‘medicine’ Tagged Posts

Basic Information Regarding Morgellons Syndrome

Morgellons disease, also known as morgellons syndrome, is a mysterious skin condition that doctors struggle to understand. Opinions on the matter di...

 

Morgellons disease, also known as morgellons syndrome, is a mysterious skin condition that doctors struggle to understand. Opinions on the matter differ from person to person, as the possible symptoms and causes of the issue are numerous. If you or someone close to you has struggled with the issue, it might be worth the time to become familiar with some information.

Most refer to this problem as “unexplained dermopathy”. This term means that there is no real understanding about the issue and numerous potential causes and symptoms. Although it is a rare phenomenon, the problem can be very overwhelming for some individuals.

The cause of this disease is unknown. Some experts consider the problem to be psychological, possibly indicating an unknown mental illness. Other experts believe that the problem is due to an unknown or unidentified fungus or parasite. A lack of an identified cause is very troubling for most suffers, and in turn, make the problem very hard to address and treat.

There are a few strange manifestations of this problem. Perhaps the most troubling is the feeling in sufferers of extreme itching and the sensation that there are bugs crawling underneath their skin. This can often be overwhelming for the person. Debate is ongoing as to whether these sensations are organic, or if they are a consequence of the mind.

There are physical symptoms that can manifest as well. Often, unintentional sores will develop as the victim scratches the itching area too much. Other times, strange skin lesions will spontaneously occur while dark masses resembling fibers are seen in some individuals. There may also be pain in the joints, muscles, and tendons. The issue can also have troubling emotional consequences.

You will find few available treatment options, with each medical professional addressing the problem in a different way. Many deal with the problem by treating the person for mental illness, often utilizing anti-psychotic medications. Others approach the problem as one of an organic nature, utilizing a variety of medications to kill off potential fungi or parasites. Other ideas include herbal supplements or light therapy, along with other holistic treatments.

Morgellons disease is a troubling issue with no understood cause and no real consensus between doctors and researchers. The problem can be very troubling for sufferers and very hard to deal with. If you seem to exhibit any symptoms of the disease immediately consult a doctor about the problem.

Locating relief for burning, pain and itching of skin diseases is easier when you search the Internet. The troublesome symptoms of Morgellons can be alleviated with a common sense regimen of methods.

A Scary Disease Called Morgellons

 

A common yet unknown skin disorder, Morgellons has been known since 2002. It got its name after a young boy started to suffer from a severe skin disease that was physically and psychologically debilitating. What did the boy suffer from? A strange disorder that caused colored hairlike fibers to grow right out his skin, accompanied by sores, stinging and the disturbing feeling of insects crawling under his very own skin.

Detection and Diagnosis

This disease, only diagnosed formally since 2001, is not well understood. Historical records do affirm, however, that skin conditions similar to Morgellons have existed in history, as early as the 1600’s, although they are not referred to by name. The cause of this horrifying disorder is not yet known. The disease’s onset usually starts with persistent feelings of itchiness, stinging, biting and scratching under the skin’s surface. Painful red circular sores then later appear and do not heal and are completely unresponsive to medication. As the condition develops, small and thin hairlike fiber strands, usually colored brown, black, white or blue, start grow out of the open sores. These tiny fibers may look like lint to the naked and untrained eye. Over time, these strands can cluster together into balls and remain under the skin’s surface.

Other symptoms like fatigue, memory loss, mood changes, joint and muscle pain and vision loss may also accompany sores and black sweat may exude from the pores. Patients often recount feelings of insects squirming and scuttling under the skin.

Most terrifying of all, eventually as the disease progresses, small bugs and worms seem to protrude out from under the skin, through the lesions, terrifying patients. Causes are unknown, and some doctors have dismissed the disease as a form of delusional parasitosis. However, over half of those diagnosed have already been infected with some form of Lyme disease, potentially associating Morgellons with Lyme disease.

