Dealing with Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is a powerful treatment affecting the whole body, so healthy cells can also be damaged. This damage to healthy cells causes side effects. Chemotherapy also can ease the symptoms of cancer (palliative chemotherapy), helping some patients have a better quality of life. Chemotherapy often induces anemia that then exacerbates hypoxia in the tumor. The best way of evaluating blood oxygen-carrying capacity is to measure hematocrit and hemoglobin levels.

Chemotherapy treatment is given in an outpatient setting, either orally or intravenously and usually in cycles. Chemotherapy may be used alone for some types of cancer or in combination with other treatments such as radiation or surgery. Sometimes, a mix of chemotherapy medicament is used to control and try to beat cancer. Chemotherapy can affect the white blood cell production in the bones which can make a person at risk for acquring an infection. This lowered resistance to infection can arise as early as one week after treatment and it can continue up to two weeks after a chemotherapy treatment.

Chemotherapy drugs treatments are often given in cycles; a treatment for a period of time, followed by a recovery period, then another treatment. Chemotherapy may be given in a variety of settings including your home, a hospital outpatient facility, a physician's office or clinic, or in a hospital. Chemotherapy may cause sores in the mouth, gums, and throat or cause gum tissues to become irritated and bleed. The doctor may prescribe a mouth rinse or other products to reduce pain, dryness, and irritation. Chemotherapy, therefore, is usually not effective for early adenocarcinoma of the prostate. Chemotherapuetic drugs are both toxic and systemic.

Chemotherapy is effective because the drugs used effect some phase of the cell life cycle. Each cell goes through a four phase cycle in order to replicate itself. Chemotherapy, like all cancer treatments, is a matter of choice and is something you should consider carefully. You should feel confident that chemotherapy is the best treatment option at the given time and that your doctor is doing everything possible to keep you informed and comfortable. Chemotherapy drugs can then be infused directly into the abdominal cavity. Ports may also be placed under the skin of the abdominal wall and the catheter tunneled between the skin and muscle into the peritoneum.

Chemotherapy is often used as an adjuvant (supplemental) therapy in addition to other treatments, such as surgery or radiation therapy , which are designed to achieve local (breast/chest) control of the cancer. Normally, chemotherapy is administered through a semipermanent catheter (a flexible tube) implanted into a large vein, or by a smaller, temporary, intravenous catheter placed into the smaller veins in the arm or hand. Chemotherapy is a term used by doctors to refer to drugs that can kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs can be given in a variety of ways, including intravenously by injection, intravenously with a pump, or even in pill form taken by mouth. Chemotherapy is not a miracle drug, especially where mesothelioma is concerned, so it's necessary to be patient when dealing with the treatment. Side effects is obviously a concern for patients that have chemotheraphy for the first time.

What Are The Ways Of Preventing Diabetes?

You can prevent or, in some cases, delay the onset of diabetes by taking charge before it advances from what is known as the pre-diabetic stage to being a full-blown illness. Pre-diabetes refers to the stage where you have higher-than-normal blood glucose, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. Pre-diabetes can lead to type 2 diabetes if nothing is done to reverse the condition. However, a recent study called the Diabetes Prevention Program, indicates that persons with pre-diabetes can stop type 2 diabetes from developing by increasing their physical activity and changing their eating habits.

Diabetes prevention is possible. If you are preconditioned to developing diabetes because of your genetic background, age, or weight, you will be happy to know that you may be able to delay or stop the onset of the disease. Persons whose ethic background includes African, Native American, Latino, and Asian are particularly prone to developing diabetes. If you belong to one of these groups and are older than forty-five, you should get tested for pre-diabetes or diabetes.

Doctors can tell if you are pre-diabetic by performing two standard tests, namely the fasting test (FPG - Fasting Plasma Glucose) and the glucose tolerance test (OGTT - Oral Glucose Tolerance Test). The results of these tests will confirm whether you have pre-diabetes, type 2 diabetes, or if you are diabetes-free.

