Archive for July, 2009
Symptoms You Should Know About Cardiac Arrhythmias
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Pacemakers have been around for decades, yet there is still a lot of misunderstanding about how they work, what they do, and who needs them. Millions of people around the world wear pacemakers, yet it is something that is rarely talked about.
People get pacemakers to correct a problem with the heart known as a cardiac arrhythmia. In layman’s terms, it means the heart’s natural rhythm is getting out-of-whack.
While just about everyone probably experiences occasional but very short bouts of out-of-rhythm cardiac activity, some people have stubborn arrhythmias that cause symptoms, impair their ability to lead a normal life, and are largely unpredictable. These people need pacemakers. Symptoms that may mean you need a pacemaker include fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, even fainting, as well as inability to exercise without getting overly out of breath.
These are pretty vague symptoms and a person could easily have all of those conditions and not need a pacemaker. But let’s talk about what’s really going on.
The healthy heart beats in a specific rhythm that coordinates the heart’s upper chambers (atria) and lower chambers (ventricles) in such a way that the heart beat is quite efficient at moving a very large quantity of blood throughout the body. This blood is called cardiac output. If cardiac output drops to zero, the person dies in a matter of minutes.
But in many cases, the electrical system of the heart (not the pumping ability) starts to falter. This is an electrical problem of the heartnot the heart’s inability to pump out blood efficiently. Yet many people do not even realize the heart as an electrical system.
Electrical impulses produced by the heart guide the heart’s rhythm. If the heart stops producing electricity in a regular manner or the electricity no longer travels properly through the heart muscle, the result can be an arrhythmia.
There are two main types of arrhythmia that can lead to a person’s getting a pacemaker. The first is called “sinus node dysfunction,” which sounds very complicated. It really means that the heart no longer produces electrical energy at the right rate.
The heart has the amazing ability to produce electricity. This is accomplished by a small area of tissue called the sinoatrial node (nicknamed “sinus node” or just “sinus”) in the upper right hand side of the heart. If the sinus node gets sluggish or produces electricity erratically or produces electricity fine at low rates but can’t keep up when you exercise and need a faster heart rate … that is sinus node dysfunction.
About half of all people with pacemakers have this condition. The resulting arrhythmia for a person with sinus node dysfunction is a heart rate that is too slow to support normal activity. The medical term for this is “sinus bradycardia.” Because you don’t get enough cardiac output to do normal things, you can find yourself getting winded, tired, dizzy, or even passing out doing things you used to do.
The second kind of arrhythmia that can lead to a pacemaker sounds a lot simpler, but the name is a bit of a misnomer. It’s called “heart block.” Heart block isn’t really a blockage at all. Instead, it means that the electrical impulses produced by the heart no longer travel efficiently through the heart muscle. The electrical energy gets delayed or even blocked in some areas.
In the healthy heart, the electrical energy that causes the heart to beat starts in the sinoatrial node (top, right side of the heart). It then travels out over the atria and then downward. As it makes its ways to the ventricles, it passes through a junction called the “atrioventricular node” or AV node.
Once the electrical energy goes through the AV node, it travels to the ventricle and causes the ventricles to contract and pump blood. Heart block occurs when there is a problem at the AV node. Sometimes the electrical energy gets delayed in such a way that the atria and ventricles are no longer working together.
In extreme forms of heart block, the energy from the top half of the heart cannot make its way down to the bottom half at all (this is called “complete heart block”). Because the atria and ventricles do not work in harmony, cardiac output is impaired. This can result in the very same list of symptoms: lightheadedness, dizziness, shortness of breath, feeling tired all of the time, and even fainting.
About half of all people who need pacemakers have some form of heart block (it can be mild to severe).
Arrhythmias can get fairly complicated. For example, one person might have both types of these arrhythmias that require a pacemaker, that is, one person can have sinus node dysfunction and heart block at the same time. Even individuals who might only have one arrhythmia right now can develop another kind of arrhythmia in the future.
Pacemakers accomplish this by “filling in the missing beats.”
Pacemakers are small electrical devices implanted in the chest. They deliver electrical energy to the heart at precisely the right moment to keep it beating in a way that is as “normal” as possible. In many patients, pacemakers restore normal heart rhythm. In some patients, the arrhythmia may be too severe for a normal heart rhythm to be restored, but the pacemaker can at least come close.
Pacemakers “know” when to deliver electrical energy to the heart because they monitor every beat of the heart and respond according to how the physician programs them. This is a useful feature since many pacemaker patients do not require constant pacing. In fact, for many people, arrhythmias are not permanent at all, but come and go, sometimes for brief periods. The pacemaker monitors the heart’s activity and jumps in with stimulating (pacing) energy when an arrhythmia occurs.
There is, at the moment, no cure for arrhythmias in the sense that an erratic heart rhythm cannot be restored with an operation or a pill. True, operations, pills, and other remedies can help manage symptoms or even correct part of the problem.
Pacemakers are actually very safe ways of dealing with specific arrhythmias. Although they’re implanted in the body, they do not deliver drugs or other chemicals into the body. They use electricity, which is the very substance the body would generate itself, if it could.
