Archive for the 'Health & Fitness' Category

Gout vs Pseudogout

Posted in Health & Fitness on January 14th, 2007

Sometimes, even if a person lives a healthy lifestyle, abstains from alcohol or drinks it modestly, they can experience a condition that mirrors gout, but is in actuality, a different arthritic condition altogether known as pseudogout. To help you understand the differences between these two, the following is a breakdown of the causes, symptoms and treatments for each condition.

Gout
Gout is a form of arthritis that occurs suddenly, usually affecting the big toe, and causes severe painful attacks, tenderness and redness in the affected joint. An attack can last days or weeks. Gout is caused by a build up of uric acid which turns into uric acid crystals that are deposited into the joints causing them to become inflamed. The first attack of gout often occurs late at night.

A build up of uric acid that develops into gout can result from:
• High alcohol consumption
• Eating excessive food rich in purines such as organ meats
• Crash diets
• Joint injury
• Surgery
• Chemotherapy

The symptoms of gout include:
• Sudden intense joint pain
• Inflammation and redness in the affected joint.
• Swelling
• Difficulty moving affected joint within its normal capacity.

Treatment for gout includes:
• NSAIDs - The most common treatment for gout includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, indomethacin and naproxen. They are used to help alleviate paint and reduce inflammation
• Colchicine – prescription med that prevents gout attacks from recurring
• Diet – By controlling what you eat, staying well hydrated and exercising regularly, you can help reduce your uric acid levels and prevent gout.
• Surgery – This is very rare treatment and is only required if there is significant joint damage from frequent attacks.

Pseudogout
Pseudogout is a form of arthritis that occurs when calcium pyrophosphate crystals accumulate in joints. Although it is sometimes referred to as calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease (CPDD), the disease is called pseudogout due to the fact that its symptoms and crystal build up are similar to gout.

Like gout, pseudogout causes a sudden extreme attack of pain and swelling to specific joints, which can last for days or weeks. However, unlike gout that usually attacks the big toe first, pseudogout is usually present in the knees, but can also affect the shoulder, elbows, wrists, hands, or ankles. Furthermore, pseudogout can become a chronic arthritic condition that feels more like osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.

It is clear that the development of calcium pyrophosphate crystals is what causes Pseudogout. Eventually, crystals can be deposited into the cartilage of a joint and then begin to damage it, a condition known as chondrocalcinosis. Although medical researchers are not sure why the calcium pyrophosphate crystals occur, it is suspected that the condition may be hereditary or related to:
• Hypothryroidism (underactive thyroid)
• Hemochromatosis (too much iron storage)
• Overactive parathyroid gland
• Low levels of magnesium in the blood
• Hypercalcemia (too much calcium in the blood)
• Joint injury
• Surgery (either related to a joint or not)

Unlike gout, pseudogout is not necessarily gender specific or diet related, and usually affects 3% of people in their sixties and approximately 50% of those in their nineties.

The symptoms of pseudogout include:
• Swelling of the affected joint
• Severe pain
• Warmth
• Redness

Treatment for pseudogout includes:
• NSAIDs
• Cortisone injections
• Ice therapy, mild exercise and rest
• Surgery – only occurs if severe damage has been done to the joints.

As you can see, both gout and pseudogout are incredibly painful conditions that result from the build up of crystal deposits in the joints causing inflammation. Essentially, the main difference between the two is the type of crystals.

For more information about Gout diets take a look at Cure Gout Now.

Positively Addressing Bedwetting and Autism 5 tips you can try today

Posted in Health & Fitness on January 12th, 2007

Knowing how to effectively communicate with an autistic visual thinker is not the only challenge parents of autistic children face. Enuresis, commonly known as bedwetting, is another issue that may occur and needs to be dealt with in a patient and positive manner.

Why do some autistic kids have trouble when it comes to toilet training? There are different reasons, some of which include:

• Imitation difficulties
• Hypnotic condition – A lack of muscle control and failing to react or recognize the urge to urinate.
• Not being aware of feeling wet can also complicate and delay toilet training.
• Damaged cerebellum and basal ganglia – These are areas of the brain that are not formed correctly in autistic children, and are responsible for functions related to learning, motivation, cognition and movement control.

There are different methods to help your child overcome enuresis. However, the treatment that will work best depends on the child’s individual needs. In addition, you need to make sure your child can efficiently use the toilet during the day before working on controlling bedwetting.