The bugs that protrude from the skin are thought to be microscopic, tiny collembola. Collembola are very tiny mites that are known to live on organic matter and on bacteria. They can live in the body and produce sores and pain and also make their exit through the same lesions. How the tiny bugs get into the skin in the first place is uncertain, although contaminated food and water supplies are thought to introduce the insects into the body. They then make their home in the skin.

Frequency

This frightening disorder is considered by many as a new epidemic, panicking some. Despite its unknown causes, there remain nonetheless more than 2,000 confirmed and documented cases since 2006, from across the United States as well as 15 countries.

The Morgellons Foundation further estimates that some 13,000 families worldwide have been touched or are touched by this frightening disease.

Treatment

Since the origin and cause of the fibres is unknown, treatment is not yet established. Some antibiotics used to treat Lyme disease are also effective on Morgellons sufferers, however, a clear clinical treatment has yet to be established.

Looking for comprehensive info on Morgellons disease? Get the low down on Morgellons Disease Research instantly in our Morgellons Relief review.

Natural Cures For Tinnitus With Acupuncture

 

The therapy of tinnitus acupuncture can be a good choice of the natural cures for tinnitus. For some people that suffer tinnitus it can develop into a very frustrating and annoying disorder that disrupts their lives. There may be much time, effort and money spent on medical testing, diagnosis and treatment in the form of drugs all that provide little relief or benefit. Many individuals are seeking alternatives to help silence their tinnitus and often the results can be a pleasant surprise.

Acupuncture therapy is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) along with Chinese diagnostic techniques and herbal remedies. Therapists of TCM use things like lifestyle changes and diet to help patients with their many presenting health complaints. Some patients may find a combination treatment that compromises of herbs, acupuncture and lifestyle changes. Tinnitus acupuncture treatment can be one type of approach.

In a short article it can be challenging to explain the concepts and beliefs of an ancient healing system like this. At the foundation of TCM is the belief that the body has an energy system that powers all its bodily functions like digestion, reproduction and waste. This energy system is called ‘qi’, which is pronounced ‘chee’. The qi is said to run along pathways in the body which are termed meridians. It is believed when this energy system becomes out of balance it can result in illness or disease.

The problem of tinnitus is thought to be an imbalance between the two energy systems called yin and yang, which manifests in the ringing in the ears. For a large proportion of individuals a treatment approach may use acupuncture and herbal remedies to help restore the body to balance from within. For those people whose tinnitus was caused as a medication side effect or from loud noise exposure the treatment would be different. The approach of tinnitus acupuncture therapy can include more that acupuncture and can cover things such as dietary modifications, lifestyle changes and taking herbs. Acupuncture being part of a TCM approach looks to fix the presenting symptoms or complaint but also to take care of the imbalance of the problem. By treating with this mindset a TCM practitioner can put an end to the sickness pattern in the body and start moving the body to optimal health. This approach to treatment is called a preventative health care mindset.

The two opposing energy systems in the body are referred to as the yin and yang. For the condition of tinnitus it is said to come from a yang rising pattern or also what is known as too much fire in the body. Because of this increase in heat their is a residual yin deficiency as a consequence, this creates an imbalance which is at the root cause of the problem. The increase in heat energy and lack of cooling can cause the ringing in the ears, dry or burning eyes and irritability and dizziness.

TCM aims to not only address the symptoms, but also what is believed to be the cause an underlying imbalance. By approaching the condition this way, the aim is to disrupt the cycle of imbalance to restore the body to optimum health. This is the goal of a natural relief from tinnitus such as tinnitus acupuncture.

More expert hints and tips on tinnitus acupuncture is available from Matthew Mitchell’s website, which is all about the truth behind tinnitus options like tinnitus herbal remedies.

Taking A Look At Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery:

 

Merriam Webster dictionary says the following:

The definition of neurosurgery is a “surgery of nervous structures (including the nerves, the brain, or the spinal cord).”

Neurosurgeon is defined as “a surgeon specializing in neurosurgery.”

