SALT LAKE CITY — Cedar, oak, birch, cottonwood.

They’re a big part of the local landscape, but they’re also causing Utahns a lot of trouble lately.

“We had a relatively warm winter and what might be perceived as an early or mild spring and this has promoted very high pollen counts,” said Dr. Charles Rogers, a board-certified allergist with Allergy Associates of Utah and Intermountain Medical Center. Rogers works out of two offices and definitely keeps busy this time of year.

Pollen counts for a variety of trees are already way above average, “extra high,” according to Intermountain Allergy and Asthma, which produces daily measures of what’s in the air in the Salt Lake Valley.

“This year is the same or worse than other years,” Rogers said. “But it has come on somewhat earlier.”

Tree pollens are typically bad from March through June, grass pollens pick up in late April and are prevalent through July, and weed season is worst from July to October. this year, many trees have been pollinating since February.

“These things have a tremendous negative impact on quality of life,” said Dr. Craig Moffat, a board-certifed allergist at Alta View Hospital and the Intermountain Sandy Clinic. He said allergies have a tendency to interfere with school, work and daily life, often leading to decreased productivity and absenteeism.

“The best treatment is to change your parents or change your genes,” Moffat joked. “But since we can’t do that, there’s actually really good therapy available.”

Allergies, he said, are inherited from a person’s parents. if one parent has allergies, children have a 33 percent chance of also having allergies. The percentage increases to 66 percent when both parents suffer from allergies. Moffat’s family history (he has one parent with allergies) actually helped him determine his own career path, as he wanted to help others find relief.

Children aren’t typically affected by seasonal allergies until age 5, and Moffat said symptoms continue to get worse through a person’s 20s and 30s, when they peak and eventually fade away at age 70 or 80.

Both doctors said initial appointments with an allergist or a primary care physician involve recording a patients’ history and examining symptoms.

Typical symptoms for seasonal allergies, Moffat said, include red, itchy, watery eyes and runny nose, sneezing and itchiness.

Routine use of proton-pump inhibitors in asthma significantly improves physiologic measures of airway flow, but it doesn’t similarly improve patients’ symptoms or quality of life, according to an Archives of Internal Medicine meta-analysis.

Researchers examined data from 11 randomized trials including some 2500 adult patients. Morning peak expiratory flow rates improved significantly more among those taking PPIs, especially among patients with confirmed gastroesophageal reflux. however, symptom scores and quality-of-life measures did not show an advantage for PPI treatment.

The authors argue that their analysis provides a 20-fold increase in available data compared with older analyses, but they conclude: “There is insufficient evidence to support the routine use of PPIs in the treatment of asthma.”

Is there also symptoms relating to psychological problems too? do you know someone who has suffered and recovered from one of these?? Which one? Is there a way to help them to encourage them to really want to work at it?

its more dangerous. its one thing to not put food in your body but another to put it in there and take it out.

when you throw up, you are damaging your esphogaus. you are also bringing up the acid in your stomach and it will deteriate your throat. you are having your body take in food and fool it into thinking you ate but you body catches on too fast.

you need to get help if you have an eating disorder. just for the quality of life sake. you rather die then be healthy and not ugly thin? i dont understand.

Bulimia is just as dangerous as anorexia, but it is often charcterized as less dangerous because it is less rare, and there are fewer bulimia-related deaths. but bulimia really is dangerous: throat cancer, stomach cancer, rotted teeth, sores on the hands and around the mouth, weakened heart, dehydration, serious electrolyte imbalance, malnutrition . . .it's all there, and you really can die.

I have had bulimia for four years. I am semi-recovered at this point. Recovery is very, very, hard for anyone with an eating disorder. They define themselves by their disorders, they arrange their life around food and controlling their appetites. Letting go of the disease means confronting the issues behind the disease, and that process is never easy.

It's hard to force someone into recovering, because we eating-disordered types are a creative bunch. the person has to want it for themselves, or they will just fall back into the same behavioral patterns. Therapy along with meds like Prozac are usually most helpful to get the person to realize their worth.