The FPG test is normally done in the morning, and the patient is advised not to eat anything after 10 PM the previous night. A higher-than-normal reading for the FPG is an indication that you have been insulin resistant for a while.

OGTT, the glucose tolerance test, is used to measure your blood glucose level after an overnight fast, but unlike the FPG, you are also given a glucose drink two hours after the test. Your blood glucose levels are then checked two hours later; if the range is between 140 and 199 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter), you will be considered pre-diabetic. These levels are also an indication that you may develop type 2 diabetes later on. 

If you are tested positively as having pre-diabetes, it is important to take annual tests so that you catch developed diabetes in its early stages. Early diagnosis is the easiest way to get the disease under control before too much damage has been done to vital organs.

Exercise and a change of diet, as well as moderate weight loss, have been proven to delay or prevent the onset of pre-diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Controlling your health is dependent on the changes you make in your daily habits. While avoiding serious illness is one reason to having a physical lifestyle, overall good health and long-lasting mobility are two other incentives to getting in shape.

To learn more go to Diabetes Cure and at Diabetes Research

Effortless Ways To Get Rid Of Headlice

All around the world millions of people have been effected by the headlice infestation. It was originally though that the problem occurred due to lack attention in hygiene but this has been proven to be incorrect because headlice can effect anyone regardless of how or where they live

Nevertheless, when it concerns getting rid of headlice, there are just a  small number of products that will work effectively, such products can be located in nearly every pharmacy and do not require a prescription. 

Head Lice Treatments 

To be able to get rid of headlice, first you need to follow the instructions exactly on how to apply the headlice treatment. Generally a single application is all that is required. However, for those who have long hair, a second application may also be needed so that you can effectively to get rid of the headlice.  Ensure that you leave the medication in your hair as for the specified length of time, after that it will be necessary to rinse the hair hand remove any head louse that remain with a fine tooth come. Then you can put on fresh new clothes. 

If you use a treatment method to get rid of headlice, it is also necessary to do some necessary treatment for your home because lice can infect clothing and bedding that had been used a couple of days prior to using the treatment. By also treating these other articles, you will have found a good way of ensuring that you are able to kill off the eggs, which in turn means that you won’t need to worry about the multiplication of the lice. 

Before you go about getting rid of headlice you also need to understand that lice can infect anyone regardless of social standing, race or nationality and even income level. Lice generally attach themselves to body hair and so a good way of keeping them at bay would be to ensure proper levels of hygiene as well as following good sanitation in the home. 

It is also necessary to get rid of headlice because you will otherwise feel very itchy and increases the possibility of being affected by a rash at the site where the infection is or even in various sites. Also, if you don’t get rid of headlice it can lead to discoloration as well as thickening around your groin as well as thigh (upper regions). 

It would be wrong to consider that the need to learn how to get rid of head lice arises only when people keep pets at home, because it has been found that such a problem usually occurs because of parasites in the hair. But learning how to get rid of head lice will also teach you that pets are not usually the cause of infestation. 

To obtain further information on how to get rid of head lice, you can normally obtain information from your schools on how to prevent an outbreak and also how to keep the infestation (should it occur) to a bare minimum. You can also read up policies that aim at preventing head lice infestations and follow simple advice, such as never sharing your sport helmets and to also keep your hats, combs, brushes and clothes separate from those of others.

How To Cope With Depression

Here are a few tips on how to cope with depression in a relationship.

Depression is a universal phenomenon and quite possibly there is no one on the face of earth who has not gone through the course of depression at least once in his or her lifetime. When someone is in a love relationship, the chances of suffering from depression become higher.

It is very important to know different strategies for coping with depression, otherwise the depressed person may end up making fatal decisions in their  life. This article focuses on discussing different strategies in the format of tips with the purpose of educating the readers to cope with episodes of depression in their life.