The following are 5 tips you can try to help eliminate bedwetting:

1. Diet adjustment – Diet intervention may help autistic children with bedwetting because many autistics are prone to allergies and have sensitivities to certain foods, because they have a damaged immune system.

Common food allergies that can lead to bedwetting include grain (IE wheat, oats, barley), dairy products, strawberries and citrus fruits. Aside from bedwetting, other symptoms caused by these foods may be stomachaches, nausea, whining, crying, hyperactivity, aggression, insomnia, and in rare cases, a seizure.

In order to find out if your child has an allergy, you will need to remove the food from their regular diet for about two weeks and then give it to them on an empty stomach. If allergic, they will have a reaction 15 minutes to an hour from the time they ingested the food. If a reaction occurs, then you know what food to eliminate. Note: consult your doctor before trying this treatment method.

2. Reduce fluids - Limit the amount of fluids you give your child before bed. Get your child used to having a drink an hour before bedtime, instead of right before it’s time to sleep. This will help reduce the chance of bedwetting.

3. Night-lifting – This technique involves waking you child occasionally throughout the night and walking them to the bathroom to use the toilet, and returning them to their bed. Teaching your child to wake up and empty their bladder at various times during the night can help send the right message and improve toilet training.

4. Dry protection – Absorbent underpants, a protector sheet and placing a protector pad between the sheets and mattress are all great ways to help a child feel dry at night while they are still learning how to develop control. Disposable, absorbent underpants help your child and you cope with bedwetting, by preventing pajamas and sheets from having to be washed when there is an accident. Furthermore, when using such protection, talk to your child about what the urge to urinate feels like.

5. Moisture Alarm – This is a special alarm that clips on to the outside of bed sheets and activates as soon as the child begins to wet the bed. The idea is the alarm will wake the child who will then finish their business in the washroom before returning to sleep. Note: talk to your doctor about moisture alarms.

It takes time to stop your autistic child from bedwetting, but you need to stay persistent, patient and understanding even well after it appears the child has ceased enuresis as it is not uncommon for relapses to occur.

If you are looking for more help for Autism symptoms please visit EssentialGuideToAutism.com and sign up for a free newsletter.

Acid Reflux in Babies and Children

Posted in Health & Fitness on January 9th, 2007

Is your child complaining of a burning sensation in their chest? Do you find that they cough a lot or vomit regularly and you don’t know the source of it? Well, your child may have GERD.

But rest assured, acid reflux in children is very common, actually it is more common for children to have a degree of GERD than not. Perhaps it is the highly active lifestyle or the diet (kids tend to drink a lot of acidic juices), but it is common for kids to suffer from some sort of gastrointestinal back up.

How do you know if your child has GERD? Well, if they are vomiting a lot or their vomit is a yellow-ish or green-ish color, then they may be suffering from it. If they have difficulty breathing after coughing or vomiting could also be a sign.

Generally, the acidic liquid will cause hoarseness in the throat and persistent coughing. Also, if your child is refusing food, or if they have obvious difficulty in chewing or swallowing, these might also be signs that you may want to investigate. Remember though, that most children grow out of any sort of acute GERD and that surgery or any other serious remedy to the problem is only necessary in the most severe cases.

Generally doctors blame the child’s underdeveloped digestive system for these issues. One of the ways to inhibit this issue in your infant is to keep your baby upright for 30 minutes after they have been fed. This advice is similar for adults, in which case they recommend that you not eat before going to bed and to arch your pillow up thirty degrees while sleeping in order to make any sort of rise in secretion difficult. The main issue here is to block the rise in stomach acid from getting to the top of your esophagus, and the back of your throat. Generally you need to be aware of this immediately after you eat, as that is when your stomach is producing the acids to help digest your food.

In most cases, however, the acid build up will return back to the stomach and will not cause any sort of damage to the voice or result in any coughing fits. Your child will most likely simply outgrow acid reflux and will resume a healthy digestive order as they grow older.

With that said, if you find that these symptoms persist, you should most certainly consult a physician to be on the safe side as well as follow a few simple rules including:

- Not feeding your child 2-3 hours before bedtime,
- Remove any sort of acidic or caffeinated drinks/food from their diet,
- Encourage regular exercise,
- Serve several small meals throughout the day, rather than three large ones.

As with adults, the causes with children’s acid reflux, is attributed to an overabundance of acidic or digestive secretions. So, anything that you can do to reduce these in your child, the more likely it will be that the symptoms will ease.

Please click on the link for more information on Acid Reflux.