Minimally invasive is not as easily defined. Following are several accepted definitions of “minimally invasive”:

-surgeries in which a small incision is made and through which surgical instrumentation is inserted to complete the surgery.

-surgeries that result in very little damage to the patient’s body while treating the condition as necessary.

-a surgery that results in minimal scarring and little to no recovery time.

There are basically three types of surgery (when referencing how invasive they are): non-invasive, minimally invasive and invasive. Invasive refers to surgeries on the level with open heart surgery.

When you combine the terms you discover that the minimally invasive neurosurgery references the least invasive methods available related to the medical field of neurosurgery. Neurosurgery is a specialty that is mainly concerned with preventing, diagnosing, and treatment/rehabilitation of any disorder affecting a patient’s nervous system. The nervous system includes all of the following: peripheral nerves, brain spinal column, spinal column, and the extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.

Learn More About Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery:

As technology creates the opportunities to perform the necessary procedures using minimally invasive techniques high risk surgeries are becoming a thing of the past. The newest technologies generate the capability for minimally invasive surgical procedures to be more targeted, quicker, more precise in diagnosis/identification of problem, etc. More surgeons adopt the minimally invasive procedures as technological advances increase their availability.

Neurosurgeons looking to provide the least invasive surgical options often offer: Endoscopic endonasal pituitary and skullbase surgery, Endoscopic transcranial skullbase surgery, Endoscopic ventricular surgery, Endoscopic spine surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery, minimally invasive brain surgery, and more.

Recovery from Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery:

As with any surgery, recovery time varies depending on the patient’s general health pre-surgery, age, the specifics of the operation, the extent of the operation, and more. But when minimally invasive neurosurgery is utilized the surgical procedure carries greatly decreased risks for complications during and after surgery in comparison to traditional surgical procedures. When undergoing minimally invasive procedures recovery time in general is drastically reduced.

Doctor Finders is an innovative on-line tool that allows the general public to find the right doctor for their needs, identifying doctors by geographic area, specialties, procedures, and more.

Defining Radiation Therapy:

 

Radiation Therapy concerns the medical use of ionizing radiation. This is a type of radiation that is created by: x-ray procedures, radioactive substances, rays entering the Earth’s atmosphere from outer space, etc. When patients are exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation, they typically respond with increased chemical activity inside cells.

This can lead to health risks; one of which is cancer. Ionizing radiation is often used as an integral part of cancer treatment. When used in cancer treatment it is meant to control malignant cells. Sometimes ionizing radiation is referred to as radiotherapy or radiation oncology.

The Forms of Treatment:

Radiation Therapy can be both curative and adjuvant treatment. Curative treatment is a treatment intended as a cure. Adjuvant treatment is intended as an additional treatment that is usually given after the primary treatment. It is meant to lower the risk that the cancer will come back post-treatment.

Adjuvant therapy types include: chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, or biological therapy. They are used as a palliative treatment. They are also used as a therapeutic treatment. Palliative treatments are an attempt to control local disease and/or relieve symptoms when no cure is available. Therapeutic treatments are meant to increase survival rates or, potentially, provide a cure.

Types of radiation therapy include: total body irradiation (TBI), in combination with surgery, chemotherapy or hormone therapy (or a combination of treatments). Most common cancer types can be treated with radiotherapy in some way. Treatment intent will depend upon the type of tumor being treated, the location and stage as well as the patient’s general health.

Radiation therapy is one of the main characteristics of treatment for a wide variety of cancer types. It is a main aspect of treatment for cancers of the: head/neck area, lungs, bladder, breast, and prostrate. It can also be an effective treatment for Hodgkin disease. Both internal and external radiation therapy can be administered depending upon the needs of the patient/the type of cancer being treated. Many patients are able to see “cancer free” results from the use of radiation therapy. Sometimes cancer-free results are due to radiation therapy alone. In other cases it is due to a combination of radiation therapy and either surgery or chemotherapy.

Recovery from Radiation Therapy:

Radiation therapy can drastically improve the quality of life of patients, decrease symptoms, increase survival rate, etc. Recovery times vary depending upon type of radiation therapy being administered.

