Stroke Risk Factors, Symptoms, Warning Signs, and Treatment

Stroke can be a very life-changing experience. It is very important to be aware of the risk factors, symptoms, and signs of stroke. The quality of your life could depend on it.

Some of the risk factors for stroke are:
1. Being over the age of 55 (however, stroke can happen at any age)
2. A family history of stroke, mini-stroke, or heart disease
3. Having previously experienced any of the factors in number 2
4. Being a man although women are also at risk.
5. Being a diabetic

First of all, some may wonder exactly what is a stroke. A stroke is a brain attack, not unlike a heart attack. When a person has a stroke, the blood flow to the brain simply gets interrupted. In about 85 % of cases this is caused by a blockage. A blood clot develops in the brain or elsewhere in the body and travels to the brain. (You can see the similarity to a heart attack.) Since diabetes can be hard on your body, including your arteries, this raises the stroke risk for us diabetics.

One of the main long-term effects of a stroke is paralysis, as was the case with my mother. She was paralized on her right side. Other long term effects are vision problems, memory loss, behavior changes, etc. The long term effects are determined by which part of the brain is effected when the stroke occurs. It is very important to know the signs of stroke because immediate treatment is necessary.

Watch for the following signs:
- confusion or trouble speaking (this includes talking clearly but not making sense or using wrong words)
- dizziness or a loss of balance
- a sudden severe headache with no explanation
- a numbness or weakness, especially on just one side of the body
- one side of the face having a droopy look, especially around the mouth

Medication can help to alleviate long term effects but only if given within three hours of the onset of symptoms. Do not hesitate in seeking help! Being hesitant or thinking, "Oh, it is probably nothing" could be the biggest mistake of your life.

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Diet for Kidney Stone Prevention

When you have renal stones, the best suggestion I can give you is well, the kidney stone diet. As the name suggests, this diet tackles all the guidelines you must have to manage your kidney stone. In the first place, kidney stones happen because there is a calcification in your urinary system. They form primarily on the kidneys but they can migrate to the lower urinary system. Hence, they are typically asymptomatic until they pass into the lower urinary system.

Up to 4% of the population in the United Stares has kidney stones. About 12% of males have renal stone by the age of 70. More than 200,000 americans require hospitalization for treatment of stones each year. It is so recurrent to the point that half of the patients affected will develop another bout of renal calculi in the next 10 years. Most common calculi are composed of calcium oxylate (70-80%), uric acid (10%), struvite (9-17%), or cystine (less than 1%). The most common signs and symptoms include low urine output, high urine pH (making it alkaline), excessive urinary excretion of calcium, oxalate, uric acid, or combination of these substances.

Type and cause of stone formation provide details on how to manage kidney stones. A comprehensive dietary history taking might also be needed to be able to point out the portion of the patient's diet that triggered the formation of kidney stones. Generally, treatment options include restrictive diet and modifications. Here are some guidelines on the kidney stone diet:

-Tailor diet to specific metabolic disturbances and individual dietary habits to ensure compliance

-Calcium restriction should be avoided

-Calcium and oxalate must be in balance

-Limit intake of spinach, rhubarb, beets, nuts, chocolate, team wheat bran, and strawberries

-Do not exceed recommended daily allowance for vitamin C as it increases urinary oxalate excretion

-Animal protein should be regulated to 1 g/kg body weight

-Salt intake should be restricted to less than 100 mEq/dl

-Potassium intake should be encouraged (five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day

-Include high fluid intake to produce at least 2 liters of urine/day (2-3 L of water intake/day is recommended)

From my experience as a nurse, it is always better to try less invasive procedures until all options become exhausted. Which is why following a proper diet and drinking plenty of fluids should be your first and primary thing to do.

Fortunately, most clients pass the stone naturally from the ureter and bladder. If the stone does not move, if it causes obstruction, or if X-ray suggests that the stone is too large to pass safely into the urethra, more invasive treatment is necessary.

