Medical News

More people are being diagnosed with chronic disease today than ever before, and the impact on the cost of health care and productivity is staggering. With all the advances in medical science, one would have hoped that the onset of disease would have decreased. Instead, it has done the exact opposite with an increasing number of people relying more on public health systems around the world.

Chronic disease can be defined as a disease that is long-lasting or recurrent. In other words, these illnesses can last for months or even years. The effects of chronic disease can in most cases be debilitating as the patient is often no longer able to work and in many cases is no longer self-sufficient. Some of these conditions include: chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Did you know that nearly half of all Americans have a chronic medical condition of one kind or another? In fact, at least 70% of all deaths in the United States can be attributed to chronic disease.

These are extremely worrying facts that confront us today. Are we a population in decline? Are we generally becoming sicker or is there something else that is to blame? Why are more and more children being diagnosed with asthma and other respiratory diseases? Could our addiction to fossil fuels lead to our ultimate demise? As the situation deteriorates, the need to find answers to these questions becomes ever more urgent. The urgency to take control of our lives has led to a lot of confusion due to the many books, clubs and gurus that sprung up, each with their own philosophy.

Which of these philosophies are right? Are these based on scientific medical research or do they rely on purely religious considerations? Choosing a path can be a daunting task in your first step to improving your health. But there are a couple of key issues that need to be considered, such as: how are chronic diseases caused? Is it possible to avoid them? Is it too late once you have already been diagnosed with a chronic disease or is there a chance that it can be cured?

An authoritative voice on the subject is Dr. Rashid Buttar who has spent years putting together his bestseller, “The 9 Steps to Keep the Doctor Away”. In this book Dr. Buttar shares his extensive knowledge on the subject of chronic disease, toxicity and the inextricable link between them. He will describe to you in precise detail how toxins are absorbed into the body and how they trigger off a chain of reactions that caused millions of healthy cells to become free radicals that can lead to cancers and other chronic diseases.

The book itself sets out a plan to help you rid the body of toxins and to bring it back to optimal health. We may not always be able to avoid absorbing all toxins because they are everywhere. However, we can deal with them effectively and without creating more side effects in the process. We just have to know how, and “The 9 Steps to Keep the Doctor Away” is a definite must read to get you on your way.

Many people suffering from Crohn’s Disease complain of join pain in their elbows, knees, wrists and ankles. Although Crohn’s Disease is best known for inflammation and pain in the gastrointestinal tract, it is often the source of different types of arthritis as well. In fact, joint pain and Crohn’s disease almost always go hand-in-hand. The natural supplement OPC (Oligomeric Proanthocyanidin), a natural antioxidant has been proven to control both.

When an autoimmune disorder like Crohn’s Disease occurs, there is a release of inflammatory chemicals in the body, namely histamine. Histamine triggers inflammation in the intestine and other side effects like hay fever, joint pain, and even skin disorders. OPC naturally reverses or reduces the formation of histamine. OPC is a powerful natural antioxidant that is fifty times the strength of Vitamin E and twenty 20 times the strength of Vitamin C. OPC users often report obtaining the same benefits as listed for traditional antihistamine drugs but without the fatigue and lethargy side effects. Actually they experience a surge in energy and vitality when taking OPC. This is because of the high content of natural free radical scavenging OPC does when it’s in the body. Since OPC is a 100% safe and natural antioxidant, made from wine/grape seed extract and pine bark, there is nothing in it to cause negative side effects for joint pain suffers.

With less free radical activity in the body there is an accompanying reduction in inflammation and pain in the joints, leading even to the elimination of joint pain and an overall bettor quality of life for joint pain suffers. Additionally, there are no known reports of any side effects in the use of this product…even when consumed in large amounts.

That is why many people with Crohn’s Disease are switching to the safe and natural supplement OPC because of the way it controls not only the inflammation and pain directly related to Crohn’s, but also their joint pain. Being free from chronic joint pain offers people a second chance to get their life back and enjoy the kind of active lifestyle with family and friends that they once so treasured prior to getting sick.

One testimony is from a lady in Canada who, after having a knee replacement, reported that she had improved range of motion from 80-85 degrees following surgery…which further increased to 115 degrees after just four months of taking OPC. Additionally, she was able to run down her stairs, not just walk! Another lady suffering from another painful autoimmune disease joint condition and unable to walk without assistance for 30 years is now able to take daily walks with her friends around the block and is even climbing stairs again, without pain, after taking OPC.

