Parsteiner Blog

Archive for March, 2010

Unfortunately, low back pain or sciatica is a fairly common complaint during pregnancy, with between 50% – 80% of women suffering from this complaint. However, although this problem can be difficult to treat, it should never be accepted as being ‘a part of pregnancy’. There are definitely measures which can be taken to try & resolve this problem.

There a three main causes of low back pain and sciatica during pregnancy, and they are:

1) Increased Curvature of the Spine.

2) Muscle Imbalance.

3) Hormonal Changes.

Increased Curvature of the Spine

This arises due to the increased weight gained during pregnancy, therefore typically becoming more of a problem as each trimester passes. As the increases in weight occur, your abdominal region becomes larger, shifting your centre of gravity forward i.e. you stomach being positioned

A total hip replacement is a surgical procedure whereby the diseased cartilage and bone of the hip joint is surgically replaced with artificial materials. A total hip replacement (THR) – also called a hip arthroplasty.

A standard hip replacement operation takes 2-3 hours. The patient may be given a choice of general, spinal, or epidural anesthesia.

An incision is made of 8-12 in (20-30 cm) long down the side of the patient’s upper thigh. The surgeon may then choose to enter the joint itself from the side, back, or front. The back approach is the most common. The ligaments and muscles under the skin are then separated.

Once inside the joint, the surgeon separates the head of the femur from the acetabulum and removes the head. The doctor removes the head from the femur (thigh bone) and reams away the surface of the socket.

The modular prosthetic hip replacement system used today has three components – the femoral stem, the femoral head, and the acetabulum. Each component has multiple available sizes which allow for a custom fit. The components are made of cobalt chrome stainless steel and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. Prosthesis implantation may be cemented or cementless (press-fit).

After selecting the correct size for the patient, the surgeon inserts the acetabular component. The acetabulum is then reamed to accept a plastic cup. The ball and socket are then replaced into normal position. Both of these implants can be fastened into the bone with or without special cement.

Today, both cementless (also called uncemented and porous-coated) and cemented hip replacements offer patients effective, long-term relief.

1. Cemented Procedure:

The cemented procedure utilizes a doughy substance mixed at the time of surgery that is introduced between the artificial component and the bone. This type of fixation in total hips remains the gold standard. Depending upon their health and bone density, people over the age of 60 will receive this type of joint fixation.

2. Noncemented Procedure:

Despite its common use, not all individuals are candidates for a cemented hip. A tight bond of scar tissue if formed, which anchors the metal to the bone. This is called a cementless total hip replacement. This type surgery is technically more sensitive, requiring a more exact fit of the metal component to the femur. The surgeon then secures a metal head (ball) and stem into the femur either by a press fit or with bone cement. The doctor places the ball into the cup and takes your new hip through a range of motion to ensure proper stability and mobility.

You will then be sent to the recovery room where your health care team will monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration.

The cost of a total hip implant varies, depending on the type of implant used. Typically, a total hip procedure includes four major implant components and the total implant price ranges from $4000 to $6000 (USD). Standard total hip replacement surgery is generally covered by most insurance plans.

In wockhartdt hospital, Mumbai for hip resurfacing cost will be approximately as under:

In India ($) 8,500 or USA ($) 55,000 or UK (GBP) 15,000

There are approximately 150,000 artificial hip joints implanted annually in the United States, with the success rate over 90%. New materials used in total hip replacement are very durable and are expected to last more than 10 years in 90% of individuals receiving total hips.

Total hip replacement, hip resurfing and other most advanced computer navigated joint replacement surgery is done at well know and JCI accreditation hospitals in India such as Apollo Hospital in Mumbai, Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, Apollo Speciality Hospital in Chennai, MOIT hospital, Chennai etc. which compares with the USA & U.K.

How was erectile dysfunction treated a century ago?

Before the era of Viagra, Cialis, and genetic transfer therapy?

In the early 1900′s Chas. A. Tyrrell, M.D. published a best selling book entitled “The Royal Road To Health, or The Secret of Health Without Drugs.”

As an advocate of a natural hygienic approach to life, Tyrrell was strongly opposed to the use of drugs and medications.

He cautioned his readers “do not be deceived by the lying advertisements of unprincipled charlatans, that any drug can help you.”

Instead, he favored a lifestyle that promoted clean living and purity of mind. This included adequate sleep, fresh air and sunshine, moderate eating, daily exercise, and focusing on spiritual thoughts.

“The treatment must be hygienic and thorough, and may necessitate a change in your whole mode of life,” Tyrrell wrote.

His book includes descriptions of numerous diseases and natural methods of treatment. Amongst these is a section on “Lost Manhood.”