Whenever someone told me to eat I would do the opposite. so dont yell or nag at the person.

it is worse because the violent actions that you are doing to your system. For example you can get esophageal cancer or esophageal hernia from the stomach acids, not a good thing.

I was anorexic for four years and almost died.

I have been bulimic for 3 years and have almost died.

Bulimia is worse because its effects are immediate as well as its inherent dangers. You can be 80 lbs for awhile and not even have terrible health, but you cannot puke up everything, everyday and avoid electrolyte imbalance, amylase imbalance, faintness, the body immediately adjusting metabolism and the entire digestive process to a binge/purge cycle.

And this sounds crazy but anorexia made me happier. even though it was irrational and false, the sense of power and control plus the physical skinniness that people love made me sooo much happier than bulimia ever did…bulimia in fact only made me feel OUT of control, disgusting, inferior, no physical perks and much more medically unstable.

it is a living hell of hells.

A new scientific article has been published demonstrating the profound impact of spasticity on patients with multiple sclerosis and the benefits and underutilization of intrathecal baclofen (ITB) therapy from Medtronic, inc. (NYSE: MDT) as a treatment option for these patients. the paper, published this week as an OnlineFirst article in Multiple Sclerosis Journal,recommends physician evaluation of ITB therapy as a treatment option for patients at all clinical stages of MS who are intolerant of or unresponsive to oral spasticity therapies.

“Severe spasticity is a debilitating condition that can have a negative impact on quality of life of patients with MS. while oral medications work to treat spasticity in some individuals, I see patients every day who can’t tolerate the side effects of large doses of medication necessary to treat the most severe cases,” said Mary Hughes, M.D., one of the article’s authors and chair, Division of Neurology, University Medical Group, Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center in Greenville, S.C. “The strong collection of clinical results on the use of ITB therapy in MS patients points to a clear need for physicians to help MS patients control their spasticity and restore quality of life with options like ITB therapy, which is safe and effective in carefully selected patients.”

The expert panel of authors, including leading MS clinicians from the United States and Europe, combined has more than 100 years of experience in MS management and has treated more than 1,500 MS patients worldwide. the article includes a review of literature on ITB therapy for spasticity in MS and provides expert opinion of the panel regarding patient selection and management of ITB therapy in MS patients. Medtronic sponsored the panel’s meeting and paper development.

According to survey results within the research summary, 84 percent of patients with MS reported at least some symptoms of spasticity, with 30 percent reporting moderate to severe symptoms. Of the 13 percent of MS patients who may be candidates for ITB therapy, only 1 percent of patients stated they were receiving the therapy. however, current data indicate that ITB therapy effectively and significantly reduces severe spasticity in ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients with MS.

The expert panel noted that the main barrier to the use of ITB therapy is that many physicians do not present ITB as a therapeutic option that is safe, effective and well-tolerated. this often occurs due to a lack of physician understanding of quality of life issues caused by spasticity, potential ITB benefits and appropriate patient selection, as well as their focus on disease-modifying therapies rather than symptom control.

“This article is a very powerful analysis of the need for greater consideration of ITB therapy by clinicians who manage MS,” said Tom Tefft, senior vice president and president of the Neuromodulation business at Medtronic. “We are hopeful that this paper will encourage more physicians to offer the therapy to appropriate patients.”

About Multiple Sclerosis and Spasticity

Approximately 300,000 Americans have MS, a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms may include abnormal fatigue, impaired vision, loss of balance and muscle coordination, slurred speech, tremors, spasticity, bladder and bowel problems, difficulty walking, short-term memory loss, mood swings, and, in severe cases, partial or complete paralysis. Spasticity can occur when the part of the brain that controls voluntary movements is damaged or injured and results in tight, stiff muscles. In addition to being one possible symptom of MS, spasticity also can be a symptom of cerebral palsy, brain injury, spinal cord injury or stroke. for some people, the condition is so severe that it is impossible to voluntarily relax muscles.