Therefore, if you are suffering from Crohn’s Disease AND also from related joint pain, know that there is a natural and safe solution…remedy without the harsh and long term side affects of prescription drugs.

No matter what their age, there is not a single person in the world who is immune to knee pain. It can be from any number of injuries or from certain conditions, including arthritis, osteo and rheumatoid. When younger children experience knee pain, it is often due to a condition known as Osgood Schlatter Disease. This is a condition that causes swelling, tenderness and pain, usually just over the shin bone or tibia, a little bit below the knee. Osgood Schlatter Disease can often be found in children who are athletic, and it tends to affects boys more than girls, although it is common in both males and females.

What is Osgood Schlatter Disease?

Osgood Schlatter Disease, which is also known as tibial tubercle apophyseal traction injury, is basically when the growth plate ruptures, at the tibial tuberosity. It is most commonly seen in active children, particularly boys, and it can occur either with or without an injury. Osgood Schlatter Disease causes stress to the patellar tendon, and it is usually during growth spurts that the condition arises. The condition can lead to bone growth in the tuberosity, and a lump that is tender to the touch can often be seen. Scientists aren’t completely sure what causes Osgood Schlatter Disease, but some think that it is from the pulling of the quadriceps muscles in the thighs, as they pull on the tendons, which can sometimes pull away. In order to properly diagnose Osgood Schlatter Disease, a doctor will listen to the symptoms, and probably take an x-ray to find out for sure if this is actually the problem and not something else.

How to Treat Osgood Schlatter Disease

This is one of the few conditions that affects the knees that actually goes away on its own most of the time, which is great. Often, if there are exercises and other boring therapies involved, young people will slack off and not do the proper therapy, which can cause things to heal improperly. This is not usually a worry with Osgood Schlatter Disease. This is a condition that is associated with growth, so once a child is finished growing, they should have no more problems with it. There are occasions where it is recommended that the child not play as many sports until the knee or knees have healed, and avoid bending deeply at the knees.

Another method of treatment for Osgood Schlatter Disease is the RICE treatment method: Rest, Ice, Compression and Extension.

Rest: The child should refrain from any activity that is likely to cause pain and irritate the condition further, sometimes for as long as three or four months.
Ice: Ice should be applied for 20 minutes at a time, three to four times daily.
Compression: This can be done simply with an elastic bandage or with a comfortable neoprene sleeve.
Elevation: It is important that the leg be elevated to alleviate any swelling.
Osgood Schlatter Disease is not usually a permanent condition, and it is easily treated without surgery. If your child is experiencing knee pain and in need of relief, have your physician check to see if this is the cause, so you can go about treating it and getting your kid back out on the playing field.

While the foremost common respiratory diseases in youngsters and adults are colds and flu, there are other lung diseases that youngsters are also vulnerable to.

One of these is bronchitis. The bronchial tubes transport the air we tend to inhale to the air sacs in our lungs. Here oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstreams. If these tubes become infected, we have bronchitis. Bronchitis typically follows a chilly and is identified by a dry, hacking cough. The cough sometimes lasts from four to 6 weeks. Bronchitis is usually treated with over the counter cough medicines to manage the cough and is not contagious.

When the air sacs within the lungs become infected, the result is pneumonia or pneumonitis. The illness is the identical however pneumonitis refers to a small area of infection with mild symptoms whereas pneumonia involves a large space of infection with additional severe symptoms. There are various sorts of pneumonias.

One is caused by a scourge and is so gentle that the person has only a gentle cough and low fever. This is known as walking pneumonia.

Symptoms of pneumonia are like cold and flu symptoms. There is a cough accompanied by a high fever. The kid generally does not feel well, is tired and has no appetite. Pneumonia isn’t contagious and is sometimes treated with antibiotics.

A respiratory infection that invokes fear when it’s discovered in an exceedingly child is tuberculosis. But, these fears are unfounded. There are 2 varieties of tuberculosis: primary and secondary. Primary tuberculosis occurs in youngsters while adults contract secondary tuberculosis.

