In The Venue

The process or method of colon cleansing diet is extremely important for good health. There are different types of methods through which you can carry the process of colon cleansing. Colon is something where people do not pay much attention. People always consider that lungs, heart and brain are some of the most important body organs which they need to take care off. Of course these body organs are very important but you need to also pay attention to other organs which are also an integral part of human body.

You would probably be very surprised to know the fact that colon is the 3rd most common organ in our body where a cancer usually develops. In Canada, colon cancer is the second leading cause of death when it comes to cancer deaths. Cancer is basically cell damage and the toxins that gather in the colons ultimately reach the bloodstream and cause cell damage. It is not just important for individuals to undergo a colon cleansing method but it is equally important to maintain colon and keep it clean time in and time out.

The question that will touch many minds is “what to eat after a Colon Cleanse”? To start with the first thing that you need to do is follow proper diet. Fiber is the food that is highly recommended. Eat as much food as you can which contains good amount of fiber in it. You need to remember the fact that eating colon diet is not only essential before or during colon cleansing method but it is very important that you follow the diet even after the colon cleanse. There is no point switching back to the old junk food method once your colon cleanse is done. By doing this you will make the colon cleanse into a zero value method.

Most of the experts highly recommend the intake of nuts after colon cleanse. You can eat Brazil nuts, walnuts, chestnuts and almonds. However, you should avoid the consumption of cashews and peanuts as much as possible. This is because of the fact that cashews and peanuts are not as healthy as compared to the above mentioned nuts. You should also increase the intake of whole grains. Eat a lot of rye and barley. You are recommended to eat wild rice as compared to white rice as it is more superior to white rice.

Some of the other things that you need to eat as part of the colon diet even after the colon cleanse are strawberries, oats, apples and citrus. Make sure that each and every meal that you need consists of beets and cabbage. It is best recommended to eat a salad made up of cabbage and beets as it is highly helpful after the colon cleanse.

According to many experts about 22-36 grams of fiber on a daily basis is the perfect amount that should be consumed. However, if you go by the reality then you will find that most of the people do not even come close to this amount. With the fast life these days and the amount of stress people usually miss on atleast one proper meal of the day. It is therefore very difficult to consume the desired amount of fiber on a consistent basis over a long period of time. However, if you are also facing such a problem then there is no need to get depressed as you can make use of fiber supplements to come over such a situation. However, it is best recommended that you consume fiber with the method of proper food. Fiber supplements should be the last extreme option that you choose.

Everyone knows the importance and the benefits of eating green foods and green vegetables. One of the biggest advantages of green foods is the fact that they contain a lot of chlorophyll which is excellent for the colon. It is therefore highly recommended that you continue the intake of green foods after you are done with your colon cleanse. One of the benefits of chlorophyll is the fact that it releases huge amount of toxins and gives the body abundant amount of oxygen. Spinach is probably the best green food that you can consume. Spinach can be consumed along with rice or you can even use it to make salad or a nice cup of spinach soup.

Last but definitely not the least is the intake of water. Less intake of water after colon cleanse would not help your colon in any which way. It is very important that you consume water on a regular basis. According to most of the experts consuming around 10 glasses of water is the ideal water intake. It is very important that you carry a bottle of water along with you every time you leave home.

It is therefore very important to follow the right kind of diet after colon cleanse to get the best results.

Bipolar disorder is a treatable illness marked by extreme changes in mood, thought, energy and behavior.  These changes in mood, or “mood swings,”  are of variable length,  and can last anywhere from hours to months.

Sometimes people experience symptoms of mania and depression simultaneously. During this state, known as mixed mania, they have all the negative emotions that come with depression, such as hopelessness, pessimism, and a sense of worthlessness, but they are also agitated, restless and full of nervous energy.   Nowhere is it truer than for people in a mixed state that there is “no rest for the weary.”

There are several forms of bipolar disorder.  The patient with Bipolar I Disorder, the most severe, experiences one or more major depressive episodes and one or more episodes of mania or mixed mania, defined in the DSM-IV as symptoms of both a mania and a depression occurring daily for at least one week.  The hallmark of Bipolar I Disorder is the severity of the manic episodes, during which patients may become aggressive, impulsive and sometimes delusional.

