Help For Persistent Or Recurring Swelling

Written by Dr. Rita Louise


Continued from page 1

Lymphedema can develop in any part ofrepparttar body. If you experience persistent or recurring swelling anywhere in your body, it is important to seek medical advice. Early intervention with this disorder greatly improvesrepparttar 114567 long term outcome ofrepparttar 114568 disease’s progression.

Recommendations For Wellness

•Avoid rigorous, repetitive movements or heavy lifting.

•Women, if your arm is affected, get rid of extra 50 lbs that you carry over your shoulder and trade it in for a purse that has hand straps.

•If your arm or leg starts to ache, lie down and elevate it.

•Wear loose fitting clothes, jewelry, socks and undergarments that may restrict lymphatic flow.

•Wear a compression sleeve or stocking onrepparttar 114569 affected limb.

•Keep your “at risk” limb clean and avoid activities that may irritate or damagerepparttar 114570 skin. Careful skin care may reducerepparttar 114571 risk of lymphedema by helping you to avoid infection.

•Massage, particularly lymphatic massage has been shown to help increase lymph drainage. You can do this yourself or work with a qualified massage therapist who has been specially trained in how to perform manual lymph drainage techniques.

•Begin a gentle exercise program. Exercise and muscle movement can help drain lymph fluid. (Consult with your doctor prior to beginning any exercise program).

•Drink plenty of water. Water is critical for proper lymph drainage.

•Echinacea has a long history of improving lymph filtration and drainage.

•Garlic is known for being able to stimulaterepparttar 114572 lymph system to throw off waste materials.

•Oregon grape can be used to help reducerepparttar 114573 inflammation ofrepparttar 114574 lymphatic system and works to help cleanserepparttar 114575 lymph.

•Poke Root has been known to help stimulaterepparttar 114576 body and aid its ability to remove waste materials that may be trapped inrepparttar 114577 tissues. It can also help improverepparttar 114578 elasticity of tissues that may have experienced hardening due to congestion.

•Burdock, red clover and mullein are known to thin lymph fluid and enhance lymphatic drainage.

•Herbal combinations such as Nature’s Sunshine’s Lymphatic Drainage, Lymphomax or Lymphostim are designed to stimulaterepparttar 114579 immune system, fight infections and supportrepparttar 114580 lymphatic system.

© Copyright Body, Mind & SoulHealer 2004. All rights reserved. Dr. Rita Louise, PhD is a Naturopathic Physician and a 20-year veteran in the Human Potential Field. Author of the book “Avoiding the Cosmic 2x4”, Dr. Rita Louise, Ph.D. a can help you identify what is really going on and provide you with straightforward guidance and advice. She can be reached by calling 972-475-3393 or visiting her website at http://www.soulhealer.com.


One in seven Americans suffered it. Appendicitis. What is it? part1

Written by Aleksandr Kavokin, MD/PhD


Continued from page 1

It is difficult to describerepparttar shape ofrepparttar 114566 peritoneal cavity . That shape is very complex. Simple explanation: peritoneal cavity is like a closed bag. It is completely closed in males

Female have small holes inrepparttar 114567 peritoneum. Oocytes (future babies) go from ovaries first to peritoneal cavity. The holes inrepparttar 114568 peritoneum allow oocyte to go into Fallopian tubes. Fallopian tubes lead intorepparttar 114569 uterus (womb in English or hyster in Latin or uterus in Greek). Organs that are covered by peritoneal cavity linings are named intra-peritoneal. There are also melo-peritoneal, extra-peritoneal or retro-peritoneal organs that covered partially or not covered at all. It looks likerepparttar 114570 main function of peritoneum (peritoneal cavity) is to give some lubrication to your guts. Though there are other functions as well.

Now, take a plastic bag, pour a little bit of water or oil into it and seal. Put one hand on one side ofrepparttar 114571 bag, another hand - on another side ofrepparttar 114572 bag and rub against each other. You can see your hands slide easily. This isrepparttar 114573 idea of peritoneum - you bowels slide easily against each other even when they are stretched by food and when they are pushingrepparttar 114574 digested food down. When a bowel is punctured (perforated),repparttar 114575 content ofrepparttar 114576 bowel will go intorepparttar 114577 peritoneal cavity. Colon (lower, bigger bowl) hasrepparttar 114578 fecal material. Fecal material consists of bacteria on 2/3 (yeah, there are so many of them). Now, that small puncture in one part ofrepparttar 114579 gut will cause spillage ofrepparttar 114580 bacteria all around that closed bag of peritoneum.

Guts on inside have several mechanisms protecting from bacteria. Peritoneal cavity doesn't' have such a protection.

Small puncture in one part of gut will cause all of you guts be inflamed on outside non-protected side (forrepparttar 114581 gut it is outside, but forrepparttar 114582 peritoneal cavity it isrepparttar 114583 inside). This isrepparttar 114584 peritonitis (diffuse). This whatrepparttar 114585 surgeons are afraid of. Look at you. You belly is like half of you body. So it is like half of you body is severely inflamed. Eventually it may lead to sepsis, a condition in which bacteria enterrepparttar 114586 blood and infect other parts ofrepparttar 114587 body. This is life-threatening complication.