Childhood tuberculosis isn’t in any respect contagious. Of course, the child’s body might be infected with the tuberculosis germ however could heal by itself thanks to the action of the immune system. No one including the kid can remember of the problem. But, if this happens the kid can become allergic to the tubercle bacillus and take a look at positive on a skin test. Thus, it is very vital, if a kid does test positive, to follow with a chest x ray.

In the event primary tuberculosis will need treatment, today’s medications are so effective that a kid can usually come to school within two to five days while not endangering others.

Tuberculosis has been on the decrease in the United States for the past forty to fifty years. It is currently found mostly in those regions that are close to Mexico.

Typically an infection of the thin outer skin of the lungs, known as pleurisy, follows as a complication of pneumonia or tuberculosis. But, pleurisy will conjointly be caused by a virus.

Symptoms of pleurisy are severe chest pain, high fever and sometimes an outpouring of fluid between the lung and also the chest wall. This outpouring is named pleural effusion. Intensive treatment is important whenever effusion takes place.

But, the pleurisy that’s caused by a deadly disease is infrequently in the middle of effusion. However it will end in a severe, constricting chest pain. Because of the chest pain concerned, this sort of pleurisy is often known as the grippe or the devil’s grippe.

Whereas terribly painful, it runs its course in seven to fourteen days. Antibiotic treatment isn’t necessary.

“Is poison ivy contagious?” is a difficult question to answer. The term contagious leads one to imagine that the skin rash can be caught from another individual, but this is only half correct with poison ivy. The rash caused from poison ivy is a result of contact with the plant but it is feasible for someone who just touched the plant to then touch someone else, so in some regards poison ivy could be thought of as contagious. So even though the resin from the plant can be spread from one person to another, the rash and blisters themselves are not contagious.

The thing that makes poison ivy poisonous is a chemical known as urushiol. Astonishingly not everyone is allergic to urushiol, about 25% of the population who come in contact with the compound will not get a rash. Because it is so simple to get the rash from simply brushing up against the plant and possibly then touching someone else makes people ask, “Is poison ivy contagious?”. You could get the poison chemical on you if you come into contact with the skin of someone who just came in contact with urushiol since the compound would not yet have soaked into their skin.

Starting after 24 hours and lasting until 72 hours after contact is when poison ivy rash symptoms begin to occur. Tiny bumps show up first and grow into a red rash with blisters. The blisters can be somewhat big and are filled with a translucent fluid. It takes approximately two weeks for the typical rash to heal. Some serious symptoms from poison ivy are engorgement of the face or eyes or if the rash becomes pervasive on the skin. Severe symptoms should be evaluated by a physician.

If you know you just came in contact with poison ivy, take care not to touch that portion of your skin to anything else and never touch the contaminated spot with your hands. It takes about 10 minutes for urushiol to fully soak into your skin, so if you can wash that part of you body immediately you may greatly reduce the severity of your rash. For the most part, people are not aware that they touched poison ivy until a rash appears the next day.

The best method to manage the rash is to do anything you can to not aggravate it so that it can heal. No simple or overnight night cure for poison ivy has been invented but there are a number of products in the stores that can help you cope with the discomfort while it heals. Treatments include steroid and non-steroid external lotions, antihistamines like Benadryl and soaps that help relieve redness. Anything steroidal will have to be obtained with a prescription from a general practitioner.

So to answer the question, is poison ivy contagious, we understand that the rash by itself is not contagious but secondary exposure to the poisonous urushiol in the plant can make it seem that poison ivy could be contagious. Prevention and awareness are the best actions to prevent poison ivy rashes. Be cautious where you step when walking in a forest and always remove your clothing and wash up as soon as you are back indoors.

Most people with ringworm are ashamed of their condition. The common stigma is that poor hygiene has caused the infection. But that is rarely the case.

This is a common infection that can be found even in the soil, household pests, and domesticated animals. It is caused by Dermatophytes, a type of fungi that feeds on Keratin, a substance found in the hair, skin and nails.

The kind of ringworm you have depends on where the infection is. Most people don’t know that both athlete’s foot and jock itch are caused by ringworms. The fungus can also cause bald spots, as well as hair and nails breaking off. But the common symptom is a circular rash with red and raised edges and healthy-looking skin in the middle.

Ringworm information you should know is that treatment should be started immediately. It may take weeks to cure the infection. Even if your symptoms are gone, you could still have the fungus, and may be able to spread it.

