Archive for May, 2008
Early-Life Steps To Prevent Osteoporosis
Building bone mass in early life may be the most effective way to prevent osteoporosis in later life. If this opportunity is missed, it probably cannot be made up. Even small increases in bone mass can have a great impact on the risk of fracture. For instance, a 5-percent increase in bone mass can reduce the risk of osteoporotic fracture by 40 percent.
A lifelong habit of drinking milk is associated with increased bone mass. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis have shown that calcium supplements increase the bone mass in preadolescent children, compared to that in their identical twins who received placebos during a 3-year study.
Getting Enough Calcium
In the American diet, almost 75 percent of dietary calcium comes from dairy products. Few other foods are concentrated sources of absorbable calcium. At Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) and Creighton University (Omaha, NE), plant foods are being screened for calcium absorption. These include broccoli, bok choy, kale, and tofu made with calcium salts. Calcium is well absorbed from these vegetables and from all dairy products—that is, milk, yogurt, cheese, processed cheese, and their low-fat counterparts. Spinach is a concentrated source of calcium, but this calcium is poorly absorbed because it is complexed with oxalic acid and is therefore indigestible.
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Depending on their stage of growth, people need 2 to 5 cups of milk or the calcium equivalent each day. American females more than 12 years old typically consume less calcium than this recommended amount. Calcium intake in American women is 40 to 50 percent below that in men. A 1984 National Institutes of Health consensus-development conference recommended 1,000 mg of calcium per day for premenopausal women and 1,500 mg per day for postmenopausal women. However, 25 percent of American women have an intake below 300 mg per day, which is the amount of calcium in one glass of milk. Calcium supplements are recommended for individuals who cannot get adequate calcium through diet. However, supplements do not contain all the nutrients necessary for building bones, and people often forget to take pills. An alternative source of calcium is the fortified beverages now on the market.
Exercise
Weight-bearing exercise has a positive impact on bone density. An effective exercise program applies weight loading to all parts of the skeleton. For example, the right arm of a right-handed tennis player has a higher bone density than does the left arm. Activities that are exclusively aerobic seem to be the least effective in building peak hone mass. Thus, weight lifters have higher bone density than do swimmers. We do not know if the positive effects of exercise on bone mass are retained when exercise is discontinued.
A partial explanation for bone loss in the elderly is the reduction in physical activity with age. The physical work of the average sedentary elderly adult is 30 percent less than that of the average younger adult. If immobilization occurs, bone loss is accelerated; but bone mass can increase when the individual again becomes ambulatory.
The Known and Unknown
Obtaining adequate dietary calcium, exercise, and estrogen-replacement therapy following menopause are three lifestyle choices for maintaining a strong skeleton. The interaction of these factors is not well understood. Nor do we know the residual positive effect after cessation of treatment. Research to determine the best food sources of absorbable calcium and the most effective exercise programs, in combination with education programs on behavior modification, can help reduce the suffering and the canadian pharmacy costs associated with bone loss.
Approximately 95 percent of our skeleton is developed during the first 18 years of life. Periods of rapid growth occur during the first year of life and during the adolescent growth spurt. After adult height is achieved, our bones continue to become more dense as minerals are deposited. This is the consolidation phase. An additional 5-percent increase in bone mass is accumulated by age 30 to 35. At this age, our bones are the most dense and we are in a period of peak bone mass. After age 40, we experience an age-related phase of slow bone loss. The most rapid loss of bone mass for women occurs during the first 4 to 8 years after menopause. This chapter discusses the consequences of bone loss and also the lifestyle factors that protect the skeleton.
Osteoporosis
When enough bone mass is lost that bones become vulnerable to fracture, the individual has developed osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a debilitating disease that affects over 24 million Americans. Each year in the United States, 1.3 million fractures are attributable to osteoporosis. The most common fractures occur at the wrist, the spine, and the hip. Hip fractures alone result in annual health-care costs of $10 billion. This figure will continue to increase with the increase of the elderly population. Between 15 and 25 percent of persons with a hip fracture enter long-term-care institutions. Hip fractures are associated with a high mortality rate due to surgical deaths and to complications such as thromboembolism, fat embolism, and pneumonia.
Treatment of Osteoporosis
A number of drugs are being investigated for their efficacy in the treatment of osteoporosis. These include calcitonin, bisphosphonates, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. These drugs slow bone resorption but have little effect on the stimulation of bone formation. Other agents being researched are fluoride and parathyroid hormone; these may stimulate bone formation but are not proven to reduce the rates of fracture.