Sometime inflammation stays local and seals off forming an abscess. Abscess isrepparttar 114588 walled off accumulation of pus. Pus isrepparttar 114589 mixture of dead and alive bacteria, dead white blood cells (leukocytes; leukos = white, cyte = cell) that foughtrepparttar 114590 infection and honorably died, and dead tissue, that was digested partially by bacteria and partially byrepparttar 114591 stuff from leukocytes. Inflamed peritoneum (the lining ofrepparttar 114592 peritoneal cavity is also named peritoneum) easily adhere to each other and may seal ofrepparttar 114593 infection - there will be local peritonitis. Any adherence may cause problems inrepparttar 114594 future - guts do not slide easily anymore and food or stool sticks. Blockage ofrepparttar 114595 intestine may occur in acute appendicitis as well. This is partially responsible forrepparttar 114596 nausea and vomiting. Sometimes, when antibiotics are used, appendicitis goes away without surgical treatment. It happens in elderly patients. The patients may come torepparttar 114597 hospital with a lump or a mass inrepparttar 114598 right lower abdomen looking like tumor.

Diagnostic problem with appendicitis is that some other conditions may mimic it.

Abdominal cavity is packed with different organs. Other sources could cause pain in right lower quadrant. Females may have ovarian torsion or tuboovarian abscess or extrauterine pregnancy (this is why doctors persistently ask: when was your last menstrual period? Are you taking contraceptive hormones? Did you have vaginal bleeding?), etc. They also check your chorionic hormone, trying to find if you are pregnant.

Scrupulous doctor asks your permission to perform rectal exam. Many people refuses to do it. I can understand that. Who would like that somebody sticks fingers into his ass. I wouldn't. Butrepparttar 114599 rectal exam gives a lot of information. Rectum - isrepparttar 114600 part of gut that is closest torepparttar 114601 back orifice. Back orifice is named anus in Latin or anal canal. Surgeons say that there are only two contra-indications for avoiding rectal exam: 1. patient does not have anus 2. Surgeon does not have fingers.

Rectal exam in appendicitis is usually unremarkable. Maybe you can cause pain by palpatingrepparttar 114602 side wall ofrepparttar 114603 rectum that is close torepparttar 114604 appendix. Butrepparttar 114605 rectal exam allows to distinguish other disorders. Duringrepparttar 114606 rectal exam you may palpate hemorrhoids, uterus, nodules in prostate or enlarged prostate, you may feel fluid in lower part of peritoneal cavity, etc. You may see blood onrepparttar 114607 finger telling you about internal bleeding. You may checkrepparttar 114608 stool for small amount of blood (named fecal occult blood test - FOBT - or Guaiac test byrepparttar 114609 name ofrepparttar 114610 dye that turns blue inrepparttar 114611 presence of blood. At last rectal exam may help in dis-impaction of rectum. That is when hard stool causes bowel obstruction.

Usually a rectal exam is more or less normal. But every surgeon will tell you a war story about how once in while, once in five years he found something significant on rectal exam, something that every other doctor missed. Just by puttingrepparttar 114612 finger intorepparttar 114613 butt. I saw how a surgeon put a finger into an old, demented women and pulled out a pessarium. It was an apple-size pink plastic membrane , that should go into vagina, but somebody (at home?) put it (by mistake?) intorepparttar 114614 rectum of that woman. You really need to push hard to get such big object intorepparttar 114615 anus. The poor lady suffered bowel obstruction for a week and would probably die if it stayed long enough.

OK, lets return to appendicitis. So, doctors will check you White Blood Cell Count Any infection or inflammation may cause this count to be abnormally high. It is not specific for appendicitis, but it confirms other findings.

Next, doctors check Urinalysis - microscopic examination ofrepparttar 114616 urine. That detects red blood cells, white blood cells and bacteria inrepparttar 114617 urine. When there is inflammation or stones inrepparttar 114618 kidneys or bladder,repparttar 114619 urinalysis is abnormal. A normal urinalysis is more characteristic to appendicitis.

Next they try to image what is going on in your belly. An abdominal x-ray may detectrepparttar 114620 fecalith asrepparttar 114621 cause of appendicitis (5%). Free air due to perforation can might be seen onrepparttar 114622 plain film.

A barium enema may be used. It is an x-ray test where liquid contrast is used fromrepparttar 114623 anus to fillrepparttar 114624 colon. Sometimes it show an impression onrepparttar 114625 colon inrepparttar 114626 area of inflamed appendix. Barium enema also can exclude other intestinal problems that mimic appendicitis.

Aleksandr Kavokin, MD1994 Russia,PhD1997 Russia - Immunology and Allergy, postdoc at Cancer Center at Med U of South Carolina, postdoc at Yale - Cardiology, Molecular Medicine. http://www.geocities.com/aging_rejuvenation/ http://www.appendicitis.uni.cc/, http://www.geocities.com/appendicitis_disease/


    <Back to Page 1
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use