Start the treatment with an over-the-counter topical cream or ointment. The most common ones have Ketoconazole, Miconazole, Clotrimazole or Terbinafine. These have different treatment cycles; some have to be used twice a day, others once a day. Always follow the instructions of your doctor, or those found in the package to prevent side effects, and to make sure the treatment works.

It’s important to wash the infected area before applying these creams, to prevent contaminating the treatment. You should also wash your hands before and after use to prevent from spreading it. Some would recommend covering the rash with bandage to prevent the fungal spores from getting into clothes and bedding. This also prevents you from scratching the itch and spreading ringworm to other parts of your body.

If you do cover the rash with a bandage, make sure the area is dry before you do. This means that the ringworm cream has been absorbed into the skin. Putting a bandage over still wet anti-fungal ointment can scrape off some of the cream and prevent it from working. Bandaging over the moist rash can also help the ringworm spread because the fungus thrives in warm and wet conditions.

The symptoms should disappear after a week of treatment. Continue the treatment for up to a week after this happens to kill the fungus at the roots. If nothing changes with the rash after 7 days, or if you have an allergic reaction like swelling, burning and redness, consult a doctor.

As you treat the infection, make sure you are not spreading the disease. It is important to learn this ringworm information to avoid infecting friends and family. Household items like bedding and towels should be segregated. Ringworm spores live longer in wet, warm places. This means areas like the kitchen and bathrooms should be cleaned with a bleach solution to kill any lingering fungi. Switching the entire household to anti-fungal soap would also help.

Ringworm can also infect household animals. It may appear in your dog or cat as a ring-shaped bald spot with a rash. Some animals have no visible symptoms, but can still spread the infection. If you have had contact with the pet since you’ve been infected, it’s best to take it to the vet. If it’s confirmed that the animal has a ringworm, start its treatment immediately. You should also vacuum the entire house to remove animal’s hairs. Ringworm can live on the hairs for up to a year. Dispose of the bag used with the vacuum.

Ringworm information you should know includes how to prevent from getting it again. You should always wear flip-flops on the beach or when using communal showers or public restrooms. If you go to a gym, make sure they use an anti-fungal cleaning treatment on their equipment. You should also refrain from sharing clothes, and immediately launder newly bought items.

Here’s a pop quiz to try the next time you see your doctor: What’s most common genetic disease in the Western world? If the answer you get is cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy then you need to educate your doctor. The correct answer is hemochromatosis. And it’s not a new answer. Consider how the incidence of hereditary hemochromatosis was described in 1995 in the journal Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases: “It greatly exceeds that of better known diseases such as cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy.”

Hereditary hemochromatosis is referred to as Celtic Curse because of its high prevalence among people of Celtic ancestry (and Celtic Curse is called genetic heamochromatosis if you’re on the right-hand side of the North Atlantic). However, it is important to note that you don’t have to have Irish or Scottish ancestry to suffer from this condition. And suffer is the right word because, unless you are fortunate to be diagnosed and treated early, hemochromatosis causes a metabolic disorder known as iron overload.

Here’s what happens:

The body cannot get rid of surplus iron, so it is deposited both in organs like the liver, the pancreas and the heart and also in the joints, thus impairing their normal functions. Liver cancer, diabetes mellitus, myocardial insufficiency and disorders of the joints are the result. (Source: Heidelberg University Hospital.)
And that’s not all, according to the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society, “Without any kind of intervention, damage to organs from too much iron can eventually result in life-threatening significant diseases.” These include diabetes and congestive heart failure as well as cirrhosis, with all its complications such as liver cancer and internal hemorrhage.

Despite the fact that this condition can be fatal, and the strong likelihood that over one million Americans have this condition, very few Americans-and woefully few American doctors-know much about it. But before we get to the role that mad cow disease plays in this story, you need to know there is some good news about hereditary hemochromatosis.

The first piece of good news is that iron overload cheap and easy to treat. You simply give blood. If the levels of iron in your blood are too high you might have to give blood more often than the normal maximum of once every 56 days. In that, case your doctor can prescribe a schedule of therapeutic phlebotomy (drawing of blood). For some patients this might be as many as once a week to start out, but typically tapering off to less frequent drawings as iron levels come down (a well-administered course of therapeutic phlebotomy will include frequent blood tests to check iron levels).

