Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes a degradation and eventually death of the brain cells. People with Alzheimer's disease suffer from a memory loss. There is also a progressive decline in the cognitive capacity of the brain.Today, Alzheimer's disease and dementia have become almost synonymous with old age. It is a heartbreaking experience to see aged people with Alzheimer's disease. They have little or no memory of the present time, of their loved people or the things around them. 

The Alzheimer's disease starts off as a mild condition and then gradually progresses through stages. In this article, we will discuss the different stages associated with Alzheimer's disease.

The first stage: This stage shows no significant changes in the affected person. Thus, without any diagnostic tests (such as a PET scan), it will be difficult to detect the condition in the initial stage.
The second stage: This stage brings about some changes in the person. The person might misplace things or may even forget words (something that is often brushed aside as a small problem). However, this seldom interferes with their daily activities. Like the first stage, this stage, in most cases, goes unnoticed.
The third stage: This is the stage that brings about visible changes in the person concerned such as
The person experiences difficulties in trying to organize things.
They forget things they have read, or heard just a few seconds back.
In some cases, the person may not be able to recollect a person's name they have just met.
Some people may end up repeating the same question over and over again.
The fourth stage: This stage marks a further decline in the mental health. The person gets forgetful about himself or herself. They also start mixing up with the dates and months or makes major goof up while cooking (misses out on ingredients).
The fifth stage: The mental deterioration reaches a step further. The person slowly starts forgetting about the present, such as their address, the time of the day, their profession and even phone numbers.
The sixth stage: The problem is getting worse. Hallucination is slowly setting in. The person is starting to forget people and their faces, mixing one identity with another.
The seventh stage: The final and unfortunately, the worst stage. The person stops talking to people, eating, or even walking. They stay confined to their world, oblivious of their immediate surrounding.
Dealing with an Alzheimer patient

In addition to the treatment and medication, a person with Alzheimer's disease needs the love, care, and support of their close and dear ones. Isolating them will only worsen the situation.
It may not be easy to deal with an Alzheimer's patient as the disease progresses, but do not be rude to them. Give them the confidence.
Always keep a paper containing their name, address and emergency contact number in their wallet.
People after the age of 50 should undergo regular health check ups.

Alzheimer's - How The Disease Progresses?

Nail fungus is a very common problem. Symptoms include inflammation, swelling, yellowing, thickening or crumbling of the nail. It is usually not painful, unless the infection spreads. If left untreated, nail fungus can cause cracking, splitting and even complete loss of the nail. The good news is that nail fungus is curable and can be treated very easily. There are many specialized treatments required for bringing quickest recovery. Most people think that medications are the only solution in this regard, but this is not true as there are many therapies that are needed along with medicines so that speed of recovery can be boosted to a great extent.

Treatments for fungal nail infections
1. Antifungal medications: Nails are first tested thoroughly in order to get the confirmation about nail fungus. Both growth and reproduction of fungal cells are prevented by consuming these medications. Some of these medicines are used for topical or external application while others are taken orally. Some of the physicians suggest continuing, both types of medicines simultaneously for getting more powerful effects and quick recovery. However, there are a few probable side-effects that occur while taking these medicines and these include loss in taste, rashes, diarrhoea, itching, headache and others.

2. Using antifungal nail-paint: Nowadays, you can use antifungal nail-paints so that the deepest layer of the nail can be well treated and infected parts can be healed quickly. But you have to continue the usage for a few months, or else, you will not be able to get the desirable results.

3. Laser treatment: This treatment is one of the most powerful ones and can treat your infected nail with greater speed and accuracy. Light energy in high doses is used for treating nail infection in this case.
The above treatments are really quite helpful, and you can choose any of them as per your necessity, preference and affordability.

