Archive for December, 2007

Cognitive therapy is a psychological treatment that is effective in dealing behavioral and emotional problems.

This therapy assumes what type of emotions the person is experiencing and the intensity of those emotions.

Cognitive therapy will also be called as a psychological treatment of thoughts.

Cognitive therapy helps the person who is depressed to recognize and differentiate the critical and minor problems of life.

Cognitive therapy also helps in identifying the negative ways of thinking and developing the tendency to think in a realistic manner. It aids the person to develop positive attitude, create positive goals, and make positive self-assessment.

Cognitive therapy for depression:

Depression is a state of mind that can be caused by over negative interpretations. Also, self-debasing thoughts will lead to negative emotions of depression.

The first question now arises is how do you know if you are depressed. There are certain things that will make you identify that you are depressed.

If you are not enjoying the things you usually do that makes you happy, if you are feeling sad for more than two weeks, if you cannot concentrate on anything, cannot sleep all night, feel tired all the time, eat less than usual, if you are getting feelings of suicide, etc., you should consult your doctor immediately, as these are some symptoms of depression.

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Endometriosis is a benign gynecological disease that affects millions of women worldwide.

It occurs when endometrial tissue, the lining of the uterus, grows outside the uterus (womb) and connects to the organs of the pelvic or abdominal cavities (ovaries, fallopian tubes, or urinary bladder) where it is not supposed to grow.

Endometriosis is the major cause of female infertility. Its impact on a woman’s ability to become pregnant is very high.

It is found that, in the United States, about 10-20% of all childbearing age women have endometriosis.

The womb lining that grows outside the uterus develops into growths or lesions that react to the rise and fall of estrogen and progesterone hormones (generated by ovaries during menstrual cycle) the same way as the endometrium responds inside the uterus.

With the rise of hormones, the endometrium (uterine lining) outside the uterus swells and thickens; and sheds and bleeds with the drop of hormone levels, thus indicating the onset of the next menstrual cycle.

Unlike the normal endometrial tissue that sheds and discharges as menstrual bleeding from the body, the blood that sheds out of the misplaced endometrial tissue in the abdominal cavity has no outlet to go out of the body.

Migraine is a severe painful form of headache that periodically affects one or both sides of the head.

The pain usually lasts for two hours to two days. It is three times more common in women than men.

According to the world health organization, over twenty million people are attacking with migraine every day.

Serotonin and migraine attack:

The migraine usually attacks with the release of a biochemical substance called serotonin, a naturally produced substance stored in the blood platelets. When this serotonin is released, the blood vessels constrict and become narrow.

With the expulsion of serotonin by the kidneys, the levels of serotonin in the brain get depleted leading to the dilation (expansion) of the blood vessels. This dilation causes pain in the surrounding nerves and result in migraine headache.

The migraine pain usually starts out as a light headache and eventually becomes a continuous throbbing and pulsating pain near the temples of the head. Sometimes, the pain is accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound, nausea and vomiting.

There are several types of migraine. Of these, the most prevalent types are migraine with aura and migraine without aura, an alteration in perception due to the change in the brain function.

Kidney stones are one of the most common urologic disorders.

The medical term for this urinary tract disorder depends on its location.

The most common terms are nephrolithiasis, urolithiasis, ureterolithiasis, renal calcui, urinary calculi, or urinary tract stone disease.

It is found that men are more likely to develop kidney stones than women.

People who have had kidney stones have chances of developing another one within five years.

Formation of kidney stones:

Kidney stones are hardest mineral deposits that form in one or both kidneys. Kidneys are the bean-shaped organs located just below the rib cage near the middle of your back, on the sides of the spinal column.

The kidneys remove extra water and waste products from the blood, producing urine. Normally, these waste materials dissolve in the urine completely and pass out of the body.

On the other hand, when these waste materials in the urine do not dissolve completely, it become solidify and forms crystals inside the kidney.

Urine normally contains chemicals (pyrophosphates, citrates, and magnesium) that inhibit or prevent the formation of crystals, but for some the inhibitor level will be very low and cannot be able to prevent the formation of crystals. Thus the formed crystals develop into stones.

World AIDS day is celebrated worldwide on December 1st of every year. It was in 1988, the World Health Organization established December 1st as World AIDS Day.

On this day, Governments, AIDS programs, various AIDS awareness organizations, individuals, etc.., are provided with an opportunity to raise awareness about AIDS.

“Leadership” is the focus of this year’s World AIDS days. This is the theme set by the UNAIDS, which is the joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS.

According their latest estimates, there are nearly 33.2 million HIV infected individual, which includes 2.5 million children.

And in 2007, nearly 2.5 million people newly got infected with HIV virus. Nearly half of them who got infected are below 25 years old and they are getting killed with AIDS at an age less than 35.

AIDS, which means Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is an infectious disease. In fact, AIDS is the advanced stage of HIV virus. Right now, there isn’t any vaccine available for AIDS.

The AIDS medicines and therapies that are available can only extend the life span of the infected person, but cannot cure it. As, right now there isn’t any cure or vaccine available, it better to prevent. Raising awareness among the people helps them to protect against AIDS.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease, which spreads easily during sexual contact.

Treponema pallidum is a species that causes syphilis in humans.

It is an infectious disease. It is mainly seen in adults between 20-29 years of age who are sexually active.

There are three stages of syphilis, primary syphilis, secondary syphilis, and tertiary syphilis.

During the primary stage, primary sores or chancres will be formed in 2-3 weeks after getting infected, but no symptoms will be seen. These sores will disappear in 4-5 weeks.

If the primary syphilis is not treated properly, secondary syphilis occurs in about 2-8 weeks after primary syphilis. The tertiary syphilis is the final stage and it will spread to the brain, heart, skin, bones, and nervous system.

Blood tests to detect the syphilis bacteria:

Blood tests will be done to detect the bacteria that cause syphilis and to diagnose this disease. Tests that are used to screen this disease are venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) test, rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test, enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test, and many more.