Doctor Finders is an innovative on-line tool that allows the general public to find the right doctor for their needs, identifying doctors by geographic area, specialties, procedures, and more.

Discovering Deep Brain Stimulation Possibilities:

 

The procedure known as deep brain stimulation involves the implanting of a brain pacemaker. The brain pacemaker is a medical device that sends electrical impulses targeting specific regions of the patient’s brain.

More About Deep Brain Stimulation:

Deep brain stimulation is often referred to as DBS. It has been shown to have therapeutic benefits when administered to certain regions of the brain. It has been shown to be especially effective as a treatment for resistant movement and affective disorders. A partial list of treatment resistant movement and affective disorders that can benefit from DBS follows: Parkinson’s Disease, chronic pain, dystonia, tremor, etc.

Deep brain stimulation requires the use of three items: IPG (or implanted pulse generator), lead, and extension. The IPG is connected to the lead by the extension. The IPG sends electrical pulses and the lead (an insulated coil wire with four platinum electrodes) delivers the electrical impulses to the specified target locations in the brain.

Leads for deep brain stimulation are placed in accordance with the type of symptoms that are being treated in each individual case. For non-Parkinsonian essential tremor cases leads would be placed in the ventrointermedial nucleus of the thalamus. Leads would be placed in the globus pallidus or the subthalamic nucleus for cases of Dystonia or Parkinsons’ disease that had symptoms of rigidity, tremor and bradykinesia/akinesia.

The three individual parts required for deep brain stimulation work together in order to achieve results. All three pieces are surgically implanted into the body. The first surgical implant requires local anesthesia while a 14 mm hole is drilled in the skull of the patient. The patient feedback is taken into consideration in order to ensure that electrode placement is optimum. Once this is completed the IPG and lead are both surgically implanted under general anesthesia.

Recovering from DBS:

Deep brain stimulation has been approved by the FDA to treat essential tremor, Parkinson’s Disease and dystonia. It is also frequently used to treat both chronic pain and a variety of affective disorders. Deep brain stimulation carries the potential for serious complications and/or side effects that should be discussed thoroughly with a medical professional prior to beginning treatment.

Doctor Finders is an innovative on-line tool that allows the general public to find the right doctor for their needs, identifying doctors by geographic area, specialties, procedures, and more.

Do You Know The No.1 Trick About Vertigo Exercises

 

Vertigo or the sensation of movement of yourself or your environment is among the most common causes of visits to the doctor. There can be many causes of vertigo or dizziness. These can range from insignificant causes such as feeling lightheaded to more severe causes like a stroke or tumor. One common cause of vertigo is benign positional vertigo or bppv. This article will focus on treatment in the form of vertigo exercises for this type of vertigo.

Regrettably, it is popular that bppv or benign positional vertigo is usually treated with some form of medication. While this approach can lessen the symptoms of the dizziness or associated nausea it fails to fix the real cause of the problem. Next we will talk about the real cause of this type of vertigo, the reason medication is not a good treatment and how vertigo exercises can help you.

This type of vertigo called benign positional vertigo is believed to be caused by debris or particles that become loose in our balance sensors. These balance sensors are called semicircular canals and are located in our inner ear. They are filled with a fluid like substance and our movement stimulates tiny hair like receptors that send messages to our brain to let us know about our movement. The loose debris disrupt the messages to our brain and we may feel an increase sensation of movement or the feeling of vertigo.

The loose particles must be moved to a different place to fix this problem. This cannot be done with drugs or medication, which will only depress your nervous system. This will result in you feeling less dizzy or nauseous because your nervous system has been depressed but the underlying cause of the problem has not been resolved. So even though you may symptomatically feel a little better with decreased symptoms the cause of the problem has not been rectified.

