Hepatic Steatosis, better known as Fatty liver is a term which describes the condition where fat gets built up in the liver. The liver is the second largest organ in the body and it plays an important function of processing everything we eat or drink and then filter out harmful elements from the blood. This process gets interrupted if there is too much in the liver. We generally call the liver as fatty, when fat accounts for more than 5 to 10 percent of the weight of your liver.

The problem of fatty liver is quite common, affecting around 10 to 20 percent of people living in America without cirrhosis or inflammation. According to the American Liver Foundation, the majority of the cases of fatty liver are detected between ages 40 and 60.

Symptoms of fatty liver
Basically one cannot associate any symptom with fatty liver, though once this situation arises, people might experience fatigue or unusual discomfort in the abdomen.
Excess fat in the liver can lead to its inflammation and in that case, you might come across symptoms such as:

You don t feel like having any food due to poor appetite
One starts to lose weight
You might experience pain in the abdomen, which tends to interfere in your passing of urine.
As there is a loss of appetite, resulting in weight loss, muscles would start feeling weak.
Due to weakness in your muscles, you would easily get tired even when you have not any work that required a lot of exertion.
Causes of fatty liver
The most common reason behind fatty liver is alcohol. On the other hand, fatty liver can also occur among people, who are non-alcoholic.
In those circumstances, the fatty liver gets developed when the body creates too much fat or is unable to metabolize fat fast enough. The excess fat gets stored in the cells of the liver where it gets accumulated to form fatty liver disease.

The common causes for fatty liver, other than alcoholism are:

Obesity: Obesity is a condition when you gained too much bodyweight through accumulation of excess body fat. This becomes a major problem which leads to other problems like fatty liver.
Diabetes: Excess amount of blood sugar in your system, which results in diabetes, raises the risk of developing fatty liver disease.
Genetic Inheritance: If you have someone in your family, father, mother or anyone else, who has suffered from this problem of fatty liver, then it s quite certain that you might also catch up with this disease.
Treatment for fatty liver
You are always at risk if you get diagnosed with the problem of the fatty liver through blood tests, MRI scan and liver biopsy. Though there is no medication or surgery possible for treating this problem a doctor would provide certain recommendations to reduce the risk factors. These include:

Limiting or complete avoidance of alcohol
Keep a check on cholesterol and reduce the intake of sugar and other saturated fatty acids
Make a genuine attempt to lose weight
Control your blood sugar by walking daily and having a restricted diet

Fatty Liver Disease - Ways It Can Be Treated!

Interstitial lung disease is an umbrella term that includes a number of conditions that causes scarring of the tissues of the lungs. This scarring can hamper your breathing and therefore cause less oxygen to be present in your blood.

When you are exposed to hazardous materials like asbestos for long periods, you can get interstitial lung disease. Even autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis can result in this condition. 

Once the tissues of your lungs are scarred, chances are that it can t be reversed. While medications can slow the progress of the but you won t be able to regain the full functionality of your lungs. In such cases, you can consider a lung transplant.

What are the signs?

You will difficulty in breathing   it may be aggravated when you exert yourself or you may experience shortness of breath during rest periods. A dry cough is another sign of this condition.

What causes it?

Interstitial lung disorders occur when you ve had an injury in your lungs that set off an abnormal healing process. With the healing not happening in a normal way, the tissues around your air sacs tend to thicken and get scarred. The does not allow oxygen to get into your blood.

There are certain triggers for this condition  

If you are exposed to certain pollutants or toxins like silica dust, bird dropping and grain dust for long periods.

Medications like chemotherapy drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs and heart medications.

If you have the following medical disorders   scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, mixed connective tissue disease, dermatomyositis, Sjogren's syndrome and sarcoidosis.

What is the treatment? 

First, a doctor will carry out diagnostic tests to identify the cause of the problem. The following tests are usually performed  

Blood tests to detect autoimmune responses to pollutants

Imaging tests like CT scan and echocardiogram

Tests like oximetry and spirometry to determine your lung s capacity

Surgical biopsy and bronchoscopy to analyse your lung tissue

Once the diagnosis is done, the doctor can suggest any one of them or a combination of the following methods  

1. Medications 

Corticosteroids are used to suppress the immune system. GERD can also damage your lungs, so you may be given medicines to reduce stomach acid if you have an excess of it.

2. Oxygen therapy

Oxygen therapy can help you with breathing and help you sleep better. But it won't stop damage to the lung tissues.