Build Your Knowledge about Depression

The first and most important thing for coping with depression is to understandall the necessary details about depression, its causes and effects, symptoms and treatments. For that purpose, you may consult with doctors specializing in mental health or you may depend on mental health journals. Apart from that, there are huge resources available on the net which can offer you plenty of information for depression and different strategies for coping with depression.

Learn How To Discern  the Difference between Myth and Reality

The next important step for coping with depression is of course to increase your knowledge about the significant differences among myths and reality concerning depression and its different aspects. Many people believe that depression is not a treatable disease; hence there is no question of any specific possible treatments. Some people simply lable it as an experience of ordinary sadness; however, the fact is totally different. In fact, depression is a complex process and if not encountered at early stages, it may get out of hand and even cost lives..

Value Yourself and Your Unique Presence

Sometimes when we are in a relationship, we simply forget to value our own existence and unique identity by putting our family members first, which results in suffering from inevitable depression from identity confusion and identity distortion. You should respect yourself and know how to value your own decision and actions in a rational fashion. Set some time aside for yourself, give yourself a reward as an appreciation of your efforts, While coping with depression, you should first look at yourself from a dignified perspective.

Watch Out the Warning Signs

The behavior of a depressed individual is not the actual behavior. The common behaviors are withdrawn, shy, sullen and angry. Before coping with stress, try to identify the warning signs of depression in you and your partner. Most commonly, a depressed person experiences sudden outbursts of anger. In fact, they actually show their anger to themselves and their own mental state, although seemingly appear towards environment.

Seek Help and Treatment

Depression is a real disease and it is absolutely treatable. Similar to other illnesses, depression may get worse day by day if proper treatment has not been administered on time. There are various self-help groups around the world, who offer their unconditional support to the depressed individuals and help them coping with depression. If you are experiencing episodes of depression, it is better that you should visit these self-help groups. Additionally, you may also consult with doctors and mental health practitioners for possible treatments.

Why do you stick to the rules of a mad fad diet?

There is sensible weight loss dieting and then there are mad fad diets. The mainstream diets point you to sensible eating and a pound by pound weight reduction over a long time frame. The fad diets do not offer a steady weight loss. They promise large reduction in weight in a matter of weeks.

Are we sure that these special fad diets really work? They claim great things but you must know that they are not based on normal food and ideas. I know this because I have lost 5 stones in a space of just 15 weeks on one of these diets.

I know just why I was so successful and why you should consider looking at this. The main reason is the rules that you have to follow.

Fad diets have very strict rules that you have to follow. They are so simply even a guy can make sense of them. They give you a meal plan that says “this is what you can eat” It is very limited and usually quite boring but you know that if you stick to the diet rules you will lose the weight.

Normal weight loss diets work on the basis of reducing your food intake generally and closely watching what you eat. You are so busy counting points and calories that you do not know quite what you are allowed to eat and when.

You can see that the simplicity of the diet rules help you on this type of program. But of course then the question is can you stick to the diet rules you are given. The rules that you do have are in a way much harder to stick to but you also expect to be hungry on this type of diet so you expect this. You end up with a set of thoughts focussed on resolving to stay on the diet rather than giving up.

All diets have set rules for you to follow. I just like the simple and easy to follow rules of mad fad diets.

 

When To Best Consider Behavioral Interventions

behavioral intervention

If you're receiving notes from your child's school about his or her behavior, then you should consider behavioral interventions. An initial assessment will help you, your child and school personnel to understand what causes the misbehavior in the child, what triggers set him or her off and what solutions can be taken to help the child prosper. Sometimes the school environment is perceived as being "too oppressive," while other times the traditional learning modes aren't structured for visual-spatial learners or auditory learners. Kids may feel frustrated if they have trouble concentrating or learning in school. Sometimes, underlying emotions manifest themselves as a behavioral problem and a behavioral intervention is the best way to figure out what's truly going on.