Bipolar II Disorder is a milder condition, in which a patient has had at least one major depressive episodes and at least one episode of hypomania.  The latter includes all the symptoms of mania with the exception of delusions and hallucinations.   People with Bipolar II Disorder may also experience periods of relative calm between their manic and depressive episodes.  Because the highs in hypomanias of Bipolar II are not as high as the manias of Bipolar I, patients may not recognized them or report them, and their Bipolar II disorder may get misdiagnosed as major depression.  People with Bipolar II have recurring and easily recognizable depressions that come and go periodically but they have also experienced periods of at least four days at a time when they felt especially or abnormally energetic or irritable, self-confident, social, talkative, irritable and quickly angered.  They may have also been thinking faster than usual, had trouble concentrating, been more goal oriented and productive, and indulged in more pleasurable activities such as shopping and sex.  Their friends and loved ones might also have been commenting that they seemed to be acting out of character.

A diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder with Rapid Cycling describes patients who experience at least four episodes of mania or depression in one year.  Rapid Cycling can occur with any either Bipolar I or Bipolar II, and is often a temporary response to stress.

The DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) has found that misdiagnoses of Bipolar are extremely common, in part because many people don’t report all of their symptoms.  They misunderstand their own hypomanic episodes as  “really good days” and don’t report them because they didn’t feel like an illness.  Nearly 70% of people with bipolar disorder are misdiagnosed at least once, and they must wait 10 years on average between the time they have their first bipolar symptoms and the time when they get correctly diagnosed and treated.

Almost six million adult Americans, close to 2% of the country’s population, have some form of bipolar disorder.   While some children and adults do experience the symptoms for the first time,  bipolar usually hits in the teen years and begins as depression.   Men and women develop the condition in equal numbers, although for women it tends to begin with depression and for men with a manic episode.  Bipolar disorder, moreover, is an equal opportunity offender that hits people not only at all ages, but also in all races, ethnic groups, and social classes. However, it does not occur randomly.  Rather, it tends to run in families and probably has a genetic component. If it is untreated, bipolar disorder comes and goes, much like chronic body disorders such as Crohn’s disease; this is one of the reasons that the condition is probably underdiagnosed.   At the same time, no treatment for bipolar can eliminate the disease completely.  Even patients on medication will have mood swings occasionally.     Nonetheless, the treatments are to a large degree effective.  People with untreated bipolar disorder have much more frequent recurrences of mood cycles than bipolar people on medication.

Although another mood disorder, clinical depression, has symptoms similar to those of the depressive phase in bipolar disorder, the two illnesses are different in that people with bipolar disorder experience often-severe swings between manic “highs,” when they feel extremely energetic, and depressive “lows” when they feel deep despair.   People with clinical or “unipolar” depression, on the other hand, experience depressive “lows” but not manic “highs.”  The emotional ups and downs of bipolar disorder is also distinct from the normal mood changes of healthy people because the swings cannot be controlled by will power alone, and they disrupt the normal routines of life.

People with bipolar disorder experience the lows of bipolar depression more often than the highs — mixed mania, mania or hypomania. Because bipolar depression can also be more disabling than mania, and it is associated with suicidal thinking and behavior, people with bipolar disorder are more likely to seek out help and get diagnosed during a depressive phase.    For this reason, between 10 and 25% of the “outpatient” population are misdiagnosed with unipolar or clinical depression by their primary care physicians, and when patients enter a psychiatric hospital, the percentage of misdiagnosed cases is even higher.  Misdiagnosis is a serious problem because different medications are prescribed for unipolar and bipolar disorder.  A person with bipolar who takes antidepressants can have an induced manic episode, as well as other problems.

Bipolar disorder, therefore, is probably underdiagnosed.  Nonetheless, it is essential for doctors and psychiatrists to rule out other possible causes of extreme mood swings, which can include head injuries, thyroid problems, HIV, diabetes, ADHD, eating disorders, schizophrenia, and even the side effects of certain medications, because other conditions are treated with different medications.   Since no lab test exists for bipolar disorder, psychiatrists are obliged to make the diagnosis based on a careful discussion of the patient’s mood changes.

The depressive state is a more painful experience for patients than manic episodes, during which the mood is one of euphoria and aggression.  And yet, although it feels good, mania is dangerous both for the patient and for others.  Patients with severe mania usually require hospitalization to prevent them from highly impulsive, reckless or risky behavior.  Depressed patients, too, may need to be hospitalized because they may act on their suicidal thoughts.   Since both poles of bipolar are dangerous to the patients’ health, it is no surprise that 90% of individuals with bipolar I disorder have been hospitalized at least once, and two thirds will have two or more hospitalizations in their lifetime.