The kidney stone diet is not rigid. In fact, it helps you work around your usual diet in order for you not to feel as though you are in a strict regimen.

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Dengue fever - information, symptoms and treatments

Fever Dengue (pronounced DEN-gee) is caused by viruses that are transmitted by mosquito bites. It is a severe illness that starts suddenly and usually follows a benevolent course with such symptoms as fever, headache, intense muscle and joint pains, exhaustion, lymphadenopathy (swollen glands) and the telltale rash. Dengue is characterized by the presence of what is called the "dengue triad" (headache, fever and rash). There are other signs of dengue like stark pain behind the eyes, gums that bleed, and redness in the palms of hands and soles of the feet. What is Dengue Fever?

Fever dengue strikes those who have low immunity levels. Fever dengue can be caused by any one of four types of the dengue virus: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4 (the numbers reflect the order of discovery and have no relation to disease severity). An individual can be infected by at least two types, if not all four at different times during his or her life. However, an attack of a particular type of dengue produce lifetime immunity against that serotype which the patient had been exposed to.

There are other names for dengue such as "dandy fever" or "breakbone." The name "breakbone" was derived because the victims of dengue have contortions because of the intense muscle and joint pains. The name "dandy fever" was derived from the slaves of the West Indies who had contracted fever dengue because of their gait and postures.

The more severe viral serotype of fever dengue is dengue hemorrhagic fever. Signs include headache, rash, fever, petechiae (which are small purple or red blisters just under the skin), bleeding of the gums, blackened stools, and bruising that easily develop. Dengue hemorrhagic fever can be lethal and can develop into the most severe form of dengue which is dengue shock syndrome.

A person who has been bitten by the Aedes mosquito carrying the dengue virus will show signs and symptoms after 3 to 15 days (although it is more common from within 5 - 8 days). The person infected will first experience chills and then headaches or pain when they move their eyes, and lower back pain. The pain in the joints and muscle pain in the legs occur during the first hours. The body temperature will then rise to about 40 degrees Centigrade (or 104 degrees Fahrenheit). The heart rate will remain low (known as bradycardia) and so will the blood pressure (known as hypotension). There will be reddening of the eyes and then there will be a rash or flushing that comes over the face and then goes away. The lymph nodes (glands) in the groin and neck will be swollen.

Most of those who develop fever dengue completely recover within two weeks however there are some who may go through several weeks of feeling depressed and/or tired.

The virus is contracted from the bite of a striped mosquito known as the Aedes aegypti that has been previously bitten a dengue infected person. This mosquito flourishes during the rainy seasons or monsoons but can easily breed in water-filled potholes, drains, flower pots, old tires, plastic bags, and cans all year-round. Only one mosquito bite is enough to inflict the disease.

The dengue virus is not contagious and cannot spread directly from one individual to another. To spread, there must be a pathway that goes "person-to-mosquito-to-another-person".

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Kidney Stone causes and Symptoms for Women

Kidney stones are more common in men than women. But the incidence of kidney stones in women has been on the rise. The number of women suffering from this problem has been increasing, largely due to dietary habits. Low intakes of fruits and vegetables and high-protein diets are the most common causes of kidney stones in women. Also, like a man, a woman also has a greater chance of recurrence of this problem.

Many women feel pain in the lower abdomen from time to time before or during menstruation. Sometime the cause of the pain may be kidney stones, but the women may not be able to identify it. They should carefully observe whether any such pain has been followed by a urinary disorder, dullness, fever, and nausea or vomiting. If that is the case, get in touch with your doctor, as he or she will be able to diagnose the problem.

If the pain persists even after menstruation that could be due to kidney stones, though there could be other reasons for it too.

As almost 80 per cent of kidney stones are calcium stones, women taking calcium supplements should be careful about it. Certain medical studies have suggested that if these supplements are taken as a part of a meal rather than a "supplement" to food, the risk of kidney stones reduces drastically.