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Because of the lack of a cure for osteoporosis, the prevention of excessive bone loss is the current focus. Approximately 80 percent of bone mass is genetically determined. The other 20 percent can be modified by lifestyle factors. Adequate calcium intake, weight-bearing exercise, and estrogen-replacement therapy for women who have entered menopause are the primary lifestyle factors associated with reducing the risk of osteoporosis. Factors associated with increased risk of osteoporosis include smoking and abuse of alcohol and caffeine. Thin, small-framed women are more vulnerable to osteoporosis, and Caucasians and Asians are at higher risk than African-Americans. Women are at greater risk than men by a ratio of 4 to 1. Women have less hone mass, experience accelerated loss of bone mass following menopause, and ingest less calcium than do men.
A researcher at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University (Boston, MA), Bess Dawson-Hughes, has shown that calcium supplements can prevent the usual bone loss associated with aging in women who consume less than 400 milligrams (mg) of calcium per day. Furthermore, two studies have reported that the risk of hip fracture is reduced by as much as 60 percent on higher calcium intakes.
Other nutrients that are important to the skeleton are protein, vitamins C and D, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc, and boron.
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Estrogen-replacement therapy can also prevent or retard bone loss in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women as long as the therapy is continued and the dietary calcium intake is sufficient. Calcium supplementation in combination with estrogen replacement has synergistic positive effects on bone loss; that is, the effectiveness of each treatment is enhanced.
Topamax is indicated (FDA approved) for the treatment of seizure disorder (epilepsy) and prophylaxis of migraine headache.
In the United States, the regulations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permit physicians to prescribe approved medications for other than their approved label indications. This practice is known as off-label use. Some drugs are used more frequently off-label than for their original, FDA-approved indications.
Topiramate has a long list of off-label uses.
Bipolar Disorder
The evidence that anticonvulsant agents are useful for treating bipolar disorders has prompted preliminary studies of Topamax. However, research evidence does not strongly support use of this medication as a “mood stabilizer”.
Topamax online lacks efficacy in the treatment of acute mania. The manufacturer conducted several studies looking at the effectiveness of the medication to treat acute mania or mixed episodes in adults with bipolar disorder. These studies showed that the drug by itself was not effective in treating bipolar symptoms.
However, some evidence, based on small studies, supports buy Topamax in bipolar disorders in depressive phase and as adjunctive treatment. The results of the open-label study indicated that adjunctive topiramate was associated with a significant reduction of new manic and depressive episodes in patients who fail to respond completely to mood stabilizers (Lykouras L , Hatzimanolis J.; Curr Med Res Opin. 2004 Jun.) One of the advantages is that it causes most bipolar patients to either lose weight or at least not gain it.
Weight Loss
Weight loss is a common side effect of cheap Topamax. In general, it is not considered a good choice for weight loss due to high rate of side effects, such as cognitive impairment, anxiety, memory loss or difficulty concentrating, which can make it difficult to tolerate the medication.
Several high quality studies have shown strong weight-reducing potential of Topamax. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated the long-term efficacy and safety of this drug in obese patients. Topiramate therapy over the course of 1 year resulted in clinically significant weight loss. In addition, improvements were also observed in blood pressure and glucose tolerance. (Wilding J, Van Gaal L, Rissanen A., Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004 Nov.)
Nerve Pain
Antiepileptic drugs are useful in the treatment of neuropathic pain. There are good theoretical explanations how Topiramate can alleviate neuropathic pain. It acts on neuronal transmission in at least five ways: by modulating voltage-gated sodium ion channels, potentiating gamma-aminobutyric acid inhibition, blocking excitatory glutamate neurotransmission, modulating voltage-gated calcium ion channels, and by inhibiting carbonic anhydrase.
In randomized, double-blind generic Topamax reduced pain visual analog score, worst pain intensity and sleep disruption in patients with painful diabetic neuropathy.
One of the most unsightly scenes in bodybuilding is called gynecomastia, also known as gyno or “bitch tits.” As unflattering as the term is, this is essentially what the condition looks like – the teats on a female dog! It’s for this reason that besides the assortment of anabolic steroids, insulin, growth hormone, and thyroid drugs, that many bodybuilders take, many have added the drug Generic Nolvadex to their stacks.