How are brain tumors treated?  How effective are the treatments? This is a hard question to answer, partly because brain tumors must be treated at two levels.   First of all, the tumors themselves must be removed, either surgically or with tools such as lasers that mimic the scalpel.  Secondly, a good treatment also treats the symptoms of the disease through prevention and the raising of awareness.

Seizures are one example of the brain tumor symptoms that need treatment on their own terms.  25 to 40% of brain tumor patients will have a seizure at some time during their illness.  The seizure itself is the outward manifestation of abnormal electrical activity in the brain.  The body’s nerve cells usually communicate with each other along carefully controlled bioelectric circuits, but during a seizure, an orderly flow is short-circuited into an undifferentiated mass of electricity.  Thousands of signals flow back and forth, sending instructions to all parts of the body. If the signals become too intense, a seizure results.  During the seizure, anything can happen.  The body moves in unaccustomed ways; the patient hears, according to Wikipedia, “unusual sounds, visions and sensations.”  The unique characteristics of the seizure depend on which part of the brain is being subjected to the explosion of electricity,

Overall, seizures are not dangerous, but they can be extremely embarrassing, and brain tumor patients, particularly those with meningiomas, need to be prepared for the experience.  One way they can do this is to become aware of the “aura,” a signal their bodies are sending them about an approaching seizure.  The aura can take the form of a headache, a mood change, a muscle twitch, or a particular smell.  A wise patient who notices the aura will take the time to sit or lie down until the seizure has passed.  Food must be removed from the mouth; water must be turned off in the shower.   Moreover, tumor patients with recurrent seizures who pay close attention to their environment and keep journals will eventually notice that some events act as “triggers.”  These can include bright or flashing lights, fatigue, hunger, alcohol consumption, menstruation, or even new medications and dose changes.  These precautions won’t make the tumor go away, but they can make life more bearable during the course of the disease.

A shunt needs maintenance, so it doesn’t get disconnected, or cause an infection.  Children with brain tumors are still growing, so they may need the shunt to be lengthened.    Maintenance is accomplished through a surgical procedure known as shunt revision.

Cancer is a set of diseases in which cells within the body grow uncontrollably, sucking up nutrients, taking up precious space, and invading areas where they don’t belong.  Most cancers will eventually kill you if they are not treated, although they grow and spread at different rates depending on  (1) where they originated and  (2) the environmental cues that set them off.  Cancer is also, strictly speaking, incurable, because it can and often does recur in people who’ve received even the most advanced forms of treatment.  Nonetheless, many forms of cancer can be controlled with medications, surgery and lifestyle changes.  Many survivors live for decades after treatment.

Chemotherapy drugs can be used to treat any kind of tumor, but they are particularly useful weapons against the malignant or high-grade tumors that could spread throughout the body if they are not destroyed.

Most chemotherapy drugs are “cytotoxic,” that is, they kill or damage fast-dividing cancer cells in order to prevent the cancer from spreading.  The inherent problem with this strategy is that it kills both the cancerous cells and the healthy cells that divide fast, such as the intestinal epithelium or lining, which protects the stomach, and the hair follicles responsible for growing our hair.  This is why cancer patients frequently lose their hair and experience severe stomach pain.  However, some drugs are easier on the body than others, and doctors can adjust treatments for some patients in order to minimize side effects while also continuing to target the tumor.

Chemotherapy is useful, even essential, to treating many forms of cancer, but it also has severe limitations.  Tumors with cells that divide extremely quickly, such as acute leukemia, aggressive lymphoma and Hodgkin’s disease, respond the most to chemotherapy.  Chemo drugs are also particularly effective at killing smaller, “younger” tumors that are still able to regulate cell growth.  Yet there are other cancers, such as “indolent lymphoma,” that can never be easily treated with chemotherapy because even the newest tumor cells have slow growth rates.

Even with the more aggressive cancers, however, chemotherapy is most effective in the early stages.  As the tumors continue to divide, each generation of tumor cells is less differentiated and regulated than the previous one, and less responsive to chemotherapy.   As a tumor grows larger and more solid, the cells at its dense center virtually stop dividing, and become less accessible to substances from outside the body; the chemotherapeutic agent cannot touch them.  Hence, large tumors that have slowed down their pace of growth are best treated with more invasive methods such as radiation therapy or surgery.