“Lost Manhood” was the term used for impotence in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s. He blamed this ailment, as was common in his day, on “conjugal excesses” and “the baneful widespread practice of masturbation, or self-pollution.”

Tyrrell outlined a six step program for regaining one’s vitality and sexual virility. These included:

1. Firstly, the colon must be kept clean, as faecal accumulations there irritate the sensitive nerves.

2. Secondly, practice breathing and bodily movements and take all the exercise you can in the open air, as these things are important factors in strengthening the nervous system and hastening a cure.

3. Thirdly, special attention must be paid to diet. If you can practice vegetarianism for a time, so much the better, choosing those articles most easily digested.

Only plain toast or boiled beef should be eaten (if any meat be taken at all) shun all hot condiments, also tea, coffee, tobacco and alcohol – especially the latter, for nothing can help you while you use these articles.

4. Fourthly, after flushing, take a cold bath every night, or, if this is impracticable, bathe the genital organs, and the spine (up to the base of the brain) in cold water, and rub down vigorously with a crash towel.

5. Fifthly, resolutely form cleanly habits of mind, as well as body; take up a course of good reading to occupy the mind, and divert it to healthy channels, and shun all reading of a sensational nature.

6. Sixthly, avoid thinking impure and lascivious thoughts, and do not allow your mind to dwell upon your condition, but cultivate self control.

In conclusion, to offer his readers a positive reinforcement he wrote:

“The above treatment has cured hundreds of bad cases, and will cure you, if steadily persevered in, but a strict abstinence from sexual indulgence, and an absolute abandonment of the pernicious vice is an indispensable condition.”

To those who followed Tyrrell’s advice but were still not cured , he added:

“Frequently, quite aged men write us, complaining of their sexual disability – to all such, we say that the restoration of lost power after fifty years of age is in the highest degree improbable, and after the grand climacteric (63) is passed – it is practically impossible.”

“My system of treatment is true in philosophy, in harmony with nature, and thoroughly rational in practice.”

Prostate cancer alternative treatments is defined as a group of unique approaches to cancer treatment not considered to be a conventional prostate cancer therapy, and is used in place of conventional cancer treatments.

Prostate cancer is an attack of the male prostate gland by a mass of harmful cells. Prostate cancer is most common in the United States and is the third leading cause of American cancer cases. The American Cancer Society estimates that one in six men will face a prostate cancer diagnosis during their life.

Types of Alternative Prostate Cancer Treatments

Chinese Medicine is one of the alternative methods being used to treat prostate cancer. Also commonly called Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this holistic prostate cancer treatment is based on ancient philosophical frameworks. Traditional Chinese Medicine devises therapy programs by searching for inequalities between internal and external harmony within patients. There are eight branches of TCM: Tui na (Massage Therapy), acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, Chinese food therapy, Qigong (Breathing), T’ai Chi Ch’uan, Feng Shui, and Chinese astrology. The eight branches of Chinese medicine, like most other prostate cancer alternative treatments, are used to alleviate the pain associated with the disease, as well as a remedy for the side effects affiliated with conventional cancer treatments.

Herbalism, or herbal medicine, is a holistic prostate cancer alternate treatment with the healing properties of plants and plant extracts at the center of the therapy. Some of the most popular components of herbal medicine include St. John’s Wort, lemon juice, Green Tea, Honey, Grapefruit, Black Cohash, Poultices, Juniper Berry, and Eucalyptus. Herbal therapy is especially highly regarded in Europe.

Alternative Prostate Cancer Treatments vs. Conventional Prostate Cancer Therapies

Conventional prostate cancer therapies are administered by members of the medical community, including physical therapists, psychologists, and nurses. Conventional cancer treatments are subjected to intense study to ensure their effectiveness and safety. Hormone therapy and radiation are conventional therapies for treating prostate cancer. Removing the testicles, in a surgical procedure called orchiectomy, is another traditional prostate cancer treatment. As is chemotherapy. Cancer cells are also customarily frozen as a part of a cryosurgery.

There are two common surgical procedures used to treat prostate cancer. They are the radical prostatectomy and the transurethal resection of the prostate (TURP). Radical prostatectomy surgery is generally performed once the cancer has not spread outside of the prostate gland. There are two types of radical prostatectomy procedures, the radical retropubic and the perineal approach. The transurethal resection of the prostate is performed to curtail prostate swelling.

Luteinizing hormone-releasing analogs and luteinizing hormone-releasing antagonists are prostate cancer medications designed to inhibit the release of the cancer-inducing luteinzing hormone-releasing hormone from the brain. Luteinizing altering drugs are a staple in prostate cancer conventional treatments.

Prostate cancer alternative treatments are not characterized by the same level of study or scrutiny-signifying the greatest difference between alternative prostate cancer treatments and most traditional methods of treating the disease.