Doctors have a lot of flexibility in terms of how the pacemaker is programmed, so they are suitable for a wide range of people, from athletes to newborns to bedridden seniors.
And pacemakers have a memory so that they can report back to the doctor what’s been going on in the patient’s heart. Not all arrhythmias can be treated with a pacemaker. But for rhythm disorders like heart block or sinus bradycardias, pacemakers are a safe, effective, and well proven technology that can make a big difference in the lives of those that need them.
Jo Ann LeQuang
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/symptoms-you-should-know-about-cardiac-arrhythmias-590026.html
Know More About Food Allergy
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The most common food defeated symptoms found in small children is allergic to cow’s milk, because small children drinks cow’s milk in everyday life. When they begin grows up then get more supplementary food such as eggs, then they may allergic to eggs also. For the adolescent and adults, the allergic to seafood are found in most cases
What are the symptoms of food allergy?
Food allergy disease can effect to every system of the body , but the most common cases found with; – Alimentary canal symptoms ( vomit , stomachache , suffer from diarrhea) – Skin (urticaria) – Breath system , (sneeze , catarrh , cough, breath uncomfortably) in some cases, patient might get severe symptoms and die.
How do you know that what kind of food that you allergic to?
Once you have noticed that there is the same symptoms happend repeatedly after meal, you should go to see a doctor and investigate, then have a check-up. The most important information for the doctor that you should remember kind of the food that you have taken, the quantity that eat, the symptoms that happens so the doctor can diagnose easily. But in the some people who are suspected that allergic various kinds foods or not sure that which kind of food that allergic to. Doctor may ask the patient taking notes of what they have eaten in detail as well as unusual symptoms that happen for better diagnose. Besides, there is a skin test to identify the kind of food that patient allergic to, which takes only 15 minute for take the skin testing. Another option is to take blood test for food allergic. However the most accurate diagnosing method is to let the patient has a meal that suspect to be the cause of allergy, if the symptoms appear from eat certain kind of food and that symptom disappears when stop eating ,as a result , that patient is allergic to such food. However, this testing step should be within close supervision of a doctor, especially in case of allergy symptoms is severe.
What is the most effective way to cure?
The most effective way is to avoid or never eat the food that you allergic to. You must also avoid every kind food that participate or assemble of the nutrient that you allergic. For example, if you allergic to cow’s milk, then avoid the food that have milk is the components, such as, ice cream, biscuit and eat soybean milk instead. Medication treatment should be used only to cure specific symptom that appear from time to time such as use medicine to heal urticaria symptoms, medicine to decreases catarrh etc.
Can food allergy be permanently cured?
In some case, if patients can avoid and haven’t take the food that they allergic for about 1-2 year consecutively, as a result , the allergic symptom disappear and permanently cured. However, seafood allergy and peanut allergy can not generally be cured. For babies who allergic to cow’s milk, about 50% of them this symptom is likely be disappear when they are 1 year old , 85% when they are 3 years old , and only 15% still got the allergy and 25 % of a child who are allergic to cow’s milk , often have the symptoms that allergic to other food.
How to prevent from food allergy?
For a family who have the first child got the disease allergy can reduce a chance for the next child to get the disease by breast-feed at least 4 month or more. Mother who breast-feed a child should also avoid the food that cause the disease such as , egg , cow’s milk , seafood , and peanut nut during the breast-feeds period.
Dr Thannie Santinukul
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/know-more-about-food-allergy-89824.html
Allergy Control Products
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For allergy sufferers life can become miserable if they come into contact with whatever it is they are allergic to. Allergy control products in conjunction with allergy treatments or by themselves are effective in bringing relief to the allergy sufferer. allergy control products come in many forms and are more user friendly than ever before. If you are an allergy sufferer and have never before used allergy control products or have used them in the past and found them too expensive or unreliable then now is the time to see what progress has been made in the field of allergy control products.
Research and surveys have shown that the number of allergy sufferers world wide is on the increase. In a recent U.S. survey it was found that fifty-four percent of Americans are allergic to at least one pathogen. That’s over half of all Americans surveyed! Consumer demand has demanded better products and the industry has responded. Air purifiers were once expensive to buy, cumbersome and difficult to operate and maintain. Now though, a wide variety of less expensive and easy to maintain air purifiers are available and most importantly, they actually perform quite well.
Dust mites, human hair and shedding skin can all contribute to allergies. Many people have suffered for years not even knowing that the bed they slept in was the source of their misery. Now though allergy resistant sheets covers and pillow cases can bring relief and peaceful sleep to those who suffer from those allergies. allergy resistant fabrics also bring relief inside the home. Drapes and bed covers and carpeting are all available made entirely of allergy resistant fabrics. For allergy sufferers the fabrics that are so necessary to every day living can also bring misery. allergy resistant fabrics end the suffering.