Gyno occurs when an enzyme in the male body called aromatase breaks testosterone down into the female hormone estrogen. The estrogen then stimulates estrogen receptors throughout the male’s body including in the nipple region. Since this same enzyme can also break many anabolic steroids down into the female hormone as well, the risk of developing gyno is always present with heavy steroid use.
This condition can first be spotted by the appearance of slight swelling or a small lump under the nipples. If not treated it can grow into a very unsightly mass of tissue, often irreversible without surgery. Take a close look at many of today’s top pro bodybuilders and you’ll see numerous cases of gynocomastia.
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Besides gyno, estrogen can also lead to an increase in the levels of water being held by the body. During the off season this is not a big issue but is a major concern at contest time since this extra water can bring about a notable loss of muscular definition, giving the muscles a smooth and bloated look. Elevated estrogen levels have also been linked to fat storage. This is one of the primary reasons why women have on average, higher body fat percentages, than men. Bodybuilders who are sensitive to the effects of estrogen will add an anti-estrogen to their stacks and cycles to minimize the risk of elevated estrogen.
Nolvadex online, is the trade name for the drug tamoxifen citrate. The drug is not a steroid but an agent that has powerful anti-estrogenic properties. Pharmacologically the drug is technically an estrogen antagonist (blocker), which binds to estrogen receptors located throughout the body. With the tamoxifen molecule bound to receptors, estrogen cannot bind to them and exert such feminizing effects as gynecomastia.
A much safer alternative
Unless you’re not playing with a full deck, we’re confident that most readers don’t want to risk developing gyno from using steroids. But you don’t have to! There are much safer alternatives for building muscle and losing body fat. The supplement industry has created a whole line of steroid alternatives that are both safe and legal. You won’t need to buy Nolvadex with any of these potent muscle builders. These powerful steroid analogs are reported to produce muscle gains comparable to their illegal cousins. You deserve the best so check them out now!
© Bob Howard 4/14/2006
When we talk about surgical treatment for stress incontinence, we are dealing with an anatomic situation; we are trying to restore normal anatomy without altering normal urethral function; namely, you don’t want to foul up someone’s ability to urinate or over-obstruct the bladder neck and lead to involuntary bladder contractions that are iatrogenic. The problem is that genuine stress incontinence is not just an anatomic condition. In all patients who have genuine stress incontinence, we know that there are also concurrent local peripheral neurologic changes in the pudendal nerve and in the ability of the levator ani muscles to contract. People don’t develop prolapse and don’t develop incontinence unless they have some dysfunction, typically, of the levator musculature beforehand. We aren’t going to fix that with most of our surgeries. We have to realize that sometimes we are not just doing the anatomic and we are compromising for some of these other factors. Generic propecia 5 mg.
Looking at anterior colporrhaphies and Kelly-Kennedy plications, objective cures in the literature range from thirty to ninety percent with subjective cure rates paralleling this. There is very poor longevity in most series that look at these operations - Kelly-Kennedy plication specifically - five years later show success rates below fifty percent. It is not so bad at creating de novo detrusor instability; this occurs probably only in about five percent of the cases. Definitive study done 15 to 16 years ago by Stewart, Stanton and London presented a prospective randomized trial of Burch procedures versus Kelly-Kennedy plications with 25 patients in each group. What they found was that at six months, with objective follow up, thirty-six percent had objective cure for the Kelly-Kennedy plication and eighty-four percent objective cure rate for their Burch procedures with all comers.
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Talking about retropubic anti-incontinence operations, the prototype that most of us are familiar with is the Burch procedure or the MMK. The modified Burch procedure is an operation whose goal is to resupport the anterior vaginal wall and thus indirectly resupport the proximal urethra. We suture a mobile structure, the anterior vaginal wall, to an immobile source of support, Cooper’s ligament, the iliopectineal line, or in the case of an MMK, we suture to the pubic symphysis. The goal here is to resupport the proximal urethra. When we do, the literature suggests that there are objective cure rates ranging from eighty to ninety-five percent, depending on the population that you are operating on, with subjective cure rates that are just a little bit better. The great thing about the Burch procedure that most of us love is the excellent longevity. There are objective studies in the literature that I will show you that go out 10 and even 12 years with excellent long-term success. De novo detrusor instability - the creation of new urge incontinence and involuntary bladder contractions - in one study we did, occurred in eight percent of all patients that we operated on.