The second piece of good news about hereditary hemochromatosis is that testing for the condition is relatively cheap. A genetic test for hereditary hemochromatosis costs about $200. Such a test can either be arranged by your regular doctor or you can do it at home, the latter option being preferred by people concerned about privacy or nervous about how insurance companies might respond, now or at some later date, to knowledge of a potentially fatal genetic condition.

Not all cases of hemochromatosis are hereditary. There are non-genetic tests that can point to iron overload from whatever cause and these are also relatively cheap and easy. A blood test sometimes called an iron series profile will measure serum ferritin (SF) and transferrin saturation (TS) or total iron binding capacity. Serum ferritin and transferrin saturation measurements reflect how much iron is in the body and how much is being transported and stored. If the levels are high your doctor should consider drawing blood.

So now let’s get to the risk factors for this condition and the strange role that mad cow disease can play. The science of genetics has clearly established that Celtic ancestry is an underlying risk factor for hemochromatosis, but the condition is not confined to this group of people. Of course, if you happen to know for sure that your ancestry is Celtic and you find you are having heart, liver, or joint problems, then you really should look into hemochromatosis testing if only to rule it out. However, some of the risk factors are more logistic than genetic, though no less important. One of these relates to being a blood donor.

Just to be clear, you can’t “catch” hemochromatosis through blood donation. The problem is more subtle. Suppose you’re a man who regularly donates blood. This is an admirable thing to do. But what if you happen to have hemochromatosis? Your admirable civic act is also preventing the build-up of iron that your condition would otherwise cause, which raises the question: What if you stop giving blood?

Perhaps you move to a new town and there is no convenient place to donate. If you stop giving blood and you do have hemochromatosis, then the iron will start to build up in your system. The same is true with women when monthly blood loss from menstruation is interrupted. This can happen due to a hysterectomy, some forms of birth control, and of course, menopause.

Indeed, there is something of a menopause-iron-overload syndrome right now because large numbers of women born in the baby boom years of 1943-1963 have been reaching menopause. Owing to a lack of awareness of hemochromatosis in the medical community, and a lack of iron overload screening, women who have hemochromatosis are finding that menopause brings serious health issues that are frequently misdiagnosed and not treated appropriately. The result? A whole raft of iron overload induced diseases that can be crippling or even fatal.

So, unless you know for sure that you don’t have hereditary hemochromatosis it makes sense to have your blood iron levels monitored when faced with any of these risk factors:

1. the prolonged interruption of menstrual bleeding
2. permanent cessation of menstrual bleeding
3. prolonged interruption of a blood donation regime
4. permanent cessation of a blood donation regime

And this is point at which mad cow disease enter the story, specifically at point number 4. As you may know, mad cow disease is the colloquial term for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). If humans eat beef contaminated with BSE it can cause CJD or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which is a very nasty way to die.

While research into the potential for CJD to be transmitted through blood transfusions is still ongoing, American institutions that handle blood donations understandably refuse to accept blood from people who were in the United Kingdom for a total of three months or more during the period 1980-1996. The same applies to people who have lived in the rest of Europe for a total of five years or more between 1980 and the present. This ban started to go into effect as early as 1996 in some parts of America and has been universally enforced since 2000 (or 2002 depending on which sources you consult).

Consider this scenario: You have European ancestry and you have undetected hereditary hemochromatosis, the presence of which you have been masking through regular blood donation, then the blood donation has to stop because you spent time in Europe or the UK. You suddenly face a serious risk that iron overload will start to damage your internal organs.

It should also be noted that other factors can prevent or defer blood donation, including high or low blood pressure, body piercing, Chagas disease, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, organ or tissue transplants, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted disease (Source: America’s Blood Centers).There are sound reasons for these factors to be considered by the organizations that look after the nation’s blood supply, and giving blood is almost always a good idea if you are fit and healthy. But there needs to be wider understanding of the fact that giving blood can mask a potentially fatal condition, and ironically this condition, Celtic Curse, may start doing damage when you stop giving.

Use of Cortisone creams is the only effective means of fighting Hemorrhoids as of date. You can see a flood of available Hemorrhoid creams in the market which cater solely to reduce pain, itching and subside burning sensation to a large extent. As of date, a total cure is yet to be found for Hemorrhoids, which is surprising considering the advances in science and technology.

