack and 18% less likely to have a stroke.
Example of the DASH Diet
The choices listed below are similar to the government’s DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).
1. More than eight total servings of fruits and vegetables daily. A serving is a half-cup of cooked vegetables or one cup raw, or a small piece of fruit.
2. One total serving daily of nuts and legumes, about a handful of peanuts or a half-cup legumes, including lentils, kidney beans and split peas.
3. At least two servings daily of whole grains. A serving is a slice of whole-grain bread or a half-cup cooked whole-grain pasta or rice, or about a cup of dry cereal.
4. Almost two daily servings of low-fat dairy products. A serving equals eight ounces of milk or one cup of yogurt.
5. A half serving daily of red or processed meats, including bacon and hot dogs. A full serving is about the size of a deck of cards. (The DASH diet does not recommend those high-fat meats. It calls for no more than two servings daily of lean meat, fish or poultry.)
It is estimated that 30% - 70% of early stage cancer patients suffer from cancer-related pain. For those patients with advanced stages of cancer, pain is prevalent in 60% - 95% of them.
Current research shows that cancer pain continues to be under-treated despite the availability of analgesics and established guidelines to maximize their effectiveness.
A recent study (Cancer Nursing. 31(2):E1-E8, March/April 2008) was conducted to describe oncology patients’ pain experience during an episode of hospitalization with particular emphasis on exploring the relationship between oncology patients’ beliefs about pain and the treatment they received.
Consecutive patients were interviewed 48 hours after admission to an urban and a regional hospital in Australia; 47.6% of patients had experienced moderate to severe pain in the previous 24 hours but had only received 40.4% of available analgesic. Patients held varying beliefs about pain and pain treatments in particular, 41% held strong beliefs about the potential for addiction to narcotics. Patients who held this belief reported higher current pain, worst pain intensity, and higher average pain intensity in the previous 24 hours. Effective pain management in the inpatient oncology setting continues to be an important clinical issue, and patients do not receive all available pain treatment. There may be an important association between patients’ beliefs about pain and pain management and the pain management they receive.
Older men with low testosterone levels may reduce bone loss and improve bone density by having injections of testosterone. These injections may help to prevent osteoporosis.
Testosterone therapy has been used to improve bone strength and muscle mass in some men. However, the hormone treatment is controversial, because it has been associated with increasing the risk of prostate cancer and high levels of red blood cells. And other potential effects of long-term use of testosterone therapy aren’t known.
For the five-month study, 13 men who ranged in age from 60 - 85, were either given weekly injections of testosterone, weekly injections of testosterone every other month, or a placebo.
The study results showed that the men who received the testosterone shots had reduced bone turnover. Because the study only used a small number of participants, there is controversy over whether testosterone therapy is a proven method to reduce bone loss. A larger study would need to be conducted.
MedicineNet.com
Read my previous post on Celiac Disease to learn more about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.
Celiac Disease is an illness where the person is unable to eat gluten. This includes any foods made with wheat, rye, barley and oats.
The cause of Celiac Disease is unknown but there are theories as to a possible cause. Researchers believe that Celiac Disease is strongly associated with a group of genes on Chromosome 6. These genes (HLA class II) are involved in the regulation of the body’s immune response to the gluten protein fractions.
Approximately 1 out of 133 people in the United States will have Celiac Disease. The chronic disease will affect between 5% and 15% of children and siblings who have Celiac Disease. It has been found that in the case of identical twins, 70% will both have the illness.
Family members who already have an autoimmune disease should be tested for Celiac Disease. The liklihood of them getting, or already having this illness, is 25%.
Researchers recently discovered that medications, or stimulants such as Ritalin, used to treat ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in children does not increase their risk later in life for drug abuse or substance abuse.
Over the years, there has been a debate over whether ADHD medications are the best method to treat the disorder. ADHD symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. There have been some experts who worry that using ADHD drugs could make children susceptible to drug or substance abuse later on.
A team led by Salvatore Mannuzza of New York University followed for 17 years a group of 176 young men who had been prescribed Ritalin for ADHD as boys. Those who began taking Ritalin at ages 6 or 7 had essentially the same rate of drug abuse as young adults — 27 percent — as a group of young men who did not have ADHD and did not take Ritalin — 29 percent.
Those with ADHD who started taking Ritalin at a slightly older age — 8 through 12 — did have a higher rate of future drug abuse — 44 percent, the study found.
Mannuzza said it was premature to conclude it was the Ritalin, rather than the mere fact of having a condition like ADHD, that increased their likelihood of later drug abuse.
Source
A study being done in the United Kingdom revealed that you can tell just by looking at someone’s face whether they want a one-night stand or are looking for a committed relationship.
The study showed that women tend to be more attracted to the men who look like boyfriend material rather than the men who are just looking for casual sex. The study showed that men are more drawn to the faces that say “one night stand please! (Gee, that’s not surprising!)
Researchers created composite images of college students who identified themselves as either looking for a fling or true love and asked 700 participants to separate the hussies from the prudes. And most of the time, their instincts were accurate – 72 percent of the participants were right more than half the time, although they couldn’t exactly explain their guesses.
For guys, a face like Clive Owen’s — a square jaw, prominent eyebrows and nose and smaller eyes — tends to belong to the sluttier of the sex. As for women, it’s the hotties who are more likely to have flings.
MSNBC News
Sandy Robinson also is the blogger for her own website, Fighting Fatigue and the Fighting Fatigue Forum. On the WebbleYou Network, Sandy is co-blogger for the American Idolist blog.
Posted on April 11th, 2008 in
Sexual Health | Author:
Sandy Robinson |
1 Comment
(Cross posted at Fighting Fatigue)
A recent study done at the University of Ohio revealed that a biological link between pain and fatigue may bear the answer to why more women than men suffer from CFS and Fibromyalgia.
The researchers found that through experimenting with mice that a protein involved in muscle pain works in conjunction with the male hormone testosterone to protect against muscle fatigue.
Chronic pain and fatigue often occur together — as many as three in four people with chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain report having fatigue; and as many as 94 percent of people with chronic fatigue syndromes report muscle pain. Women make up the majority of patients with these conditions.
To study the link between muscle pain, fatigue and gender, the researchers compared exercise-induced muscle fatigue in male and female mice with and without ASIC3 — an acid-activated ion channel protein that the team has shown to be involved in musculoskeletal pain.
Medical News Today