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The modified Burch procedure involves the use of permanent sutures. In 1961, John Burch described the use of absorbable sutures; here we place one suture at the bladder neck, 2 cm lateral to the bladder neck on either side and then another pair distal to this. Here, we are just dermabrading and elevating the bladder neck superomedially off of the endopelvic connective tissue of the anterior vaginal wall. You can identify the bladder most easily and reliably by looking for the inferior vesical vein. If you are unsure, you can always fill the bladder retrograde or, if you don’t have access to a Foley to do that, you can stick a 60-cc syringe with a needle on it into the dome of the bladder, if you don’t want to open the bladder, and just inflate it with 60 cc of fluid. If the patient is in reverse Trendelenburg, you will start to see the inferior border of the bladder and then you can unocclude the Foley and drain it out to see where you are. You’d like to end up with two pairs of sutures - some people use three - about 1.5 to 2.0 cm lateral to the bladder neck so you don’t compromise the inferior vesical vein and artery, as well as the autonomic nerve supply that comes along with them to the proximal urethra and these go up through Cooper’s ligament, which runs from the lateral aspect of the pubic symphysis along the medial superior border of the pubic ramus. What this does is lifts a hammock of vagina and suture up to Cooper’s ligament on either side to stabilize the proximal urethra. So when we cough and strain, the pressure will compress the anterior urethral wall against the posterior urethral wall against a good solid back-stop of vagina. Generic keflex at online generic pharmacy shop.
Several recent studies show that before you consult an infertility doctor to help you become pregnant, you should be given antibiotics to treat a possible hidden infection. Many other studies show that the most common cause of infertility is a uterine infection. Of women being evaluated for infertility, 40 percent are infected with chlamydia, mycoplasma or ureaplasma, as are 36 percent of those with a previous history of uterine infection and 50 percent of those with tubal blockage. More than 60 percent had evidence of a past infection.
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The more partners you have, the more likely you are to be infected, although you can be infected by one contact. An infection can prevent pregnancy by blocking the uterine tubes. It can damage sperm, so they can’t swim toward the egg, and it can cause miscarriage, premature birth or low birth weight. Infected people may have burning on urination, discomfort when the bladder is full or an urgency to void. Women may have only spotting between periods. Or there may be no symptoms at all.
Infection with chlamydia is the most common cause of blocked Fallopian tubes that cause infertility. First, chlamydia paralyzes the cilia so the egg can’t reach the uterus, then it blocks the tubes so that nothing can pass into the uterus.
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Men and women can be infected with mycoplasma or ureaplasma, even though all available tests can’t find them and they may have no symptoms. Before infertile couples spend between $10,000 and $150,000 for infertility evaluations and treatments, they should ask their gynecologist to treat them with newer erythomycins, Generic Zithromax (250 mg once a day for 8 days) or Biaxin (500 mg BID for 10 days), for chlamydia and mycoplasma infections.
EVALUATION OF INFERTILITY: Blood tests: Female: FSH (menopause), TSH (thyroid disease), Prolactin (brain tumor), Progesterone (7 days after expected ovulation, around 21 days after start of menstruation), HSG (to check if uterine tubes are open). If masculinization: testosterone, DHEAS, 17-oh progesterone, sonogram of ovaries. Male: semen analysis.
There is currently a controversy over Propecia’s role in acne. For the most part, there is a multitude of conflicting evidence. Some users report that Propecia causes acne; some report that it actually clears it up.
Does Propecia Clear Acne?
The Argument
Generic Propecia works by regulating an androgen called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. DHT is considered to be a catalyst for male pattern baldness; thus when it is regulated, hair loss can be reduced, even reversed.
Propecia was first discovered during the course of finding a cure for prostate enlargement. However, because it regulates hormones such as testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, it was accidentally found to cause less hair loss. Because acne is partially considered to be a hormonal problem, a drug that can regulate hormones should be able to affect the condition.
Does Propecia Cause Acne?
The Counter-Argument
If Propecia is argued to help alleviate acne, one may argue that it may also exacerbate it. After all, science is still unsure of the full working of the body’s hormones. It does not take much imagination to think that cheap Propecia may cause acne – indeed, some users of the drug have complained about the drug in those terms.
The Conclusion: Inconclusive
No one can say for sure if Propecia causes acne or if it treats it. There are cases of people who claim to have inadvertently treated their acne while buy Propecia online there are also cases of people who began to have acne after using Propecia. In the end, it might boil down to the personal genetic and hormonal differences between individuals.