3. Pulmonary rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation can help you perform your daily tasks without any hitch. It includes exercise, breathing techniques, eating healthy and emotional support.

Surgery

If nothing else works, then the doctor may recommend a lung transplant. 

Moreover, there are certain lifestyle remedies that you can adopt  

Avoid smoking as it can aggravate your condition.

Eat a healthy and nutritious diet.

Take vaccines for respiratory infections like the flu and pneumonia.

The best way to deal with this disorder is to not have it at all. But with proper treatment, your symptoms can be reduced.

Interstitial Lung Disease - Know More!

Your knee is guarded and cushioned by a cartilage known as meniscus. A meniscus tear, therefore, is an extremely painful and discomforting situation. It occurs very frequently and has emerged as one of the most commonly occurring cartilage injuries. What makes a meniscus tear an extremely common phenomenon is the way it can tear that is all it takes is a twist of the knee for it to happen.

People involved in sports mostly face the brunt of this form of injury. The risk of getting meniscus torn increases with age and tends to occur at the slightest change of direction of movement. 

Symptoms 
Some of the symptoms of a torn meniscus are:
1. Pain and inflammation: it goes without saying that an internal injury of the cartilage or tearing away of it would inevitably result in extreme pain and inflammation near the knee.
2. Immobility: the extreme pain and inflammation, which follows will inevitably make it difficult to move. Since the pain occurs in the joint, you will have difficulty in walking and any forceful movement will only aggravate the pain.
3. Locking of the knee: locking of the knee refers to a situation when you are unable to move your knee. This occurs most commonly after you have your meniscus torn.

Treatment
Notwithstanding its frequency of occurrence, there are several ways, by which you can treat a torn meniscus. Some of the ways are:
1. Apply ice: in order to get some relief, applying ice is a suitable option. If you apply ice every day for some time, it wonders in reducing swelling and the consequent pain.
2. Use a bandage: in order to control the swelling, it is important that you cover your knee with an elastic bandage.
3. Change the posture: it is important that you keep the affected knee in an elevated plane, in order to ensure an efficient blood supply and a consequent relief from pain.

Some medical treatments
There are many things to consider when deciding how to treat your torn meniscus, including the extent and location of the tear, your pain level, your age and activity level, your doctor's preference, and when the injury occurred. Your medical treatment choices are:
1. Nonsurgical treatment with compression, elevation, and physical therapy. This may include wearing a temporary shoulder brace.
2. Surgical repair to sew the tear together.
3. Partial meniscectomy, which is surgery to remove the torn section.
4. Total meniscectomy, which is surgery to remove the entire meniscus. This is generally avoided, because this option increases the risk for osteoarthritis in the shoulder.
5. Whenever possible, meniscus surgery is done using arthroscopy, rather than through a large cut in the shoulder.

Symptoms and Treatment of Torn Meniscus

What complications are associated with diabetes?

Diabetes is a serious disorder which happens when your body has an unreasonably high level of blood sugar, which further leads to harmful effects. Diabetes has a wide variety of complications associated with it, and they start to build up slowly and gradually. Some of the common complications are:

Retinopathy

In simple words, diabetes leads to eye damage by making the eye exposed and prone to severe eye disorders like cataracts and glaucoma. If you have retinopathy, then you may also have face the consequence loss of vision or permanent blindness.

Skin conditions

During diabetes, your skin health is bound to degrade to a large extent. Your skin will become thin in texture and more prone to cuts and breakages due to internal skin cell damage. Thus, the skin gets more exposed to the bacterial and viral infections and its healing process also slows down as the cell division takes longer than usual.

Nephropathy

Nephropathy refers to kidney damage which is caused due to diabetes. The kidneys act as a filter system to the body and they filter out waste materials from the blood. Diabetes causes damage to the blood vessels of the kidneys which may further result in serious kidney disorders and may increase the risks of a sudden kidney failure.

Cardiovascular diseases

This means that if you are having excessive diabetes, then you are at a risk of having a major heart attack or a heart stroke. Additionally, increased blood sugar levels also lead to other heart-related diseases like chest pain, narrowing of arteries etc.

Neuropathy

It is a complication related to the nervous system of your body. The complication generally occurs in the legs as there is a numbness, burning or tingling sensation in the legs. This happens due to the extra sugar in the body, which damages the walls of the blood vessels. In the worst case scenario, you can lose sensation in the legs.

