Archive for December, 2007

Anorexic celebrities

December 15th, 2007

Let’s be realistic here!

Is it possible for a mother of two active toddlers to look like she’s just stepped out of salon? Being impeccable groomed is impossible if you have children. And I’m not talking about Victoria Beckham who always looks like a fashion plate. And Posh spice had to hire at least two new nannies after the recent shift to the US.

The media lambasted the troubled superstar Brittney Spears, when she dared to wobble her breast-feeding boobies and hips at a mightily amused and somewhat stupefied public.

But I seriously find it difficult to understand, why it is so difficult for the media to accept a mother of two children for what she is. The resulting media glare drove the poor girl to one rehabilitation center after another ultimately resulting in losing custody of her two adorable tots to the somewhat weird father (what’s the deal with the hat?)  

So is it any wonder that the million of fans allover the world are driven to emulate the stick-thin figure of celebrities. Anorexia and bulimia are steadily on the rise because of the unrealistic expectation of looks and beauty the media forces down on expectant mothers.

The recent astonishing news being; although JLo is ecstatic about her pregnancy, she’s not so cool with weight gain. The star seems to be getting up at 4.00 am to exercise in the fourth month of pregnancy.  Definitely not safe! And what is the message it conveys to hundreds of adoring fans? That mother hood and pregnancy is a thing to be ashamed about. I seriously abhor this attitude which forces healthy teenagers to avoid food like the plague. Forgive the ranting, but all parents want the best for their children. So imagine what a parent must be going thorough seeing there beloved children intentionally starving themselves to death!  I can’t even imagine the grief! 

Acne treatments can give you glowing skin

December 12th, 2007

Acne is entirely treatable and sometimes with the help of patient and consistent care, you can get rid of all acne completely. But the next thing which will still persist is acne scars. These are a painful remainder of your struggle with acne and sometimes acne scars can pits take a long time to disappear.

 

But there’s no need to fear with rapid advances in medicine you are now guaranteed an easy way to banish those humiliating scars forever.

 

Welcome to the world of plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery for acne. The foremost treatment of acne scars being light, medium, or deep chemical peels.

Yes it exactly what it sounds like .Imagine removing the superficial dead, dull layer of your skin to reveal a fresh new glowing you. That’s exactly what a peel does.

 

There are different types of peels and each of this use a specific caustic chemical like phenol, alpha hydroxyl acids, beta hydroxyl acids, salicylic acid, and jessener peel. Unsupervised use may cause scarring burning and unequal peeling. Some unacceptably done peeling can also increase skin pigmentation, increased infection, and increased sensitivity to sunlight.

 

Although every Tom, Dick, and Harry is now advertising Chemical peels, please be warned that it’s best to do this procedure under the aegis of a trained dermatologist.

 

Anorexia nervosa: the thinning disease.

December 8th, 2007

People are dying to be thin and sometimes literally die trying to be thin .Anorexia is an eating disorder in which the patient is obsessed with self starvation and refuses to maintain a normal body weight .The National Eating Disorder Association estimates that 5 -20% anorexics will not survive the complications associated with anorexia and quite a few of those will commit suicide..

So what causes anorexia?

Most of those with anorexia are women. Doctors aren’t sure what causes it. Reasons vary from genetics, peer pressure or culture .But the major reason is the media and fashion industry, which promotes the message, that thin is beautiful and thin is in. Some of these models can maintain a thin but healthy body weight, but the problem arises when a normal teenager tries to obsessively copy the same body weight..

How to cope with anorexia

Treatment of anorexia is difficult as anorexics refuse to believe that they have a problem .But with the proper support and care, they can be treated.

Keep in mind that the biggest challenge in treating anorexia is that the patient has to want to change. Some people actively advocate anorexia as a lifestyle choice rather than a disease. There are a large number of pro-anorexia websites which perpetuate the same fiction.The Eating Disorders Association (EDA) believes at least 400 pro-Anna (anorexia) sites and chat rooms currently exist on the Web.

kidney disease : how to manage it?

December 4th, 2007

More than twenty million Americans have kidney problems like urinary tract infections, kidney stones, kidney cancer, polycystic kidney disease, nephritic syndrome, and genetic disorders.  When these conditions are left, they lead to chronic kidney disease.  When CKD is allowed to progress beyond the early stages, the kidneys begin to work so poorly that they are said to be failing.  At this point, the only treatment options are dialysis or kidney transplant. 

Cause

The main causes of chronic kidney disease

  • Diabetes.
  • High blood pressure and Glomerulonephritis

Treatment

There is no cure for chronic kidney disease. The four goals of therapy are as follows:

  1. To delay the disease progression
  1. To treat underlying causes
  1. To treat complications
  1. To replace the reduced kidney function

 This objective can be achieved by controlling the main cause of chronic kidney disease.

  • Control of blood glucose: diabetics have a much larger risk of be affected with chronic kidney disease than any other group. Diabetes must be controlled with medicines or drugs to halt the spread of chronic kidney disease
  • Control of high blood pressure: blood pressure must be controlled to below 130/80 mm Hg to reduce the workload on the kidney and to prevent kidney disease.. Blood pressure medications known as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) are extremely effective in controlling chronic kidney disease and protecting the kidneys.
  • Diet:

Failure of Parkinson’s treatment drug trial

December 3rd, 2007

Parkinson’s disease affects the cells of the brain which produce a chemical neurotransmitter called a dopamine. The main function of this neurotransmitter is to carry information from the brain to different parts of the body.  

But if the signaling chemical dopamine itself becomes less, messages are transmitted in incomplete burst or skipped altogether resulting in jerky movements and tremors which are a typical sign of Parkinson’s disease.  

Although the chemical transmitter dopamine can be artificially synthesized in a laboratory and injected into the brain, a special barrier called as the blood brain barrier (BBB) prevents the dopamine from entering the brain where it is desperately needed.

 So technically the blood brain barrier has to be fooled into thinking that synthetic dopamine is something else totally. This is where Levadopa comes in. Levadopa manages to fool the BBB and slips into the brain to control Parkinson symptoms. 

Sounds simple right? This is where the catch comes in. The brain quickly begins to demand more and more Levadopa which cannot be provided to the patient.  

A cruel and unusual twist to treatment measures. Recently researchers had tried to transplant the cells which made dopamine from the brains of unborn fetuses into the brains of Parkinson patients. But the clinical trial have shown variable results dashing the hopes of millions of patients all over the world. Although fetal cells were implanted successfully the cells continued to grow indiscriminately grossly increasing the amount of dopamine production. This created a whole new set of problems for the already suffering patients. 

One avenue of research may be blocked but scientists are not willing to give up just yet!