About ITB Therapy

Medtronic ITB Therapy using the SynchroMed® II pump is the first and only fully programmable implantable drug pump available in the United States to treat severe spasticity. first approved in the United States in 1992, ITB is a complete drug delivery solution to optimize spasticity treatment and maximize function. the therapy delivers a baclofen injection directly to the intrathecal space where fluid flows around the spinal cord in patients with severe spasticity. more information is available at medtronic.com/your-health/severe-spasticity/about/index.htm

About Medtronic

Medtronic, inc. (medtronic.com), headquartered in Minneapolis, is the global leader in medical technology – alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world.

Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic’s periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.

Business Wirebusinesswire.com/

Last updated on: 05/02/2011 08:00:02

Psoriasis Symptoms Wiki

People often say that the quality of life is as important as life itself.how is your life?If you are a person who has suffered from psoriasis,do you feel at loss what to do about your fish scale-like skin or you have gone all out to find some way to cure it but only to find that everything you have tried is of no help to the matter.sometimes even you wrap youself in heaving clothing,the sneer and stigma from superficial people also come as rain.

How to cure psoriasis?this issue has caused wide public concern.Now there is a piece of good news for the patients who have still afflicted by psoriasis.Katy Wilson,the writer of Psoriasis Free for Life ,who has experienced with psoriasis for many years,has found a step by step guide to cure psoriasis.Perhaps you have an alternative program to take up but the effect may not so amazing as this book.If you have got this book,you would get the detailed information about how to treat the disease in an all-natural way.you should never violate the taboo that turning to any medicine you can find to relieve you pains.Katy Wilson,in this book will tell you how to avoid the trigger of psoriasis which has been ignored by majorities.it is futile to relieve the pain by using some fishy medicines,which sometimes aggravates the situation.what we should do is to apply holistic cures as indicated in the book Psoriasis Free for Life.Our bodies should be take care of as a whole because every party always has internal relation to another.for instance,you should take a bath under an agreeable condition that the water should never be too hot and the the time should never too long,both will dry up your skin,which is bad for you skin.What’more,you must always maintain your skin under good condition.that is to say,using some kinds of clean moisturizers and lotions of good quality will be beneficial to you.you must be aware of that any kinds of medicines should be the last thing to choose.Taking advantage of you own immune system to defend diseases like psoriasis is just the right way.

Ok,we have talked too much.If you are a patient of psoriasis which not only has bad effect on you health,but also your public images ,all you want is involved in the book Psoriasis Free for Life .in view of the seriousness of this problem,effective measures should be take before things get worse. Seeing is believing.Now,take your action to get the guilde and you will be a witness of miracle. Grab a Copy Click here

8 things your Hair says About your HealthWhen it comes to our hair, most of us worry most about what to do with it: how short to cut it, how to style it, whether to color it once it begins to go gray. But experts say that our hair says a lot more about us than how closely we follow the latest styles.Read more on WJXT Jacksonville

Related posts

Tagged with: Psoriasis • psoriasis wiki • scalp psoriasis wiki • skin deses psoriasis wiki • Symptoms • Wiki

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 December 2010, 02:26 CST

A school-based intervention program designed for adolescents with asthma significantly improves asthma management and quality of life for the students who participate, and reduces asthma morbidity, according to researchers in new York City, who studied the effect of the program aimed at urban youth and their medical providers. The Asthma Self-Management for Adolescents (ASMA) program is an eight-week intervention geared toward helping adolescents learn more effective ways of managing their symptoms and controlling their asthma.

The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

"We found that, relative to controls, ASMA students reported significantly more confidence in managing their asthma, greater use of their controller medication and written treatment plans, fewer days with asthma-related activity restrictions and fewer emergency department visits and hospitalizations, as well as an improved quality of life," said Jean-Marie Bruzzese, PhD, assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine. "our findings indicate ASMA is effective in improving asthma self-management and in reducing asthma morbidity and urgent health-care use in low-income, urban minority adolescents."