However, it is always desirable that you go and visit a doctor if the conditions persist for a longer time. Additionally, you can also depend upon some domestic care measures to bring your blood sugar levels under control.



What complications are associated with diabetes?

Mind your headaches (All about headaches)

Headaches and migraines are one of the most common types of pains that patients can face. There are many types of headaches that may afflict people and there are a number of reasons that can be attributed as their cause.

Let's look at some of the types of headaches and their causes:

Facial headaches

This is an ache, which is usually centered on the face, the crown, and the forehead. In this headache, movements of the head and face may also cause problems.

Causes: The main cause for facial headaches tends to be sinusitis, a condition in which the cavities in the skull get blocked. Sinusitis may also happen due to a cold as this has often been accompanied by a runny nose as well.

Treatments: The best treatment for this issue would be to treat the underlying condition, i.e. the cold or the blockages. Using the prescribed variety of decongestants and inhalers can vastly improve the situation.

Migraines

This is an intense pain on one side of the head that can last for a few hours to a few days. Most of the pain is sometimes centered behind the eye, and many people report extreme sensitivity to light as well as sound. It can be debilitating to some people who suffer from a severe form of it.

Causes: Migraines are one of the most complicated problems to diagnose and there can be a variety of reasons for it. Triggers may include food or lack of it and also be caused by other underlying physiological reasons.

Treatments: Although there are certain painkillers, which are available, it is best to consult a doctor to know the root cause and thus, avoid the triggers or take appropriate medicines if necessary.

Tension Headaches

These headaches are induced by periods of stress, anxiety, anger and other mental distresses.

Causes: These headaches are a result of stress, which may result in the decrease of the blood flow to the brain due to the stiffening of the head and neck muscles.

Treatments: Over the counter drugs such as paracetamol or ibuprofen can help improve them, but it is better to consult a physician before undertaking self-medication.

Cluster Headaches

These are the most potent form of headaches that can be very painful. They usually originate as a piercing pain in the head with pressure on the eye and can even lead eye inflammation, and watery and droopy eyes.

Causes: Certain neural functions originating from the hypothalamus can cause this issue and this type of headache may be triggered by alcohol, smoking or other forms of strong smells.

Treatments: Generic painkillers may not be able to correct the issue quickly enough and this may require the administering of special injections or nasal sprays.



All You Need To Know About Headaches

Gluten allergy refers to the abnormal reaction of the immunity system that is caused as a result of the protein content in the wheat grain. Wheat is normally composed of the two main protein variants called glutenins and gliadins, combining together to form gluten. This gluten induces particular immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated responses and leads to various symptoms of wheat allergy. Regardless of what your gluten intolerance reactions are, they can be easily treated with proper homoeopathic treatments and medications.

Gluten intolerance can lead to atopic dermatitis and in most cases, urticarial and asthma. In some rare instances, it leads to exercise induced anaphylaxis. It is important to note here that the gluten intolerance should never be confused with celiac disease, which can be explained as sensitivity to gluten in wheat and various other grains. People who are suffering from celiac disease must try to avoid rye, barley and oats. Wheat comprises of four allergens namely, albumin, gladian, globulin and wheat gluten.

What should you not eat?
If you are suffering from gluten intolerance, then you must stay away from breads, crackers and cookies as well as other baked foods along with certain beverages such as beer, ale and malted milk. It is advised to stay away from ice cream, batter fried items, burgers and other items containing meat loaf and follow a restrictive diet altogether. There are various other sources of gluten, and you must speak with your doctor to find out which food items are restricted for your health condition and what are the possible homoeopathic treatments for alleviating gluten allergy?

How can homoeopathy help in treating gluten intolerance?
Homoeopathy is regarded as a popular system of medicine where the selection of medicines is done by assessing the individual health condition and medical history of the patient. As far as therapeutic medication is taken into consideration, there is a wide array of medications available for treating wheat allergy, and you must consult a doctor before administering any medication. The best part of the homoeopathic treatment is that it doesn t cause any side effects, and you will be able to get rid of your problem of gluten intolerance entirely with homoeopathic medications.

Homeopathy is normally termed to be organic and natural treatment, which has been going on for a very long time and is gaining popularity across the globe today. However, it is very important for you to understand how the treatment works and what are the restrictions imposed for helping in the eradication of the gluten intolerance.

Homeopathic Treatment For Gluten Intolerance (Wheat allergy)

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