The solution to fix the cause of the problem is vertigo exercises. Unfortunately, it is common that patients are given the wrong type of exercises or told how to do the correct exercises wrongly. Commonly patients are given what are called habituation exercises. Exercises that heavily stimulate your balance organs and which over time the goal is to create an habituation response where your system is stronger and better able to deal with the vertigo. Once again not really fixing the problem, but at least it is a natural attempt at dealing with the symptoms. This should be the second choice of vertigo exercises for people, but for some reason these are often given as the first choice.

There is a better solution to this vertigo. There are some vertigo exercises designed to move the particles to a safer area of the semicircular canals where they don’t disrupt the receptor so much. Now this is a treatment that addresses the cause of the problem, the loose particles, and not just masking the symptoms. The exercises if done properly are safe and very effective.

Benign positional vertigo can be fixed! To find out more,visit author John F. Peterson’s dizziness treatment website and take a look at his acclaimed book, The Vertigo Cure.

Brain Mapping:

 

Many are unsure of how to define brain mapping. Put simply brain mapping is the detailed mapping or charting of biological properties and quantities of a patient’s brain onto special representations based on a set of neuroscience techniques.

More Info On Brain Mapping:

A panel was commissioned in the late 1980’s at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science. The panel researched the possible benefits that of the integration of neuroscientific data through a series of techniques.

The panel has a specific interest in all of the following: functional/structural magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography electroencephalography and alternative non-invasive scanning techniques. The panel also studied the mapping of the brain in regards to anatomy, physiology, perfusion, function and phenotypes. Brain mapping techniques can be done on healthy and non-healthy brains. It offers professionals the opportunity to really study brain function, learning processes, aging effects on the brain, as well as the effectiveness of drug treatments. The panel’s research evolved into the Human Brain Project (Stephen H. Koslow and Michael F. Huerta (1997). Neuroinformatics: An Overview of the Human Brain Project).

Evolving from this auspicious beginning was the International Consortium for Brain Mapping (ISBM). The overall goal of the establishment is to develop “flexible computational brain atlases” that can be used in research, diagnosis and monitoring of treatment.

Some view Brain Mapping as so precise that it has been discussed as an appropriate piece of evidence during court trails. It is viewed as unethical and unprofessional to conduct any type of brain mapping procedure against the wishes of the individual at hand, but in cases where consent is given it can be a thorough and accurate representation of brain function.

Brain mapping as a general reference can include any and all forms of neuroimaging. Many see “brain mapping” as a higher form of traditional neuroimaging. Brain maps are a combination of images of the brain regions and non-imaging data results gained drawn from data processing and analysis (including mapped projections of the measurable quantities in relation to behavior in specific regions of the brain).

Brain Mapping and Recovery

Because brain mapping is a form of neuroimaging there is no recovery time. It is non-invasive.

Doctor Finders is an innovative on-line tool that allows the general public to find the right doctor for their needs, identifying doctors by geographic area, specialties, procedures, and more.

Morgellons – A Mysterious Fiber Disease

 

If you have ever had the feeling that something is crawling on your skin and feels like something is biting or stinging you, then you know a small portion of what someone with Morgellons disease experiences on a daily basis. This is a mysterious disease that seems to plague no particular race, social class, age or location but strikes anyone who is susceptible.

Although this is not a well known disease to doctors, it is not new. Sir Thomas Browne described the lesions as having black hairs emerging from them in the 1600s. It was primarily found in children then but appears to be flourishing in all ages today. Today many sufferers report very similar symptoms although physicians claim it is a different disease. It was also described in the early 1900s even though doctors claim it is delusion stirred up by media.

To the sufferers of this disease, the sometimes debilitating symptoms are very real. Many report crawling skin, the feeling of being bitten or stung as well as fatigue and confusion. Lesions gradually appear that exhibit colored fibers protruding from them. Samples taken from the lesions have been microscopically viewed to expose what appears to be tentacle-like filament.

Some symptoms are reported to be debilitating with this disease. Fatigue and confusion leave sufferers unable to function and embarrassment from the lesions prevents patients from leaving their homes. Itching from the lesions may be relieved with anti-itch creams but for the most part, it too prevents normal participation in outdoor activities and events.

