E-Healthsite Resource Blog

Manipulating the body’s “energy pathways” with hair-thin needles - as esoteric as

that sounds - is easily the most well respected complementary therapy popular in many countries around the world. Even NIH researchers, America’s medical standard bearers say - there’s plenty of evidence that acupuncture works (much of it in the more than 2300 studies conducted on the technique). Dr. Hiranandani, a renowned acupunturist pioneered the use of Laser & Ultrasound in acupuncture area and is now a standard text in acupuncture institutes all over the world. Most common uses of this technique is in back pain, asthma, headaches, bladder problems. Dr. Hiranandani’s studies led him to -

“the conclusion that few illness had single causes and that healing the mind body and soul required help from many sources.”

According to him acupuncture can relieve migraine headaches and can often lead to a cure. One study found that after several treatments, women who had three or more urinary tract infections in a year, all experienced less pain and fewer recurrences. Plan on 6 to 10 visits before seeing results in some instances of acute migraine attack, says Dr. Hiranandani,

“pain relief may occur within 5-7 minutes which is faster than any drug.”

As small as the needles are, acupuncture isn’t always painless. It’s usually not awful, just a dull ache. But it’s the action behind that ache that counts. The needle, paced at key points on the body, is thought to stimulate the release of chemicals and balance energy flow (or qi) , says Marshall H. Sager, D.O., President of the AAMA. Charles May, MD, a family physician in Cleveland, finds the therapy soothing and ha sought treatment for muscle injuries, even bronchitis and the flu:

“I didn’t know what to expect my first time, but I found it incredibly relaxing and there was minimal discomfort.”

Pancreas Division (Dominal Dorsal Duct Syndrome): - This problem occurs in up to 10% of the whole population. It results from dorsal and ventral pancreas to unite. Consequently most of the pancreas is drained through accessory papilla that is proximal to papilla of Vater. These types of patients are more prone to pancreatitis for condition appears to be associated with stenosis of opening of one or other papilla.
Diagnosis in made via endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).

Annular Pancreas: - Ventral pancreas surrounds the second part of duodenum and it is frequently associated with other congenital defects such as mal-rotation of intestine, artesian and cardiac defects. Pancreas may constrict duodenum causing obstruction soon after the birth or in adult life. This may predispose to duodenal ulcer and acute pancreatitis. Diagnosis is made by barium studies and treatment is surgical bypass of constriction.

Ectopic Pancreatic Tissue: - It may occur in gastric antrum or duodenum and it takes the form of smooth nodule. It is normally asymptomatic and it does not require any treatment. If it is found coincidentally during surgery, the nodule is excised for it is subject to same conditions including carcinoma, as the pancreas itself.

Pathology: - The pathological findings and clinical features result from obstruction by abnormal viscid secretion of the ducts in salivary glands, digestive and biliary tracts and pancreas causing atrophy
Clinical Features: - The exocrine insufficiency leading to steatorrhoea and diarrhea is almost universal in childhood. If patient survives to adulthood, malabsortion tends to be less troublesome. The intestinal obstruction, commonly called “meconium ileus equivalent”, may occur in the children and in the adults, caused by inspissated food and secretions. Rectal prolapse is frequent in children because of the large bulky stools and frequent coughing. The recurrent episodes of the acute pancreatitis may also occur. The incidence of the diabetes mellitus increases with the age. Chronic pancreatitis may supervene. The disease of liver or biliary tract may occur.
Investigation: - The gastrointestinal problems are investigated according to suspected problems. There may be disorder in the gut epithelium and pancreas. 80% of the patients with cystic fibrosis have both pulmonary disease and pancreatic disease. But 15% patients have lung sepsis with clearly normal pancreatic function.

Management: - Optimal treatment in adolescent and adult depends on a team approach to the complicated respiratory, nutritional and hepatobiliary problems. Many treatment centers have established special clinics for such kind of patients with specialist care. Read more…

Researchers have long known that the “sunshine vitamin” boosts bone strength by encouraging the body to absorb calcium. But a slew of new studies published in 2007 suggests that the vitamin has a lot of other benefits:Diets high in D may ward of diabetes , gum diseases and multiple sclerosis- and may even cancer. Though some findings linking vitamin D and cancer showed questionable benefit, the news on colon cancer was promising. In one large trial , men in the Health Professionals Follow -Up Study and women in the Nurses’ Health Study with the highest blood levels of vitamin D were half as likely to develop colon cancer as their peers with less circulating vitamin D. To squeeze the most value out of vitamin D, aim for taking a supplement with 1,0000IU daily.