Moreover, recent scientific studies suggest that tumors can develop resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. When some cancer cells are examined by microscope, their surfaces come into greater focus, and scientists can see networks of miniature biological pumps, actively moving the chemo drugs from the inside of each cell to the outside.   Even cancers are programmed to survive and reproduce.  The next line of defense in this case is to move onto more invasive forms of treatment such as radiation and surgery.

Even so, cancer specialists continue to prescribe chemotherapy drugs because even if they do not completely cure a patient of his cancer, they may reduce the severity of symptoms and lengthen the patient’s life.    Sometimes   the combination of a variety of different chemotherapy drugs, each taken at a different time of day or night can prevent the cancer from developing any drug resistance.   In other cases, chemotherapy is combined with radiation and surgery in order to target different parts of the tumor in different ways.

Any kind of chemotherapy is hard on the body, and not all sick patients have the stamina to pursue it to the bitter end.  Only a fraction of the cells in a tumor die with each treatment, so the doctor must administer repeated doses over a long period in order to reduce the size of he tumor.   If the drugs were all administered at once, they would cause death from toxic shock.

Some new and experimental forms of chemotherapy promise greater precision in the cells they destroy.   Engineers have recently begun designing  “specially targeted delivery vehicles,” computerized microscopic transporters that whisk chemotherapeutic agents quickly through the bloodstream to the edges of the malignant tumor, and then invade the tumor, neutralizing its antigens –or chemical defenses — and depositing the chemotherapy drug right where it is most needed.    Rather than spray an entire area of the body with a dangerous poison in order to kill a tumor, they aim only at the tumor and interact very little with any other part of the body.   The effect of these “specially targeted delivery vehicles,” then, is to allow the chemotherapy drug to kill more of the tumor and less of the surrounding cells.  Patients will then feel better more quickly and experience fewer side effects than before.  ?

Diagnosing Crohn’s Disease

Crohn’s disease is relatively easy to identify with a colonoscopy — a medical procedure in which doctors insert a long and flexible electronic tube into the colon (large intestine) and the rectum and examine the inner lining of those organs.   Crohn’s patients have inflammations covering the entire depth of the intestinal wall.   In particularly bad cases, there may be ulcers as well.

If the doctor performs a biopsy, by removing a sample of the inflamed tissue from the colon and examining it under a microscope, she/he will be able to detect inflammation of the mucus, characterized by focal infiltration of neutrophils, a type of inflammatory cell, into the epithelium. This typically occurs in the area overlying lymphoid aggregates. These neutrophils, along with mononuclear cells, may infiltrate into the crypts leading to inflammation (crypititis) or abscess (crypt abscess).   In 50% of Crohn’s Disease cases, doctors will also find Granulomas, aggregates of macrophage derivatives known as giant cells.   Biopsies may also show that Crohn’s patients suffer from chronic damage of the intestinal walls; for example, the villi, tiny hairlike protrusions from the intestinal wall, may be blunted instead of sharp.

The signs of Crohn’s disease are many, and painful.  The most common symptoms are abdominal pain and diarrhea, but there are many others.  The full list of symptoms is in itself long and detailed enough to cause nausea; it includes fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, chronic watery diarrhea and pain while passing stool, bloody stool, rectal bleeding, gas, constipation, inflammation in the eye, infected areas in the anus known as “fistulas,” bleeding in the intestine, paint in the joints, kidney stones, inflammation of the liver, abdominal cramps, a sensation of fullness in the abdomen, skin rashes, swollen gums and, unsurprisingly, weight loss.   The rectal bleeding may be serious and persistent, leading to anemia. Children with Crohn’s disease, in particular may suffer delayed development and stunted growth.

Crohn’s disease leads to many complications, but the most common is a blocked intestine.  The wall of the intestine thickens because of swelling and scar tissue, and the intestinal passage becomes too narrow for all the waste to pass.   As if that were not bad enough, Crohn’s sometimes causes sores, or ulcers, that burrow their way through the affected area into surrounding tissues, such as the skin, bladder, vagina, rectum and anus. These tunnels, called fistulas, often become infected.  They can sometimes be treated with medicine, but particularly big ones may require surgery to remove.  The lining of the anus may also develop rips and tears, known as fissures.

Perhaps as a result of the damage that Crohn’s does to the gastro-intestinal system, people with the disease often become malnourished; their bodies run low on proteins, calories, and vitamins.  These deficiencies could have many causes; Crohn’s patients may not be eating enough, because food makes them feel sick, or their intestines may lose protein to the inflamed areas, or the scar tissue and swelling may prevent nutrients from getting absorbed.