The medical community is baffled as to what the condition is, how to treat it or even whether they should research it. Some doctors have diagnosed their patients with a mental problem called delusional parasitosis. They do not believe that this is a medical condition but rather a psychological condition that causes the patients to develop sores with no cause.

Treatment available does not come close to healing the sores or curing the disease. Since many doctors know nothing about the disease they do not know how to cure it or even treat it. Some symptoms can be treated but without finding out what is causing the lesions and other symptoms, their efforts are futile.

There is some hope for sufferers of this disease though. There is an organization that works diligently to research the condition, its causes and a possible cure. They work with patients to provide them with resources for diagnosing the disease as well as attempt to educate other researchers and the medical community to their findings. Assistance to patients is given in coping with many problems associated with the disease.

Regardless of whether the condition is real or psychosomatic, the symptoms remain and so does the growing patient population. More and more patients are diagnosed, whether self-diagnosed or by a physician, each year. The numbers will continue to grow until the medical community takes Morgellons disease serious and begins their efforts in finding a treatment and curing it.

Get more details and information about Morgellons and Skin Parasites fast and easy! When you want to find the latest updates of treatment for these conditions, you can find it today!

The Multifaceted And Often Rejected Disease Called Morgellons

 

The old joke about physicians is that whenever they do not know what something is, they just try whatever seems right, after all it is called practicing. This is kind of like the mechanic who progressively replaces parts in a system hoping to find the problem by eliminating possible causes one box at a time. It is difficult at this stage of medicinal history to accept the notion that new diseases, like Morgellons could exist and we not know anything about it.

The concern about this is that the idea that there may be things that we do not understand should be at the forefront of dealing with pathogens. Unfortunately, due to the limited number of truly new maladies, science is reluctant to accept the occurrence of one. Even when a number of disparate individuals present with the same or very similar symptoms, the assessment is tainted by the prejudiced knowledge that they could have found the information over the ubiquitous World Wide Web.

There are some physicians that are so convinced this is not a new disease but is rather a case of delusional parasitosis or the concomitant experiential symptoms of known diseases that result in cutaneous dysesthesia, is the sensation of discomfort in the skin such as tingling, burning, biting, etc. These physicians are convinced the patient has convinced themselves they are ill and even concocted believable methods of infection and that no progress can be made by investigating their complaints.

Fortunately, no one doubts the primary symptom clinically known as cutaneous dysesthesia, though this is a clinical description that is quite generic, accounting for any uncomfortable sensation within the skin. Still it is important that physicians have documented the patient described burning, biting, itching and pain they experience and the lesions that occur concomitantly. It is the cause ascribed to the symptoms that frustrates those who have it.

Thanks to a greater ability to congregate those who have similar sets of symptoms afforded by the internet, more individuals have been able to report the condition. Responding to this body of information, the Centers for Disease Control in association with Kaiser Permanente, have elected to conduct a study. Using patients who have presented at the northern California hospital with these symptoms, an epidemiological study aimed at identifying the causality has already begun in the hopes of shedding new light on this mystery.

The name for this malady with the consistent constellation of baffling symptoms was coined by the parent of a child presenting. It refers to the writings of Sir Thomas Browne from 1864, who described a condition among children highlighted by the appearance of rough hairs on their backs. The moniker, however was not meant to express the belief that Sir Browne was necessarily describing this same condition, but rather to give it a name beyond the unflattering diagnosis from the world of psychiatry.

This investigation gives hope to those who have been experiencing this accumulation of symptoms, which have been reported all over the world. The Centers for Disease control and physicians at the Northern California Kaiser Permanente location acknowledge there is a controversy about this illness at the outset. For people who believe they have Morgellons, this is good news, the physicians involved can take a completely neutral approach to the investigation, which is better than they have experienced to date.

There are numerous skin diseases for which complete study and understanding is yet to be completed. One example is Morgellons, which can be found in some geographical areas in significant numbers.