Allergy sufferers who are chemically sensitive life can be pure hell. We live in a world of chemicals. For them the adage (better living through chemistry) is truly a farce. For many chemically sensitive people their home has become a torture chamber. Allergy resistant paint and chemicals of all sorts are now available that can free them from their misery. These products actually work very well and the money spent on these products is money invested well. The price has come down as quality has gone up on allergy resistant products. Now chemically sensitive people have the option of living a free and normal life.
If you are an allergy sufferer. No matter what you are allergic to there now is help. There is a wide range of products available and chances are there is something there you can use. Some allergy resistant products operate by helping your body cope with whatever it is you are allergic to while others effectively limit or eliminate all together whatever it is you are alergic to from your immediate environment. Many people have found it difficult to completely eliminate allergens from their whole home but have been very successful in creating an allergy safe room in their house. An allergy free zone to retreat to find relief if it is needed.
On the medical front great strides have been made in allergy relief products. A broader understanding of allergies and how pathogens effect the allergy sufferers has paved the way for new and better products. There are natural products available that for many people who have tried them appear to work. The medical establishment for years collectively scoffed at herbal remedies and now the facts speak for themselves. Herbal remedies for some people do work. It is up to each individual allergy sufferer to seek out what is best for them as there is no cure all. What works for one may not work for another but their is help out there.
Sven Ullmann
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/allergy-control-products-116228.html
The Real Sinus Headache
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Sinusitis is the condition of having one’s sinuses inflamed. Sinus inflammation may be a result of but not limited to bacterial or viral infections or allergic reactions.
Symptoms of sinusitis include a sinus headache that may affect several parts of the head including the face, jaws and teeth. During a sinusitis attack, the sinus headache may be localized to one or two pairs of inflamed sinuses but in severe cases, all sinuses are swollen and therefore cause a sinus headache that can be felt in the forehead between the eyebrows, upper jaw and teeth along with tender cheeks and face, the sides of the nose.
In severe rare cases, one may also experience ear aches, neck and top of the head pains as part of the sinusitis headache symptoms. It is important to take note of all the symptoms of sinusitis because a lot of individuals only think that they have sinus headaches when in fact, they are actually suffering from migraines instead.
It is important to note that sinusitis headache is not the only symptom of sinusitis. If it is indeed sinusitis, you will experience inflammation and tenderness of tissues around the eyes resulting in swollen eyelids and red eyes. Aside from this, there can be a loss of smell from a congested nasal passage.
Furthermore, aside from sinus headaches and other symptoms already mentioned here, sinusitis could trigger fever and cough. The cough can sometimes be a result of a post nasal drip from the draining of the sinuses that irritate the upper windpipe which causes it to be sore and encourages us to cough as a result. Sinusitis is also always accompanied by general weakness and tired feeling.
While it is true that up to 97% of individuals who think they suffer from sinusitis headache symptoms are mistaken because they are actually suffering from migraine, it is very important to make the correct distinction between the two.
First, one needs to be properly diagnosed for illness specific medication treatment. It can be quite frustrating to be taking sinus medication to treat sinus headache symptoms when in fact; the headache is cause by a migraine.
With this said, one must never take the sinus headache symptoms for granted and haphazardly assume that it is a migraine. In some rare instances of complications, sinus headache symptoms may be a signal of acute sinusitis, which results in brain infection.It is therefore very important to get the proper diagnosis and treatment whatever the cause of the headache.
Low Jeremy
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/the-real-sinus-headache-106834.html
Using Car Air Purifiers To Prevent Allergy Symptoms
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There are many reasons that you might want to use a car air purifier. These reasons can run the gamut of simply wanting your car to smell better, to needing to purify the air inside for those who ride in it and might suffer from allergies, asthma or other respiratory conditions. No matter what reason makes you decide to use a car air purifier, you will find many different styles of these units and many different ways to use them.
Plug In Models
There are different types of car air purifiers that you can use in your car. One of the most common is an electric car air purifier that you plug into the outlet in your car. This means that whenever you car is running, the car air purifier is going to be working. This is great for those who tend to smoke inside their cars or simply want the car to smell fresher whenever you are in it.
Stand Alone Varieties
There are also car air purifiers that work on batteries and work constantly, so that your car always smells fresh. You don’t have to worry about plugging them in every time you drive your car, but you do have to worry about changing the batteries periodically. These work best for those who spend plenty of time in their cars, since the units run constantly. Freshening the air in a car that sits unused for days on end uses up battery power without real benefit to the owner of the auto.
Reasons for Using Them
There are many reasons that you might decide to use a car air purifier. First, you might find that the odors in your car will spur you to select a car air purifier. With older cars, or cars that tend to sit outdoors much of the time, this could be the case. It could also be that you smoke in your car, or that someone else has smoked a great deal in your car. Also, if your car windows tend to leak when it rains or snows, water damage can cause odors as well. For these reasons, it is a good idea to get a car air purifier to improve the odors inside your car and make it more pleasant for driving.
These car air purifiers can also have tremendous benefits for those who suffer from allergies and asthma conditions. Keeping the air inside your automobile as clean as possible will help those with acute allergies or asthma have a much more comfortable ride.
Ann Marier
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/using-car-air-purifiers-to-prevent-allergy-symptoms-123994.html