Collaborating with Robert B. Mellins, MD and David Evans, PhD of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the NYC Department of Education, the researchers enrolled 9th and 10th graders from five new York City high schools. To aid in selection, students in these grades were asked to complete a case detection survey, which asked students if they had been diagnosed asthma and gathered information about the frequency of symptoms and the use of prescribed asthma medication. Following parental consent, researchers enlisted 345 students who reported an asthma diagnosis, symptoms of moderate to severe persistent asthma and asthma medication use in the previous 12 months, and randomized them to ASMA or a wait-list control group. Of the enrolled students, 46 percent identified themselves as Latino and 31 percent identified themselves as African-American.

During the study period, trained staff performed assessments of the students every two months over a 12-month period, in addition to the more detailed interviews that occurred at the start of the study and at 6 and 12 months following enrollment. Comprehensive surveys assessed self-management and medical management of asthma, including symptom management and use of written management plans and controllers; health outcomes, including symptom days and asthma-related school absences; and urgent health-care use, including medical visits and hospitalizations.

Those randomized to participate in the ASMA program underwent an eight-week, intensive program aimed at helping students manage their symptoms through three educational group sessions and individual coaching sessions, held at least one each week for five weeks. Students received coaching about medical visits and how to work with their medical provider to more effectively control their asthma. in addition, the students’ medical providers were contacted to inform them of the study, and were given written materials and telephone consultations with pediatric pulmonologists or adolescent medicine specialists about the program’s concepts and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) guidelines for treatment of asthma. Providers were encouraged to give students written treatment plans and to prescribe anti-inflammatory medicines for students with persistent asthma. Students without medical providers were given a referral to a primary care provider in their neighborhood, or to a school-based health center, when available.

"Research has shown adolescents are less likely to receive regular medical care compared to younger children, and minority adolescents are less likely to use preventive medicine than white, non-Hispanic youth," Dr. Bruzzese said. "The ASMA program helps teach these children, and inform their caregivers, of the steps they can take to gain control of their symptoms and their treatment program. The cognitive and psychosocial developments of adolescence make this period an ideal time to teach these skills."

The researchers found that, at each follow-up interview, students enrolled in ASMA took significantly more steps to prevent asthma symptoms from occurring and had improved self-confidence in managing their asthma compared to the control group. in addition, at six months, the odds of appropriately using a controller medication were twice as high in the ASMA group, compared to the control group.

Morbidity was also decreased in the ASMA group compared to control. ASMA participants reported a 31 percent reduction in night awakenings and a 42 percent reduction in activity restriction due to asthma, as well as a 28 percent reduction in acute medical visits, a 49 percent reduction in emergency department visits and a 76 percent reduction in hospitalizations compared with controls.

"ASMA addresses an illness with high public health significance and, as such, can serve as a model for other populations of adolescents, including those in rural and suburban communities, or for adolescents with other chronic illnesses," said Dr. Bruzzese.

Schools or districts that lack resources to implement the program may consider partnerships with insurance providers or local medical schools with pediatric pulmonologists or allergists on staff, the researchers noted.

"Adoption of ASMA by schools would contribute to reducing the burden of asthma on adolescents, as well decreasing the health-care burden of the community at large," said Dr. Bruzzese.

• American Thoracic Society

More News in this Category

Posted on: Thursday, 2 December 2010, 15:22 CST

Post-traumatic stress in Crohn’s disease and its association with disease activity

The inflammatory bowel disorder Crohn’s disease produces its own variant of post traumatic stress (PTSD), indicates research published online in Frontline Gastroenterology.

PTSD creates a vicious circle by worsening the Crohn’s symptoms, indicates the study.

Crohn’s disease is incurable and can potentially affect the entire digestive tract, producing severe pain and diarrhoea. It is particularly common in Northern Europe, including the UK, and North America.

Its precise cause is not known, but its unpredictability makes it difficult to treat, and treatment is itself expensive, exhausting, and onerous, and carries its own risk of complications, say the authors.

The researchers tracked the health and psychological wellbeing of almost 600 adults over a period of 18 months. All of them had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and lived in various different locations in Switzerland.