Often, children who need a behavioral intervention suffer from ADHD, autism, dyslexia or another pervasive developmental disorder. An early intervention program is the key to helping the child overcome natural difficulties and find studying techniques that work. The public school system generally only focuses on one particular learning mode, which leaves many students feeling "stupid" or frustrated.

By teaching the student more about their learning needs and focusing on self-empowerment, as well as skill development, the students will begin to learn their way at their own pace and will develop a renewed interest in school. A behavioral intervention can do more than just prevent anger or hyperactive outbursts in school. It can pave the way for your child's future and instill a sense of pride and accomplishment.

However, a behavioral intervention can also help stop more serious patterns of behavior by attacking the mental framework that drives the individual to act out. For example, behavioral interventions may be used to reduce sexually transmitted diseases in teens. A recent intervention study showed that teens benefited from interventions aimed at reducing the risk of STDs. "In a previous randomized controlled trial, we found that the 'Sexual Awareness For Everyone' behavioral intervention significantly reduced the rate of recurrent gonorrhea and chlamydia infections among reproductive-age Mexican-American and African-American women," wrote Andrea Ries Thurman, MD, from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio. The five modifiable behaviors the group focused on were: unprotected sex with untreated partners, lack of monogamy, sex without condoms, partner turnover more than once every three months and douching after intercourse.

Evidence suggests that pre-natal behavioral interventions can be extremely helpful for pregnant women who smoke, drink, suffer from depression, or are victims of intimate partner violence. These risks can cause developmental disorders with your baby and may also lead to post-partum depression for the mothers. These intervention programs are ultimately very successful, with 90% of participants reporting a significant difference in their situation, according to one 2008 intervention study.

Different Ways That Can Help You To Stop Smoking

Smokers reject the idea that they are addicts yet nicotine is a strong habit substance that quickly gets the user addicted to needing more and more to satisfy their craving just like the cocaine and heroine user. A smoker may argue against that statement but consider contracting cancer because of your habit and you will begin to consider quitting. There are easy ways to quit smoking and most smokers seek the easiest route they can find just make sure that whichever method you select has a history of success with other people. Alternative therapy to quit smoking includes the therapy using hypnosis. If you want to reduce the craving for nicotine quickly many people would recommend hypnosis as the only successful therapy to use add to that the growing number of medical practitioners who also recommend hypnosis it has to be considered if you want too break the habit. The result of this is that hypnosis is finding a place in the education of individuals as to the danger of smoking and providing an escape that appears to take little effort.

There are numerous sites selling a variety of hypnosis and self hypnosis products on the Internet the best we can recommend is Purely Hypnosis , CD's which is devoted to helping people kick the habit. There are many people that buy them and say they feel better. Users of the recommeded site include Jeraldine Saunders (the Creator of the 'Love Boat' TV series and Tom Mankiewcz the writer of 'Superman the Movie'. Maybe you've seen some shows where people get hypnotized and bark like a dog or any other animal, do not worry you will never act like this under self hypnosis. The great thing about hypnosis is the feeling of total relaxation and peace one feels.

You may feel you have left no stone unturned in your quest to stop smoking however have you tried hypnosis whether it is through a professionally trained practitioner or through self hypnosis techniques it can prove to be very powerful in helping you break your habit.The truth that any medic or scientist can confirm is that we know little or nothing at all about mysticism and what it involves. You can search for opinions on the Internet and you will find that many share my opinion that hypnosis and self hypnosis in their own right when used correctly have no side effects. There are a number of self trained people who say they can help you stop smoking, make sure they are fully qualified and belong to a professional organisation for the therapy you select. Hypnosis whether through a qualified practioner of through self hypnosis used to quit smoking may work as it is said to eliminate the desire to smoke from the most inner levels of the subconscious, and when used in conjuction with any of the other aids such as gum, patches or lozenges, can prove to be very powerful. This is how you can learn the easy way to stop smokingin 17 Days or less by ex 70-a-day-smoker David Dutch

Amino Acids: Get Pumped

How do some of those athletes and body builders look so sculpted with defined musculature? Well, there are a lot of factors at play to create a well-toned body and amino acid body building is one practice that seriously pumped up athletes rely on. Amino acids are often called the building blocks of the human body in layman’s terms but they are really the molecular building blocks that create protein.