Things you can do at home
1. Keep your hands and feet clean and dry
2. Wear well fitting shoes made of natural materials and clean cotton socks, these will allow your feet to "breathe"
3. Clip your nails to keep them short, use a separate pair of clippers or scissors for the infected nail
4. Don't share towels and socks with other people, and ensure your towels are washed regularly
5. Don't walk around barefoot in public pools, showers, and locker rooms, special shower shoes are available to protect your feet
6. Consider replacing old footwear as it could be the source of the infection
7. Treat athlete's foot as soon as possible to avoid the infection spreading to your nails

How to Treat Fungal Nail Infections?

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, also known as PID, is characterized by an infection that occurs in a lady's reproductive organs. Usually this occurs as a result of a complications arising from a STD. The disease causes severe damage to the ovaries, fallopian tubes and the uterus. It is one of the bigger causes of infertility in women. 

Causes-

The cervix which is the entry to the uterus has the function of stopping bacteria that are present in the vagina from spreading to the other organs. Once infected by a STD, the cervix can no longer perform its function of preventing the bacteria from spreading to other organs. PID develops when the infection spreads from the cervix to the upper areas of the genital tract. 

There are certain factors which increase the chances of being affected by PID: 

Being sexually active 
Already affected by STDs such as gonorrhea 
Past history of PID 
Having multiple sexual partners 
Symptoms-

Women may experience pain while urinating and engaging in sexual intercourse, coupled with sore feeling in the stomach along with nausea. Abnormal vaginal discharge and a rise in body temperature are common symptoms as well. 

Treatment-
Once the disease has been diagnosed by a doctor, a treatment plan is devised. The treatment options that you can avail of are: 

Medications: If the symptoms are mild, then the doctor will prescribe antibiotic medications. Usually the antibiotics are administered by mouth unless the symptoms are severe, when the drugs are administered intravenously. Your partner would also require medications if you happen to be diagnosed with PID, so that he/she does not catch it. 
Surgery: Surgery is recommended by the doctor in case of tissue inflammation and the presence of pus (abscess). The aim of surgery is to get rid of the abscess to prevent any further infection. 
In addition to the treatment methods, there are certain precautionary measures that you can adopt to be safe: 

Have protected sex.
Try and stick to one sexual partner.
Visit your gynecologist for regular checkups.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - Can STDs be the Reason Behind it?

Scabies is a skin condition that causes the skin to itch. It is caused by a tiny burrowing mite, which is called Sarcoptes scabei. The presence of the mite in the burrowed areas causes intense itching, especially at night. This a contagious condition, which can quickly spread through physical contact in places like nursing homes, schools, prisons etc. Scabies is easily treatable by applying lotions to the skin that may kill the mite. Yet, one may still experience itching for several weeks.

The eight legged mite that causes the condition is microscopic. The female mite burrows just beneath the skin and makes a tunnel where it deposits eggs. These eggs hatch, mature and spread to the other areas of the skin or to the skin of other people. The body's allergic reaction to the mites, their eggs and wastes causes the itching.

Symptoms
Some of the symptoms of the conditions are severe itching, narrow irregular burrow tracks, which look like blisters or bumps on your skin. The burrow tracks generally appear in the folds of the skin. The common sites of the condition are between the fingers, armpits, around the waist, soles of your feet, knees, shoulder blades etc.

Complications
Some of the complications of the condition are:
1. Vigorous scratching, which can break your skin and can cause a secondary infection such as impetigo. This superficial skin infection is usually caused by the staphylococci bacteria.
2. Severe scratching can also lead to damaged and reddened skin, which in severe cases can start to bleed.

Risk factors
Crusted scabies, also known as Norwegian scabies is a severe form of the condition, which affects certain high risk groups, such as:
1. People with chronic medical conditions, such as HIV/Aids or chronic leukemia
2. Older people in nursing homes
3. People who are very ill

Risks and Complications of Scabies

Uterine fibroids, also known as leiomyomata, are non-cancerous growths which develop in and around the uterus or the womb and form benign tumors in course of time. Though there are several types of uterine fibroids, they are all consistently similar in their genetic makeup. They are generally classified depending on their specific locations:

Myometrial or intramural fibroids
Submucosal fibroids
Subserosal fibroids
Pedunculated fibroids
Signs and symptoms