At the start of the study, each patient’s mental health was assessed using a 17-item validated PTSD scale, which scores the degree of fear, suffering and impaired quality of life associated with PTSD from 0 to 51.

A score of 15 or more points is suggestive of post traumatic stress disorder, and almost one in five (19%) of the patients achieved this score.

The worsening of symptoms was then monitored during the subsequent 18 months to see if there was any link with the scores and a diagnosis of PSTD.

The results showed that those individuals with PSTD were more than four times as likely to experience worsening symptoms as those who scored below this threshold, and more than 13 times as likely to do so as those scoring zero.

Post traumatic stress occurs in response to traumatic experiences, and is typically manifest in recurring dreams/thoughts, avoidance tactics, irritability and sleeping difficulties.

It is normally associated with violence, emergency situations and natural disasters, but increasingly, research indicates that particular illnesses, such as cancer and HIV infection, plus the diagnostic and treatment procedures that accompany them, also take a hefty emotional toll, say the authors.

They add that over the long term, post traumatic stress permanently changes the body’s hormonal and immune responses, so making the sufferer potentially more prone to serious ill health.

"in most cases patients avoid talking about cures which remind them of having the disease…such behaviour may unwillingly be encouraged by the usual shortness of consultation time and unfamiliarity of [gut specialists] in dealing with the psychological needs of their patients," warn the authors.

Crohn’s disease can’t be cured, but PTSD can, and doctors should be alert to the psychological fall-out and refer patients for appropriate therapy, they suggest.

• BMJ-British Medical Journal
• Frontline Gastroenterology

More News in this Category

With age comes wisdom. and for many women, age also brings hot flashes, vaginal dryness and moodiness. This is menopause, the time in a woman’s life when her menstrual periods stop. That’s something many women would look forward to if the change were swift and uneventful. Alas, that is not usually the case.

During perimenopause (the time leading up to menopause) and menopause, women may experience hot flashes, moodiness, sleep disturbances, declining sexual desire and weight change. Declining levels of estrogen, along with other hormonal changes, are usually responsible for the discomfort women suffer.

Some women barely feel a thing and get through the “change of life” with few complaints. others live with symptoms so severe that the impact on quality of life is enormous. Symptoms attributed to declining estrogen levels include:

• Vasomotor problems, including hot flashes

• Somatic issues, such as muscle and joint pain, headache, dizziness, tingling and urinary frequency

• Psychological changes, including problems with sleep and concentration, depression and mood swings

• Sexual problems, such as low libido and vaginal dryness

The HRT scare

The easiest way to alleviate symptoms is to replace waning levels of estrogen with drugs. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be an easy solution but it’s not without controversy. since the 2002 release of data from the long-term health study, Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), which suggested an increase in cancer, heart disease and other health problems related to HRT, more and more women are reluctant to rely on HRT.

Yet, some of the results of the WHI have been called into question. In a 2009 article in the Bulletin of the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases, the authors report design flaws in the WHI study, including study subjects that were older and sicker than normally would be treated for menopausal symptoms. Flawed study notwithstanding, many women still prefer to use “natural” means of dealing with their symptoms. Alternatives to HRT do exist, although they are not necessarily safer or produce the same level of relief.

The hype and hope of soy

Soyfoods like tofu and edamame contain beneficial phytoestrogens (plant estrogenlike substances) called isoflavones that appear to reduce the risk of certain kinds of cancer and heart disease, as well as ameliorate hot flashes. The research results have been strong in some studies, but uncertain in others.

Mark Messina, Ph. D., M. S., a soy expert and nutrition professor at Loma Linda University in California, reports, “In an analysis that includes 17 studies, we found that in about 80 percent of the studies that evaluated the efficacy of isoflavones there was a statistically significant improvement in hot flashes; severity and frequency was reduced by about 50 percent. My view, therefore, is that isoflavones represent an alternative to estrogen for the treatment of hot flashes.”

On the other hand, a 2004 meta analysis published in Obstetrics and Gynecology found that the evidence from studies done between 1966 and 2004 to assess the efficacy of phytoestrogens for the treatment of menopause suggests that those found in soy foods and extracts do not improve hot flashes or other menopausal symptoms.