Dyspnoea or breathlessness can be defined as the unpleasant subjective awareness of sensation of breathing. It is the common symptom of the cardiac disease and the respiratory disease. In physiological terms, the patients usually perceive discomfort either from the increased ventilatory rate or drive, that can be provoked by the variety of factors or from a disease that causes enough reduction of ventilatory capacity. Other factors, including stimulations of J receptor leading to the amplification of ventilatory response in asthma or restrictive disorders, can also contribute.

It is obvious that diseases having dyspnoea may have a multifacteral etiology e.g., acute respiratory infections can stimulate respiratory rate as a result of fever, hypoxaemia and in serious cases, by acidoemia or hypercapnia. They can also reduce ventilatory capacity by increasing the bronchial resistance and also by restricting the ventilation because of pleural pain.

Different diagnosis in Patients with chronic Exertional Dyspnoea: -

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): -Very often there is a history of exertional dyspnoea over many years or months, with steady chronic decline exercise capacity. Chronic persistence cough and the daily production of sputum is the common rule and they can be a history of recurrent acute exacerbations of bronchitis. Wheezing on exercise can be prominent. In the late disease, especially if corpulmonale develops, orthopnoea, nocturnal breathlessness and ankle swelling many also supervene.

On Investigation, cyanosis may be at rest or on the trivial exertion, together with the expiratory wheeze, pursing of lips and intercostals indrawing, Antero-posterior diameter of chest may be increased and they may also be a reduced crico-sternal distance with ‘tracheal tug’ on inspiration. Chest radiograph shows signs of hyperinflation and bullae, arterial blood gases may expose hypoxaemia, hypercapnia and the raised plasma bicarbonate. There will often be the severe obstructive defeat on the spirometry which may or may not improve after the inhaled bronchodilators.

Heart Disease: - Sometime it is difficult to differentiate dyspnoea due to the heart disease. History of cough, wheezing and the nocturnal breathlessness may also occur in the cardiac failure as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. History of angina or hypertension can be useful in implicating the cardiac cause. On investigation an increase in the heart size as judged by a displaced apex beat, the raised JVP and the cardiac murmurs may implicate cardiac disease. Chest radiograph and the ECG may provide the evidence of left ventricular or the arterial enlargement. Read more…

For performance of various functions, human body needs energy. It is food that supplies that energy. Carbohydrate is turned into glucose as a result of digestion of food. The primary source of energy that is absorbed into our bloodstream is glucose. When this glucose is absorbed in our bloodstream, it is insulin that comes into action. Insulin is the name of a hormone secreted by an organ situated near the stomach which is called pancreas. It is insulin that helps in removing excess glucose from blood and allows its easy entry into the cells of the body. In this way, glucose that enters the body cells is broken down to produce energy that is required for our body. This is the process of a normal body.

If a person has diabetes, his pancreas either fail to produce sufficient insulin or produce insulin that is ineffective to carry out its function. Because of insufficiency or ineffectiveness of insulin, glucose that is built up in the blood stream is unable to enter the cells of our body. That is why, the body starves from energy. So, diabetes may be understood as a metabolic disorder which results in elevated blood glucose levels because of impairment of insulin secretion or action.

Diabetes is mainly of three types:-

Type -1:- This type of diabetes generally develops in early life and is known as juvenileonset diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Actually it is an autoimmune disorder. Very often virus infections may happen in this type of diabetes while the body’s own immune system or defense mechanism attacks and destroys the ?-cells of the pancreas what produce insulin hormone. The symptoms of this type of diabetes are severe. It can be life threatening if it is not well treated in proper time.

Type -2:- The second type of diabetes happens because of several factors, the most important being obesity. This is adult onset diabetes or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Usually this type of diabetes cannot be identified for years unless it is diagnosed. Its symptoms are milder. If it is not properly treated in proper time, it can be of life threatening case.

Read more…