In most cases, uterine fibroids display little or no symptoms at all. Therefore many women are caught unawares and do not realize whether they have leiomyomata or not. When symptoms do show, however, they may include any one of the following:

1. Prolonged menstrual periods, usually for seven days or even longer
2. Bloating belly or pelvis
3. Intensive bleeding during periods
4. Pain during sexual intercourse
5. Constipation

Treatment

Since uterine fibroids do not cause any significant complications, they normally do not require much treatment. The condition, however, can be treated through either one of the following approaches:

1. Non-surgical approach

(1) Alert and careful inspection as well as watchful anticipation of the growth and development of uterine fibroids
(2) Birth control pills or oral contraceptives which help reduce heavy periods caused by uterine fibroids
(3) Pain relievers to help numb the pain
(4) Intrauterine device along with levonorgestrel to help reduce heavy periods
(5) Iron tablets are helpful in substituting the blood loss caused by heavy menstruation

2.Surgical approach

i) Myomectomy

ii) Hysterectomy

These two procedures can be performed using several techniques like:

Laparoscopy
Open abdominal surgery
Robot-assisted laparoscopy
Vaginal approach
Hysteroscope approach
iii) Uterine artery embolization (UAE)

Uterine Fibroids - Surgical & Non Surgical Treatment!

Recently the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) published a journal claiming that addiction is a complex disease rather than a voluntary condition. The journal also mentioned that for decades, the approach towards recovery from addiction has been mismanaged.

Addiction is treated as a disease now. Pharmaceutical approach and therapy have been quite popular since the last few decades, but is there a better alternative to treating addiction and helping in recovery?

Alternative treatments for curing addiction have been in works since quite a while. Acupuncture is one such approach that has been found to be very effective when it comes to treating people with addiction and helping them to recover.

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese healing method that involves stimulating different sections of the body in order to manipulate the body to harness energy and healing powers. This method includes insertion of long sterilized needles in certain parts of the body. An Acupuncture specialist carefully does it in a painless way. During an acupuncture session, the practitioner may also use other methods like Cupping and Massage.

The main ideology behind Acupuncture is balancing the QI energy that flows through human bodies. To harness and balance this energy, Acupuncture requires stimulation in different sections of the body, like the Cardiovascular system, Endocrine system, Nervous system and Immune system.



How does Acupuncture help in Addiction?

To understand Acupuncture s role in addiction, it is first important to understand what addiction does to a human body.

Addiction causes a major damage to the Endocrine system; it disrupts the balance of the hormones that are responsible for happiness and wellbeing of a person. This disruption of balance leads the person to go haywire and drop into a pitfall of bad decisions.

Acupuncture helps in restoration of that balance in the body. Multiple studies have shown that Acupuncture helps in restoring the Endocrine system, especially the Dopamine hormone (hormone responsible for happiness).

This involves inserting sterilized needles in the specific spots in the body, which are responsible for Dopamine release. After the Dopamine levels in the body have been elevated, the person suffering from addiction deals better with the withdrawal symptoms.

Is Acupuncture Effective with Addiction?  

Acupuncture is used as a treatment for Smoking Cessation. A group of smokers were gathered for a survey. This people in this group were trying different methods like medicines, Nicotine patches and e-cigarettes. The results weren t very effective at first Then, Acupuncture became a part of this treatment. The survey found out that people who used Acupuncture along with these treatments showed better results than people who only used conventional methods.

Though acupuncture has proven to be very effective when combined with other treatments, it is important to remember that it isn t a cure for Addiction by itself. Consulting an experienced Acupuncture practitioner who deals with addiction can help a person effectively get out of addiction.

Addiction -How Can Acupuncture Help In Getting Rid Of It? 

Don't wait any longer, manage your Anorectal Disorder online with a Lybrate doctor today

Consult for Anorectal Disorder - Online and Easy!

FilterClear All

COMMON SPECIALITIES

COMMON ISSUES