That is not all.  Crohn’s disease is also associated with arthritis, skin problems, inflamed eyes and mouth, kidney stones, gallstones, and liver disease.  Although the treatment of symptoms in the digestive system may resolve some of these problems, others require separate treatment.  . Some of these problems resolve during treatment for disease in the digestive system, but some must be treated separately.

Given the sheer magnitude of Crohn’s symptoms, their similarity to the signs of many other common diseases, and the fact that Crohn’s can affect just small patches of the gastrointestinal tract at first, rather than the entire intestine, it is hardly surprising that many people with Crohn’s disease have symptoms for years before they get diagnosed.   Usually, the disease first hits victims between 15 and 30 years old, although it can occur at any age.  However, the disease can also subside and then reappear (flare up) again years later.

Fortunately, not every one with Crohn’s’ has all of these problems all the time.   Depending on what part of the gastrointestinal tract is affected, the symptoms can range from mild to severe, and can come and go with periods of flare-ups.

The most common way to check for Crohn’s Disease is a full physical examination.  Blood tests can reveal anemia, which is often a result of bleeding inside the intestines, or a high white blood cell count, which is a sign that some part of the body has inflammation.   A colonoscopy lightens up the interior of the anus and intestine and sends enlarged images to a TV or computer monitor, where the doctor can check the mucosal lining for fissures, swelling, bleeding or inflammation.  A sigmoidoscopy works the same way, on a smaller scale, for the lower part of the large intestine.   The physical might also reveal extra mass or tenderness in the abdomen — which suggests inflammation and scar tissue –, a skin rash, a mouth ulcer or swollen joints.  Among the many other tests used to diagnose the disease, in addition to the colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy described above, are a barium enema, a biopsy (see above), a CT scan of the abdomen, an MRI of the abdomen, a series of x-rays of the small bowel, or a stool culture.

Crohn’s disease, in sum, is chronic.  No cure exists.   It can also be extremely painful and have multiple complications.  However, a thorough medical examination can detect the most dangerous symptoms, such as inflammations, which are amenable to treatment although the disease that produces them will never go away for good.

*This article is based on the information at AARP Health Tools , Wikipedia and National Institutes of Health: Crohn’s Disease Page

Nearly one-fourth of the United States population suffers from hyperopia, or far-sightedness, a vision defect wherein the subject has difficulty in focusing on objects at close range. Glasses have been used to correct the vision of hyperopic individuals for centuries now, and more recently contact lenses have also been used to treat hyperopia. In the last 50 years, refractive surgery has become increasingly popular to treat hyperopia and in the last 20. laser-assisted refractive surgery has become particularly popular because of the benefits it offers.

According to the Mayo Clinic, hyperopia is sometimes present in farsighted individuals at birth and likely is hereditary. In other cases, hyperopia develops over time as the body ages, and many people over the age of 50 at some point must seek treatment for farsightedness. Sometimes, children born with hyperopia outgrow the condition as their eyes grow and develop. In some cases, eye tumors or retinopathy, or the growth of abnormal blood vessels around the eyes, can also cause hyperopia.

Hyperopia is one of several types of refractive errors of the eye. Farsightedness is caused by a deformity of the eye, specifically by either your cornea being curved too little or your eye being shorter than it ought to be. A normal eye will focus light directly on your retina, but a hyperopic eye will focus light behind the retina. This incorrect focusing results in near range objects appearing to be blurry. For some folks, especially younger people, this isn’t a problem, as your eye compensates by overfocusing. Over time, however, your eyes will likely be unable to do this, and you’ll lose your ability to compensate for hyperopia by overfocusing thanks to a condition called presbyopia.

Presbyopia is the gradual deterioration of the eye’s ability to focus. Like grey hair and wrinkles, it’s a normal part of the human aging process. As mentioned before presbyopia can exacerbate hyperopia or reveal a until-recently undiscovered case of hyperopia. Presbyopia usually sets in at about age 40. It can occasionally be confused with hyperopia because it causes some of the same symptoms, but the root cause of hyperopia and presbyopia are different.

One interesting thing about presbyopia is that it can actually be benefical to folks with myopia, or nearsightedness. Myopes with astigmatism actually may notice an increase in their ability to see near distance objects once presbyopia sets in, which is part of the reason why refractive surgery is not recommended for folks with myopia and presbyopia, unless the surgery is done to mold one eye to see short distances and the other to see long distances.