As long as you have sufficient bone density in the area surrounding the teeth you want to replace with dental implants, you are an appropriate candidate for dental implant surgery. Even if you’re missing the majority of your teeth, dental implants will work for you> But most of the people who decide to get dental implants want them as replacements for their uncomfortable and insecure bridges and partial dentures.

The chances of you having successful dental implant surgery will usually depend on which natural teeth the implants are replacing, and how much those teeth are involved in your biting and chewing. Dental implants replace in the front teeth in either the lower or upper jaw are reported to have at least a 90% success rate. But when the back molars which do most of the chewing are replaced the success rate can drop to as low as 85%. What can cause dental implants to fail?

What Can Go Wrong

If the titanium or ceramic used in the implants is flawed, they can break. If the ceramic tooth replacement does not fit the titanium rod securely, it can separate. Those would be mechanical reasons for a dental implant to fail, but they are not as common as medical reasons.

If there is insufficient bone tissue surrounding the site of the dental implants, they can fail and simply fall out. If bacteria were present in the jawbone or gum tissue at the implant site prior to the surgery, they can be released when the rod is implanted, spreading to the surrounding bone and gum and causing an infection which requires the removal of the implant. Such infections may even spread to the sinuses, so it is important that they be taken care of as soon as possible.

Dental implants, however, are successful in between ninety and ninety-five percent of the time, and having a successful dental implant will mean a permanent fix to the problem of a diseased or worn-out tooth.

The Biggest Appeal Of Dental Implants

But the aspect of good dental implants which appeals to most people is that it is virtually impossible for anyone to distinguish between their implants and their natural teeth. Having Dental
dental implants to replace missing or diseased teeth will restore your smile and give you the confidence to face other people and enjoy your social life without worrying about wobbly dentures.

The Cost Of Dental Implants

You can expect to spend between one thousand and twenty-five hundred dollars for each dental implant, depending n the health of the bone into which it will be inserted. Some people require bone grafts to strengthen their jawbones before they can have their dental implants inserted. The entire dental implantation process from start to finish will usually take between nine and eighteen months, depending on how much jaw surgery is required.

A lot of people who suffer from asthma also suffer from allergies, and the allergies are usually playing a part in causing the asthma. Children are especially prone to this pattern: about 90% of asthmatic children are allergic to something, and that is either the main cause of their asthma or a critical contributor.

However not all asthma is associated with allergy. In particular, people who first develop asthma when they are adults are much less likely to have an allergy playing a part in their asthma.

How does allergy produce asthma?

Allergens in the air

Many allergens come into the airway when we inhale, as they are found in the atmosphere and in the air that we breathe. They are all tiny particles, which cannot be detected with the naked eye and can only be seen with a microscope. Airborne allergens include things such as house dust mite droppings, molds, cat allergen, dog allergen and pollen. If you are allergic to one of these and one of these landed on the surface of your airways, then a direct reaction will occur which makes the airway inflamed. There is swelling of the airway lining which reduces the flow of air through the airway. The inflammation also signals the muscles of the airways to contract, producing even more narrowing.

For some lucky folks, removing the allergen makes all these effects vanish. This is what happens to asthmatics who get asthma only during the pollen season. But for other asthmatics, the inflammation of the airway lining continues all season long, and the arrival of the allergen just makes matters worse. Natural allergy cures in combination with medicine prescribed by a doctor will go a long way in getting relief.

Other allergens

Although inhaled allergens such as pollen and dust are the main offenders in asthma, allergens from other sources such as food and beverages can also be a culprit.

Asthma may be linked to a true food allergy, which is a prompt and often quite serious reaction to food. The more severe type of reaction is known as anaphylactic shock or anaphylaxis. With some people, anaphylaxis is caused by wasp and/or bee stings, and for others it is the combination of eating an allergenic food and taking exercise that provokes anaphylaxis. There are other sources as well, such as anti-venom, given for snake bites, also can provoke anaphylaxis in those who have had anti-venom before. And one of the more common allergies, latex allergy, are vulnerable to anaphylactic shock if latex gloves are used during a medical examination or surgery. Anaphylaxis is potentially life-threatening, especially in asthmatics because very severe asthma attack often accompanies anaphylactic shock. This condition must be treated by a specialist immediately.

Less dramatically, eating a particular food day after day, such as wheat or milk, may be contributing to asthma or even be the sole cause. This is not a true allergy but is known as food intolerance. A targeted diet with natural allergy cures such as juices and herbs is necessary.

It is rarely obvious that there is any link between the food and the asthma, but there are usually other symptoms that suggest food intolerance. Those with brittle asthma may be more likely to have food intolerance.