However, the medical community has yet to reach at a consensus on this sensitive issue. Though men, in general, are more likely to have kidney stones than women, various studies over the last few decades have suggested that women are more likely to have struvite stones than men. The most common cause of struvite stones is chronic urinary tract bacterial infection. These stones can seriously damage a patient's kidneys, due to their size.

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Anxiety Symptoms, Causes, Types, Signs and Symptoms

Anxiety disorder affects over 40 million people and is one of the most common mental disorder. Anxiety disorders is a term that has a wide range of conditions, but they all cause extreme anxiety and mood and emotional disturbances. A person who suffers from it also can have phobias such as a fear of certain things like (snakes, spiders, heights, or water,) and they can cause you to have extreme anxiety or cause a panic attack. Now the form of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a more unfocused, pervasive anxiety that causes insomnia, fatigue, and other health problems. The form of social anxiety disorder (SAD) or social phobia is an unreasonable and overwhelming far of social situations. A person who suffers from SAD will avoid people while working in a social or a work setting. There is the fear that someone might notice the condition that makes it worse.

A person who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), this disorder causes a person to have obsessive thoughts and anxiety, nagging doubt, and the need to keep things in perfect order. A person who suffers from these disorder has an obsession with keeping things clan and germ free, so they keep washing their hands. People who have this know that it is not normal but they can not stop doing it. This disorder is called "insanity with insight" or "the doubting disease" according to Bruce Hyman to the OCD Research Center of South Florida. People who have this disorder call it a living hell.

Another disorder is the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can be caused from a rape, natural disasters, an accident, or abuse. Soldiers suffer from this when returning from a war. Some of the symptoms are insomnia, flashbacks, nightmares, and anger.

Separation anxiety is caused when young children are separated from their parents and it can affect both the children and the parents alike. When your child moves away to college it can cause separation anxiety. Your pet can suffer from separation anxiety and when you leave your pet it can become unruly and have disruptive behavior when you leave it alone or in the care of others.

There are other problems that coexist with anxiety disorder. Two-thirds of the people who suffer from GAD also suffer from depression A person who suffers from anxiety are more likely to abuse alcohol and drugs. People who suffer from one disorder are later diagnosed with additional anxiety disorders.

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You can Eliminate Phobias with the use of Systematic Desensitization

Clinicians use different psychotherapies to manage anxiety disorders. Systematic desensitization is one of those therapies which have got popularity among psychologist's community for its effectiveness in reducing anxiety disorders. Therapy is effective in reducing symptoms of panic disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. Primarily, therapy has gained popularity through its remarkable effects on reduction of different types of phobias. In phobia, a person becomes highly sensitive toward any stimuli. For example, a person is phobic of dark places, so he develops sensitivity for such places. The purpose of this therapy is to reduce that sensitivity that is, to desensitize the person for dark places. In this way, a person will not feel anxiety when he will face any dark place. The second important thing is that the clinicians induce this desensitization systematically.

There are two important things in therapy sessions. The first thing is that, a clinician accommodates relaxation techniques along with the main therapy. The second thing is that the clinician breaks the therapies in small steps (from least fear provoking situation to most fear provoking situation), and starts achieving target from the least step.

These things are not separate from each other. Relaxation techniques go side by side with systematic desensitization. It is equally important to understand that the clinicians conduct therapy in small steps. They never try to eliminate phobia in a single jerk. There are other psychotherapies that focus on eliminating the symptoms at once by sudden exposure to fear provoking stimulus. These methods are called flooding methods, but clinicians do not recommend such methods because of the potential harm to individual.

At the start of the therapy, clinician makes a list of fear provoking situation. Clinician has no authority to decide which thing is threatening for his client. He makes this list on the recommendations of the client. Client himself verbalizes which situation is most threatening and which is least threatening for him. List of client's fears during systematic desensitization may take the form of a hierarchy.

We will take the example of the person who fears dark places, his hierarchy may include the following steps.