The point to note here is that not all the available creams in the market are as effective on all the individuals and it is particularly difficult to identify that cream that works well for you and that which reduces the inflammation to bearable limits. Moreover, all these cortisone treatments specifically aimed at treating Hemorrhoids are by prescription only. Hydrocortisone is the only permitted drug that can be bought across the counter, which limits the possibilities of trying different creams suitable for each individual.

The Definition of Cortisone -
Adrenal gland present in the human body produces cortisone naturally. Cortisone is produced when we are under stress. Adrenal gland releases cortisone for only a short duration, as and when required to the bloodstream.

Hemorrhoids are generally diagnosed by the pain in rectum of the human body and creams normally are quite effective in treating these symptoms. Cortisone creams basically contain corticosteroid that is helpful in reducing the inflammation of the human parts affected when applied in that area.

Hydrocortisone, a water soluble steroid, is manufactured by several companies and easily available in the market. It is extremely effective in reducing the irritation and swelling associated with Hemorrhoids.

Even though the effective use of these cortisone creams in the fight against Hemorrhoids is established, prolonged use will have adverse and detrimental effects. The tissues at the point of application of these cortisone creams get weakened after prolonged use, a fact that can be overlooked only with disastrous consequences.

Cortisone creams can be effective only when you use them for short durations. Over use or prolonged use causes side effects that are more difficult to contain. Even though, cortisone creams may be effective, take care to use them only when the irritation is unbearable. When you use them at the most pressing time, you can use them for a much larger period than when you use them very often, at the slightest signs of discomfort.

How to Apply Cortisone Creams -

When you use cortisone creams, you must know the method to use them effectively. When they are applied at the anus region, the body tissues present in that region is loosened and provides a relaxation effect which subside the pain. Cortisone creams effect is limited and brief in nature and as such must be used sparingly when the situation becomes unbearable for durability and safety of the tissues.

The availability of too many cortisone creams makes it difficult to get the right one, but your doctor can suggest the one that works well based on the nature of your body. It is better to go for the prescribed cream rather than buy any one present in the drug store.

Since many of us are not professionally trained to know the medication that works and the composition of the cortisone cream, taking advice from your doctor will be better to pick up the right cream and one that works well for a longer period will be certainly useful. This lessens the possibility of contracting adverse effects of the cortisone cream and increases the utility of the cream.

In the first place, it is better to have correct toilet habits and regular intake of fiber foods makes stools softer for easy discharge. Softer stools make you strain less in the toilet and reduces occurrence of Hemorrhoids considerably.

Celiac disease is one of the most under-diagnosed medical conditions that we know of today. There are quite a few reasons for this, including the large number and diverse nature of Celiac disease symptoms and the lack of awareness of the disease both in the medical community and among the general public. While awareness of the disease and other forms of gluten intolerance is on the rise, a conclusive diagnosis can still be difficult to acquire.

Many Different Symptoms

There are literally dozens of symptoms that people with Celiac disease can exhibit. There are also people who have the disease who have no symptoms at all. This does not mean that damage is not being done, however, or that these people will not develop severe health problems later in life caused by the disease.

For those who do have symptoms, these can include things like depression, fatigue, lethargy, abdominal pain, chronic or recurring diarrhea, bloating, anxiety, vertigo and joint pain. From the diversity of this list, it’s easy to see why a diagnosis of Celiac disease can be so difficult to come by. Additionally, there are some people with Celiac disease whose only symptom is an intensely itchy rash.

Just like other Celiacs, these people can find relief from their symptoms only by adhering to a gluten free diet for life. There is also damage being done to the gastrointestinal tract of these people even though they show no digestive symptoms.

The Root of the Symptoms

Of course, just as with any other medical condition, the symptoms of Celiac disease are just the outward manifestation of what is actually going on below the surface. That’s why many of the symptoms of Celiac disease are also typical of many other medical conditions and why it can be so difficult to actually pinpoint the underlying cause.

The causes of the symptoms Celiacs suffer from are related to the way their immune system attacks gluten when it enters the body. This attack winds up damaging the villi that line the small intestine and allow nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream. This causes inflammation of the digestive track, which is what leads to the gastrointestinal symptoms that Celiacs often experience.