Why are the findings inconsistent?

“Individuals differ dramatically in their metabolism of isoflavones,” explains Messina. Belinda Jenks, Ph. D., R. D., director of scientific affairs and nutrition education at Pharmavite, studies equol, a metabolite of a soy isoflavone. she adds, “Approximately 50 percent of Asians and 20 to 30 percent of North Americans and Europeans have the ability to produce equol in their gut. Studies in Japan have documented an association between milder menopausal symptoms in equol producers compared to nonequol producers.”

Although the evidence for soy seems inconclusive, there is enough to suggest some women may benefit from eating it. Messina suggests that 50 milligrams — the amount in two servings (about 3-4 ounces each) of soyfoods such as tofu or soyburgers — are needed daily to alleviate hot flashes in most women.

Remember that whole soyfoods, such as soybeans and tofu, are healthful and offer benefits beyond reducing menopausal discomforts— they are high in fiber and protein, and isoflavones also appear to protect against cancer and heart disease.

Questionable botanicals

There are many plant-based foods that contain components that may have a favorable effect on menopausal complaints. Positive reports for botanicals are often anecdotal— women reporting that a particular remedy was helpful. Scientific research for most botanicals, on the other hand, has not supported their effectiveness.

Be aware also that just because something is “natural,” that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Some plant-based treatments can damage organs or interfere with traditional prescription medications, and few have gone through extensive safety testing.

The botanical with the strongest research is black cohosh, an herb in the buttercup family. In a 1996 to 2002 review of complementary and alternative therapies for menopausal symptoms published in Annals of Internal Medicine in 2002, researchers concluded that black cohosh showed promise for the treatment of menopausal symptoms, though the research was not conclusive at that time.

According to a current report from the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, the evidence on black cohosh’s efficacy is encouraging and it’s probably safe for short-term use, but the science is not yet sufficient to warrant recommending it. Because dietary supplements are regulated as foods and not drugs, composition may vary from product to product, which may explain why black cohosh works for some women and not for others.

Dong quai, a traditional Chinese medicine, has not been shown to reduce symptoms associated with menopause, nor has evening primrose oil, vitamin E or chasteberry. yet their effectiveness continues to be touted in articles and advertisements.

Maca, a derivative of a plant found in the Andes, has shown promising results in preliminary trials, but scientists reported in International Journal of Biomedical Science in 2005 that, although there was a decrease in symptoms among subjects taking maca, a significant placebo effect occurred, casting doubt on the strength of the results.

Why is there no consensus? there are many theories about why research on natural treatments to beat menopausal symptoms has been so equivocal. Some doctors believe that it is difficult to differentiate among symptoms of menopause and those resulting from normal aging. others point to the “placebo effect,” as some studies show an improvement in symptoms in the placebo group almost equal to the treatment group.

According to an article published in 2001 in Social Science and Medicine, when controlling for age, education, health and economic status, Caucasian women reported significantly more psychosomatic (associated with the body and the mind) symptoms than other racial groups, whereas African-American women reported more vasomotor symptoms like hot flashes.

The authors believe that this pattern of results argues against a universal menopausal syndrome.

Before you try HRT or alternative treatments:

• Exercise daily to keep bones and heart strong.

• try yoga or meditation for relaxation.

• Avoid caffeine and alcohol before bedtime, especially of you have trouble sleeping.

• Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day.

• be sure to get enough calcium, Vitamin D and protein.

• If you smoke, stop.

• try vaginal lubricants.

• Practice Kegel exercises (contracting and relaxing pelvic muscles).

• Use a fan at night to keep cool.

• Consult your health care provider about depression, sleeplessness and mood swings.

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

After being diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, you may want to talk with your doctor about an irritable bowel medication that will help control your symptoms. the medication your doctor prescribes will depend on the symptom you have that is most prevalent. A medication that can help control your symptoms is the most important factor to consider so you can restore your quality of life and you can carry on with your day to day activities.