1) Feels fear when think about dark place (this is the least fear arousing situation).
2) Feels fear when goes out of home and there is the possibility to confront any dark place.
3) Feels fear when passes by any dark place.
4) Feels fear when enters a dark place.
5) Feels fear when he has to stay in a dark place for at least five minutes (this is the most fear arousing situation).

When a clinician starts the therapy, he starts from the least fear provoking situation (Feels fear when think about dark place). Clinician asks the client to imagine the situation. When client imagine about the situation, he becomes anxious automatically. At this point, clinician introduces relaxation techniques through verbalization and deep breathing. Clinician asks the client to relax body parts one by one. He verbalizes to client "Now stretch your arms and then loosen them". In this way, clinician directs to stretch and relax different body parts. He repeats the same procedure for all the steps in hierarchy. Client has to practice these steps again and again. In this way, the client becomes habitual of relaxing himself during different fear arousing situations. Finally, clinician asks client to imagine the most fear inducing situation (stay in a dark place for at least five minutes), and when client becomes anxious, he asks him to calm down himself through relaxation techniques. In this way, systematic desensitization eliminates the phobia of the individual.

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Public Speaking - Tips for Managing Public Speaking Anxiety

Anxiety before presentations and speeches can be observed in many individuals. Dry throat, dizziness, and stuttering are the normal responses before and during public speaking. But in some cases, people can develop irrational fear of public speaking and go beyond the normal responses. Those who are suffering from fear of public speaking may experience different symptoms such as, extreme anxiety before communicating anything in front of groups, avoidance of the gatherings in which they will have to talk with groups, and physical discomfort (nausea, sweating, hot or cold flushes).

This type of fear induces speech problems. People may stutter, forget words or experience phonological problems during talk. This fear becomes worst when it leads to panic attacks. Panic attacks are an expression of anxiety. When someone loses his control in front of groups or public, he will experience a panic attack. These panic attacks are situational bound panic attacks in which a person experiences an attack when he confronts anxiety provoking stimulus. Individual may experience accelerated heartbeat, sweating, breathing difficulties, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, lack of control over himself, fear of dying, numbness and hot or cold flush during a panic attack. In this case, facing public is anxiety provoking stimulus, which induces the above mentioned symptoms.

We need to manage the fear of public speaking and resulting panic attacks. First, I will focus on managing the fear of public speaking. Usually psychologists talk about management instead of treatment. This is because, various factors contribute in development of psychological problems, and there are strong chances of relapse. There are several things that can reduce fear of public speaking. Practice before speech or presentation is essential. One should learn at least the first portion of presentation by heart. People should keep prints of speech with them to take help whenever they stuck. It is better to use multimedia during presentation, because it helps to maintain the flow of presentation. It can be helpful to deliver the speech in front of family members or friends. One should ask for feedback to enhance skills. Always keep in mind that, the audiences do not know about the area you are presenting in, they are students and you are the teacher who will introduce them on the topic. This will help in reducing the fear of audience.

Now, we will discuss on the ways that can be helpful in controlling panic attacks during public speaking. The first thing is to accept your problem as the problem. Never be ignorant and wait for miracles to prevent you from disastrous public speaking. Accepting will enable you to find solutions for your own problems. Sometimes speakers feel that their hidden anxieties are in the spotlight, and the audiences can see what they are feeling. This is the misconception of speakers. Certain anxieties go unnoticed and the audiences are not interested in embarrassing you at personal levels. Try to be positive in your approach and tell yourself that "I have the ability to accomplish my task, and overcome my weaknesses". Psychotherapy values such self-instruction to enhance self-control over acts. Once, you are able to assure yourself, you can prove your talent to the audience. Anxiety is the thing that makes your processes faster. You can use your aroused conditions positively, and make your speeches and presentations more enthusiastic. If you think that now you will experience a panic attack, you will surely have. When you are feeling aroused, tell your mind that you are prepared to face these attacks right now. In this way, you will be able to manage your fear of public speaking.

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