Refractive surgery can greatly help to alleviate the symptoms of hyperopia, however. The symptoms of hyperopia include blurred vision, difficulty in seeing objects up close and severe headaches. Catching hyperopia in children early is important, as the inability to see close objects clearly may discourage your child from learning how to read, resulting in a lifetime of academic and other challenges. Hyperopia can easily be diagnosed by an eye examination by an ophthalmologist, optometrist or optician, so if you suspect you or your child may be farsighted don’t hesitate to see and eye doctor as soon as possible. Doctors will give adults a traditional eye chart exam, and children can be given an exam that uses a special camera to look at the shape of the eye. Like any disorder of vision, hyperopia can make some tasks such as driving or the operation of machinery dangerous.

There are a number of options for treating hyperopia, including the traditional eyeglasses prescription, contact lenses or refractive surgery. Refractive surgery is best suited for adults, because adolescent eyes still may change a lot between now and adulthood. Folks with mild to moderate cases of hyperopia are the best candidates for refractive surgery, although other factors like age and lifestyle may come into play.

LASIK surgery is one of the more popular options for folks with hyperopia, thanks to its high success rate and short healing time. In LASIK surgery, the doctor cuts a flap in the cornea, peels it back, uses an Excimer laser to sculpt the cornea into the appropriate shape, and then shuts the flap back. LASEK surgery uses a chemical solution to weaken the protective surface of the cornea, and then an Excimer laser is used to resculpt the cornea. LASEK is a better solution for folks with less corneal tissue to cut. Both procedures take about 15 minutes and can be performed on an outpatient basis.

To determine which procedure, if either, is right for you, consult with your eye doctor. He or she will have the training and expertise to help you weigh all the factors involved and make the right choice.

Regardless of what has been stated on the news in recent weeks, breast cancer self exams still save lives.  In fact, if you visit an oncology treatment center, you will not hear the mantra that it is a waste of time because it only causes women to panic.  Instead, you will be given pamphlets, and possibly even a sample breast to help you learn how to detect a lump before it gets out of control.

Information Please

Recently, I asked an oncology (cancer) nurse if she could supply me with current materials on the subject of breast cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment.  I assumed I might get a handful of pamphlets or something.  Instead, she put a large paper bag full of different resources into my car. Frankly, it came as a surprise that even an oncology center would have that much information to give away on one type of cancer.

After sifting through some of the material, I am sure that self exams for breast cancer should not be a thing of the past.  In fact, why fix what is not broken?  It has been proven that the survival rate for breast cancer improves substantial, if the cancer is caught early.

Seen and Unseen

Did you know that there are two kinds of breast cancer lumps that have nothing to do with size?  Women with breast cancer may have lumps they can see but not feel; or, they may have lumps they can feel but not see. It sounds strange, but it is true.  In fact, in order to perform a proper monthly exam, you will need the services of a mirror. The lumps that you will not be able to feel will appear as dimples or puckers in the breast tissue that should not be there.  In other words, your breast will not look quite right.  You will need to get familiar with your body, so that you will recognize if something in your breast is different.

The other type of breast cancer lumps are the ones that can be felt, but they are far enough under the surface of the skin that you cannot see them.  In order to understand about this type of cell distortion, the doctor may give you a small sample that is constructed to feel and look like a miniature breast.

You can use it to teach yourself how to see and feel for lumps.  However, as you begin to feel for the unseen lump that you know is there, it will become quite clear that it requires a little bit more than a light touch.  You will have to manipulate the breast and push quite firmly to explore all of the breast tissue. The offending lump may be smaller than the size of a pea, and it can be back toward the chest wall or armpit.

When to Check for Breast Cancer

For women that are still menstruating, the best time to check for a lump in the breast is 7-10 days after their periods.  For those that do not have regular cycles or have already gone through menopause, it is important to pick a day, and stick with it.  For example, some women simply prefer to pick the first of each month, while others pick a birthday day of the month.  It really does not matter when, as long as they remember to do the exam.  If this is a problem, buy some cute stickers and place them on the calendar on the particular day chosen.

When checking for breast cancer lumps, some women actually prefer that their partner do the exam.  Oftentimes, the partner is more likely to notice a change or a lump.  A lot of ladies opt to do the exam in the shower.  After lightly soaping the breast, place the arm up and behind the head.  With the other hand, make small dime-sized circular motions.  Remember, a lump can be very small.  Therefore, women that use larger sweeping motions might miss what they are look for in the first place.