Many of the other symptoms associated with Celiac disease are a result of basic malnutrition. This malnutrition develops because the damaged villi in the intestine can no longer absorb the necessary vitamins and minerals from the foods that pass through them. This cannot be remedied by taking vitamin and mineral supplements either because these must still be absorbed in the same way.

What This Means for You

All of these factors combine to make it very hard to arrive at a definitive diagnosis of Celiac disease. If you think you have the disease, however, you should discuss your options with a doctor or nutritionist so that you know what your options are. Particularly if you and your doctor have ruled out other conditions like Crohn’s disease and IBS, you may want to try a gluten free diet to see how it makes you feel.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths (electrical insulating material) around the nerve fibres of the brain and spinal cord are damaged. Depending on which nerves are involved his leads to eventual impairment in sensation, movement, cognition, or other functions. For this reason, multiple sclerosis has been considered and treated as a neurological disease.

In 2008, Dr. Paolo Zamboni, a vascular surgeon from Italy, conducted a preliminary study in participants afflicted with multiple sclerosis. In over 90% of the participants, through a process involving ultrasound and venography, he identified several problems, like narrowing and defective valves, in veins draining their brain. This resulted in restricted outflow of blood from the brain which created a high level of accumulation of iron deposits in the brain which trigger an autoimmune response, and inflammation of the blood brain barrier.

His conclusion was that the majority of his MS patients had chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). In other words their venous systems were unable to efficiently remove the blood from the central nervous system. He performed a surgical procedure called a balloon angioplasty to open up the problematic veins. His findings reported that 73% of his patients experienced considerable improvement in their symptoms. Multiple sclerosis has been proposed as the outcome of CCSVI. Iron deposits have long been documented in MS lesions and it is well known that every MS lesion forms symmetrically around a vein. Unfortunately, because Dr. Zambonis’ studies were not randomly controlled ( he did not test non-MS patients) to eliminate selective bias, their results would not be accepted by the medical communities in Canada and the United States.

The treatment for CCSVI, named the liberation procedure, is currently not available in Canada and the United States. The procedure is relatively non-invasive and is done in day hospital under local anesthesia. Access to the veins is through the left femoral vein in the thigh. Total time in the hospital is usually less than 6 hours and the subject has a compression dressing on for 24 hours. The next day the patient usually undergoes ultrasound testing to confirm that the problematic veins have stayed open and are functioning well. Countries such as Italy, Poland, Egypt, India and Germany are performing this treatment with results ranging from some improvement to total reversal of symptoms.

The news is out and MS patients are shouting loud and clear that testing for this treatment should be made available to help anyone suffering from the effects of this disease. There seems to be a split amongst the medical communities as to the validity of this treatment. Despite numerous reports of improvements in MS patients who have undergone the procedure, there currently is a restriction in Canada to perform this treatment for MS patients. Reasons stated include that there have not been a sufficient number of controlled studies performed to confirm that the treatment is appropriate that the improvements in symptoms are due to placebo effect that impairment of the problematic veins could recur.

Yet, other medical professionals have commented that it should be no different than performing angioplasty for a heart condition – test for the venous impairment and if necessary correct it.

The current therapy for MS is mainly drug therapy. The main aim of the drug therapy is to recover function after an attack or relapse, to prevent new attacks from occurring and to prevent disability. It is unfortunate that many drug therapies are very expensive, they carry with them adverse side effects and they do not address the problem of venous insufficiency. Thus far, drug therapies have been unable to prevent the progression of deterioration.

The liberation procedure, which is a relatively simple procedure, may well turn out to be a very effective, long lasting, drug-free treatment for MS at the time of diagnosis. The cause of the CCSVI remains an unknown, however, if the liberation procedure can liberate MS patients from their symptoms and help them return to a functional life, it should be the goal of our governments and medical communities to help make this happen. Perhaps the biggest hurdle to overcome is to reclassify multiple sclerosis as a result of a venous disorder rather than a neurological one. Current studies being performed by neurologists on this subject are being questioned for bias as MS patients cry out for studies to be performed by Interventional Radiologists and Vascular Surgeons. Perhaps the best case scenario would be for both groups to work together for the common goal of what is best for the patient.