If the most prevalent symptom you have is diarrhea, then your doctor will most likely prescribe an anti-diarrheal medication like Lomotil or recommend you buy Imodium over the counter. Both of these medications decrease the motion of the intestines. Your doctor will more than likely also suggest that you watch what you eat and make other lifestyle changes so you aren’t depending totally on the medication.

As a woman and you have severe diarrhea that has not responded to these medications, your doctor may prescribe Alosetron as your irritable bowel medication. There are also bile acid binding medications which prevent bile, excreted by the gall bladder, from stimulating the intestines and decreases the frequency of diarrhea.

Perhaps on the other hand, your major problem is constipation you’ll need a different medications in order to relieve it. First, try a good source of fiber and a stool softener like Dulcolax to relieve your constipation. if you have a mild form of irritable bowel syndrome a fiber supplement and stool softener may be all you need.

When you do not get relief from these medications and your doctor thinks you need a stronger medication, there are several options to choose from. Stimulant laxatives, like Senna, irritate the bowel lining and can cause cramping so they are not well tolerated by a lot of people and may not work well for you. Stimulant laxatives should not be used long term as they can cause some dependence. You just want to fix a short term problem and not need a laxative to have a regular bowel movement.

Milk of Magnesia, Lactulose and Polyethylene Glycol all aid in the retention of fluid in the intestines and drawing fluid from outside the intestines to ease the passage of stool. Your doctor may prescribe Amitiza for the most severe cases which also increases the amount of fluid in the intestines. Bentyl can help with the pain caused by spasms related to irritable bowel syndrome.

Since no one knows exactly what causes IBS and speculation is there are several causes, like depression for one, an antidepressant like Imipramine or Amitriptyline may be useful to treat not only depression symptoms but pain and diarrhea as well, just be careful because a side effect of these medications is constipation. so take them with a full glass of water and increase your daily fluid intake to prevent this side effect. You do not want to go from one extreme to the other when treating your irritable bowel syndrome with an irritable bowel medication.

IMPORTANT HEALTH INFORMATION FOR BABY BOOMERS

many baby boomers suffer from a breathing disorder called COPD or “chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder”. According to recent research the number of baby boomers suffering from the condition is expected to increase as the boomers age.

A new large international study conclude that the incidences of COPD is likely to be a doubling of the previous estimates and that the majority of sufferers are undiagnosed and untreated

Smoking is the number one cause of COPD and it is imperative for people with breathing problems such as shortness of breath and wheezing to be tested for COPD, particularly if they have a history of smoking and are over 40.

Statements from medical professionals indicate that many suffer COPD in silence. it creep up on people and many blame their symptoms on aging.

Numbers published earlier this year by the medical journal The Lancet found that about 11.5 per cent of men and 8.5 per cent of women suffer from COPD.

“The devastating impact of COPD must be taken seriously.”

COPD is a gradual destruction of the lungs by noxious fumes and it is irreversible.

While COPD is not curable, the symptoms can be treated, especially if the condition is detected early. Early detection of COPD can significantly improve outcomes and quality of life for patients

There are puffers and inhalers similar to those used by people with asthma that help with breathing. (However, the conditions are very different: Asthma is lung inflammation, often triggered by allergies.)

People with COPD can also undertake exercise programs and pulmonary rehabilitation programs. In the advanced stages, sufferers can also use supplemental oxygen in a portable tank.

Do you have COPD?

Here is a brief Lung Health Test designed to help people recognize the symptoms of COPD.

People who are over 40

and are current or former smokers should visit their doctor if

they answer “yes” to any of the following questions:

Do you cough regularly?

Do you cough up phlegm regularly?

Do even simple chores make you short of breath?

Do you wheeze when you exert yourself, or at night?

Do you get frequent colds that persist longer than those of other people you know?

The doctor will perform a spirometry test, which involves blowing into a tube to measure lung function.

If you are a candidate for COPD you should see your doctor as soon as possible.

Source: The Lung Association

[youtube aktIMBQSXMo]