Alternatively, it might be easier for some ladies to check for breast cancer lumps while lying flat on their backs.  Gravity helps spread the breast out when lying down. Thus, it may be easier to detect a lump.

In short, forget what people in the news are suggesting is a waste of time.  Do not stop doing breast cancer self exams.  It only takes a couple of minutes a month and it can save your life.  If you are not quite sure if you are doing the exam properly, talk to you doctor.  Ask an oncologist. Take advantage of all of those pamphlets and magazines in the waiting room. Learn more about your body and how to detect any changes. Then, if you are the one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer, your odds of survival are greater.

What is a search engine optimization company and what purpose does it have? To understand this you first need to understand what search engine optimization actually is. Search engine optimization or SEO is the process of improving the websites organic traffic with natural search results. SEO contributes to improvement of your rankings in the search engines and it improves the amount of traffic you are getting by promoting and enhancing several aspects of your website and link structure. With that in mind it is easy to figure out what is the main purpose of an SEO company. Keep reading and find out more on what an SEO company can do for you.

SEO Process

Linking

Ongoing SEO

Ongoing SEO is a must. You may rank high after everything an SEO company has done for you, but there are also some other things that need to be taken into consideration, such as competition. Your competition may be doing the same thing as you are doing so then it becomes a race. Also, algorithms and change of rules from search engines are possible too. With all that ongoing SEO is a must if you wish to keep your rankings and your traffic high. A good SEO company should be able to provide all of that for you.

Search engine optimization has many key aspects that can help a company become more visible online, achieve better rankings and more traffic.

Shingles treatment is focused on pain management and applying topical medication for the rash, however complications from Shingles can be severe so you should make sure and see your doctor if you believe you have Shingles.

Shingles Definition

The Shingles disease can affect anyone but it generally targets people sixty years old and over. To get Shingles, you must have had Chicken Pox at some point in your life. Shingles has flu-like symptoms that include aches and pains. These symptoms are usually accompanied by small blisters or a rash. Shingles is highly contagious disease until the rash or watery blisters scab over. The pain of the disease most often subsides when the rash disappears; however in some cases the pain will continue even years after the outward signs have disappeared. You can get Shingles more than once.

Often the lesions first form in a band or line on one side of your body. But the first indication of the disease will sometimes be one, single blister. The blisters may spread to both sides of the body as the disease continues.

Shingles can cause blindness. If you have blisters anywhere near your eyes you need to see the doctor immediately. The disease can spread to your eyes and cause damage.

Diagnosis

Generally the doctor will look at the rash or blisters and discuss a patient’s pain level and be able to determine if the disease is Shingles. There are several tests that can be done for confirmation. One of the available tests is called the Tzanck Smear. The doctor will open a blister and take out fluid and skin cells and then put the sample on a slide with a special stain. Then the slide will be viewed under a microscope to check for specific viral changes.

Other tests include viral cultures or antibody tests done on the blisters. These test results can be faster. Another test might consist of a skin biopsy of the rash. This biopsy can be viewed under a microscope with a culture of the tissue done if there aren’t any blisters to examine.

Medical Treatment

If Shingles is identified within 24-72 hours of the first blister or the onset of a rash, Doctors can treat the disease with an antiviral medication. The antiviral medications used to treat Shingles are acyclovir, known as Zovirax; valacyclovir, known as Valtrex; or famciclover, known as Famvir.

These medicines are only effective if used during the first 72 hours so it is important to call your doctor immediately and let them know you suspect Shingles. Baring this medication, the medical options to treat Shingles includes pain medication and cream to treat the itching.

Treating The Pain

Shingles can cause enormous amounts of pain and doctors use pain as a major diagnosing factor for determining that you have the disease. The most frequently recommended pain medication for Shingles includes acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or tricyclic antidepressants.

If Shingles pain increases and becomes PHN or postherpetic neuralgia, more powerful pain medication can be prescribed. PHN is often treated with oxycodone or morphine. If the patient doesn’t respond to the usual pain treatment they may be referred to a pain management specialist.

Treating The Itch

The itching symptom may be treated by a topical steroid cream or a natural option. Doctors will recommend that you not scratch the blisters or rash. This recommendation is because of the risk of a secondary bacterial infection under the skin.