Protein is one of the most essential components that create strong healthy muscles which is the reason why many athletes in strength training will indulge in amino acid body building, usually in the form of supplements and pushing weights.  Protein also fuels the health of your hair, nails, ligaments, tendons, central nervous system and even how your muscles retain water for maximum elasticity and strength.

Reasons for Taking Supplements

Many body builders have discovered that without enough amino acids in their system, the body tends to feed on its own muscles when faced with the crisis of not enough energy. This has led to the interest of amino acid body building to ensure that the body has plenty of fuel to build muscle rather than cannibalizing on it.

Serious body builders will take amino acid supplements either in a protein shake or pill form immediately after hard muscle exercises. This moment in time represents a unique opportunity to introduce amino acid into the body while the muscles still have optimal blood flow and is most amenable to nutrients. This timing takes a knowledgeable athlete to understand why amino acid body building can be very important.

Supplements: The Popular Ones

Glutamine is one of the most popular in amino acid body building because it is plentiful in the muscles and is known for promoting muscle growth. Arginine is another amino acid that is beneficial to your amino acid body building practices. This particular amino acid kicks off the growth hormone in your body and helps regulate the metabolism of the muscles, building bulk. Fat decreases while your connective tissue, cartilage and bone strengthens under amino acid body building practices.

Supplements are important as these days people are slacking on their diets and not getting enough proteins, which means not enough amino acids. Without these helpful body building blocks, you would eventually become weaker and lose muscle tone. Therefore, stick with amino acid body building and you will discover that your muscles will not only get the workout they need but that they are also growing larger, creating the telltale body builder sign of a sculpted muscles.

Get up off that couch and join the fitness revolution. Make exercise and a healthy diet part of your daily  routine, you will be surprised at the difference it will have on your life.
http://leanmeanbodybuilding.com

diet and fitness equipment

When such a high percentage of the people are overweight it seems fitting that there is significant number of the population who are extremely image conscious. Perhaps this is in part to those health magazine covers with men and women who have desirable, health and fit looking bodies. This of course has had a knock on effect with more fitness clubs and health spas being built.

Although to be honest, trying to avoid the subject is not easy with amount of advertising that goes on to promote diet fitness. But exercise is not the only way to build that body beautiful because it also entails a certain responsibility about the foods we choose to eat as being healthy and fit requires one to follow a regular diet fitness regime.

What makes this confusing for the amateur is that one side says that you are better of eating foods high in fat when you exercise and the others state you need to eat foods that are a good source of carbohydrates. What doesn't help the average person is what diet-fitness regime to follow as both seem to make sense; there is the one that says eat foods with high carbohydrate levels and the other which says you need to eat foods with a high fat content which appears to contradict everything we are told about dieting.

The first thing you need to know would be the fundamental differences between these two diet approaches because as the name implies, high-carb diets concentrates on taking in carbohydrate-rich foods while high fat diets endorses fat-rich foods. The high-carb enthusiasts say that we need these sorts of foods because the glucose (or energy) is stored in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen which is great for short burst of energy or any type of anaerobic exercise.

The other camp believe that because fat is a higher source of calories an it metabolizes in a fraction of the time it takes carbohydrates, then these are the foodstuffs we should consume before exercise. So according to the experts, it doesn't matter which you choose, as long as you don't follow both at the same time, unless weight gain is what you want.

The purpose of diet fitness is to change your diet and lose excess body weight in the form of fat, by regular physical activity. To achieve this, research has shown that you need to think about how you are currently living your life which includes the type of food you like to eat and if there are any medical considerations.