Itching may also cause scarring or might spread the blisters to other parts of your body or to your eyes, mouth, etc. Oral antihistamines like Benadryl may also be recommended. One natural remedy is to soak in a bath with a nylon sock full of oatmeal.

Vaccine

In 2006 a vaccine was developed for Shingles. This vaccine is decreases your chance of getting the disease by about fifty percent. It can also reduce the severity of the symptoms of Shingles. The vaccination is costs about $200 and is usually not covered by insurance. This vaccine is not covered by Medicare Part B.

Complications

Shingles complications can literally be deadly. Patient can contract eye damage, internal organ damage, pneumonia, encephalitis of the brain, and even death in extreme cases.

Shingles pain can be excruciating. It normally disappears with the rash and blisters, however in some cases it can last long after the rash and blisters are gone. Shingles symptoms vary widely with each individual.

If your family has a history of Shingles it is important to be watchful for the disease because your chances of developing the disease increase because of this history. Having a strong immune system is one of the things that can help you resist Shingles. Eating healthy, getting moderate exercise and plenty of fresh air and sunshine is one of your best defenses against the disease.

Homeowners aren’t the only borrowers seeking to refinance loans. Low interest rates are making refinancing an attractive option for folks with student and auto loans as well. While bad credit can make it hard for you to secure refinancing on a student or auto loan, there are options for folks with dings on their record to get better terms on their student or auto loans.

Refinancing is basically renegotiating a loan. Borrowers often negotiate with another lender to refinance an existing loan to get a better rate on their debt, reducing their overall debt over time, reducing their monthly payments to create financial breathing space or both. Borrowers seeking to refinance a loan may also want to use existing equity in an asset such as a home to get access to cash.

Right now, refinancing is an attractive option for many because interest rates are at an all-time low. By refinancing your student or auto loan, you can reduce your monthly payments, get a lower interest rate or do both. Refinancing student loans is of particular interest for many, because according to experts, the average college student leaves school with more than $25,000 in student loan debt. For doctors and other professions that require extensive schooling, the averages can be in the six-figure range.

As with any type of loan, a refinancing loan will likely require you to submit to a credit check. If your credit score is less than 620, chances are that you’ll have a hard time finding a bank or lender who will refinance your student loan. However, it is possible to refinance a student or auto loan with bad credit in many cases.

If you’re trying to refinance a loan, and you have bad credit, you may want to take a look at your credit and see if you can improve it. By doing things such as paying your bills on time, refraining from taking out excessive debts and paying off debt, you can improve your credit score and thus improve your chances of refinancing student loan or other debt.

If you have a parent or family member with good credit, you may want to see if they’ll consider co-signing on a refinancing agreement on your student or auto loan. A co-signer’s good credit may improve your creditworthiness in the eyes of lenders.

There are also a variety of services available to help folks with bad credit refinance student or auto loans.

Student loans

Folks with student loans have a variety of options available to help the refinance existing student loans. If you have multiple student loans, you can easily obtain a federal consolidation loan to refinance your debt. Most federal consolidation programs don’t require a credit check, and in the current interest rate environment, it’s highly likely that you can get a lower interest rate on your student loan debt.

Unfortunately, the federal consolidation programs are only available to borrowers who got their loans from a government source. If you borrowed from a private lender, you’ll have to refinance through another private lender. In most cases, these lenders have much more stringent credit requirements for refinancing.

Auto loans

Auto loans can take up a big chunk of your monthly budget, and if you’re having money trouble because of a job loss or work slow down, refinancing your auto loan can give you breathing space and may help keep the repo man from your door.

If you’re seeking to refinance an auto loan, you should owe at least $7,500 on it. Otherwise it’s not worth lenders while to do business with you. You should consider refinancing an auto loan if your current interest rate is more than 5 percent. If your rate is that high, chances are that you can find a lower rate.

There are a variety of lenders who will refinance auto loans for folks with bad credit. Borrowers should be wary however, and make sure that they understand all fees and terms offered by the lender refinancing their loan. Hidden costs and fees can leave the borrower deeper in debt, which is the last thing folks with bad credit need.

Refinancing a student or auto loan can be a big help for folks struggling with large monthly debts. A good refinance will lower your monthly payments, giving you breathing space to address other debts, or get the amount of your monthly income taken up with debt down to a more manageable level. If you’ve got bad credit and are able to refinance your debt, be sure to get your financial house in order, and avoid making the same mistakes that dinged your credit in the first place.