High-carb diets are utilized with glycogen stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen is a glucose complex that provides large amounts of energy ready for use in anaerobic exercises. Although it still means that that essential nutrients and proteins for example that keep the body and mind healthy should be part of that diet; amounts of which are broadly publicized by health organizations.

The important message here is experiment until you find the diet fitness method that suits you and then staying fit and healthy will be much easier and probably enjoyable.

Wanna learn more about fitness equipment ? Go to Treadmills Center. They have plenty of health and fitness related tips, articles and news. Highly recommended!

Sleep Apnea Symptoms Are Not Always Easy To Spot

Sleep apnea symptoms are most often seen in men over the age of forty who are overweight but they can appear at any time in both men and women and are now being seen more and more in children.

The clearest symptom of sleep apnea (which is just one of many common sleep disorders) is snoring which is hard to spot by yourself and often has to be pointed out to you by a sleeping partner. There are many reasons for snoring and the mere fact that you snore does not itself mean that you have sleep apnea. However, most sleep apnea sufferers do snore.

The second most obvious symptom of sleep apnea is undue tiredness during the day. Sleep apnea sufferers stop breathing frequently while sleeping and the body's natural reaction is to awaken you enough for you to start breathing again, but not sufficiently for you to be aware that you are being aroused. This of course means that your sleep is constantly interrupted and therefore very light so that you do not get the deep sleep that you need. As a result you grow increasingly tired during the day.

If left untreated the effects of sleep apnea start to emerge and you will begin to experience further symptoms that might include headaches (particularly first thing in the morning), touchiness and even depression. You could also find that you are starting to put on weight.

Another less obvious symptom of sleep apnea is a rise in blood pressure that can lead to several cardiovascular problems. If you are one of the growing number of people who are starting to monitor their blood pressure at home you will pick this up quite easily but, otherwise, it will not be found unless and until you attend your doctor for a routine physical.

A further symptom is that of learning difficulties and growing difficulties with memory retention. This is once again not something which is easy for you to notice yourself but other people may well notice that you are not as fast on the uptake as you used to be.

Lastly, a number of sufferers from sleep apnea will experience a decline in sexual function which can result in impotency.

Any of these symptoms by themselves can of course point to just about any problem you can think of. If you start to notice these symptoms appearing together however then there is a good chance that you have sleep apnea and you should talk to your physician and consider being tested for sleep apnea.

Disturbed teenagers calmed by Woodland work

A very interesting article appeared in todays Sunday Times. Basically the Newspaper is supporting the Woodland Trust and it's planned new wood of 600,000 native trees which will cover 850 acres near St Albans in Hertfordshire.

Woodland therapy takes disturbed and troubled teenagers andintroduces them to nature. The gentleman who drives the project had this to say

"They ( the teenagers) arrive often angry and confused. The wood is an alien environment for them and they are completely out of their depths.Eventually it has an incredibly calming effect".

The therapy has spread widely in America where it has been championed by Richard louv, author of

"Last child in the woods"...he also suggested the condition known as "nature deficit disorder" to describe the psychological problems which could be caused by children spending their lives cut off from the natural world.

So what do they do? Well in the UK at Hill Holt they help make environmentally friendly buildings as well as learning about woodland management techniques and the environmental importance of trees.

But it could just as well be any number of useful conservation projects. The basic underlying objective being to get them out of their normal environment into one where they will be mentally challenged but within a more natural world.

And who sponsors this? Well the Woodland Trust, a charity that helps to protect and manage Britain's ancient treescape actively supports the scheme.

If you are thinking of venturing into the wilderness with ( or without) your children then the folks at Lakeland Bushcraft

have a wide range of equipment and tools to help you take advantage of your trip. Although they are based up in the Lake District in Cumbria they are more than happy to supply your requirements by mail order.

For example you could contact them to buy a Karrimor SF sack.