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Anorexia Nervosa is a very dangerous and serious illness. Advanced and immediate specialized treatment may prevent a lifelong battle with anorexia and all its related problems such as malnutrition, osteoporosis and heart problems.

Those who are plagued with anorexia need treatment. This treatment may include steps at maintaining healthy weight, learning good eating habits, and availing of professional counseling and advices. In actuality there has been no proven medication or treatment that could absolutely cure anorexia. However, some anorexics will need treatment of their other conditions which are corollary to anorexia, such as anxiety or depression. Some may also need hospitalization and other more specialized treatments.

In efforts at treating anorexia, it should be remembered that those with this disorder actually view weight loss, no matter how dangerous the means of getting there, as an accomplished goal and hence, they would not at all seek treatment on their own. This is the foremost risk of anorexia, the fact that despite its gravity, those with this disorder, would often not acknowledge the danger of their situation and would end up with all the complications of extreme thinness and lack of the essential nutrients which could eventually lead to death. In fact, it is common that loved ones often become concerned about the weight loss way before the person with anorexia acknowledges that there is a problem.

Extreme thinness and weight loss should be treated urgently and immediately before it leads to other complications and death. People with this disorder need to be talked to, for it is also a psychological problem, they have led themselves prey to the concept of thinness as the be-all of life and they have prepared themselves to do and undergo anything just so they could achieve this. Only constant support, monitoring, convincing and understanding can successfully break them from this belief and towards a general physical healing.

Kidney stones are solid or semi-solid mineral-like substances that developed from crystals that separate from the urine and build up on the inner surfaces of the kidney when chemical inhibitors contained in the urine are insufficient to prevent the crystals from forming. Kidney stones are considered one of the most painful disorders that occur in the urinary tract.

Diagnosing Kidney Stones

The primary modes of diagnosing kidney stones are through x-rays or sonograms that determine the size and location of the kidney stones. More advanced procedures include a Computed tomography scan or CT scan or intravenous pyelogram or IVP. Like x-rays and sonograms, these latter two methods can also determine the size and location of the kidney stone. The characteristic and classification of the stones may be determined through a laboratory examination of the stone itself. Before actually forming stones, blood and urine tests may be performed to detect the presence of any abnormal substance in the body that may lead to stone formation.

Your Treatment Options

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is the most common of all the methods for treating kidney stones. It does not involve any operation. Instead, it uses shock waves created outside the body and travels through the skin and body tissues to hit the stones and break it in to crystals small enough to be passed in the urine.

The benefits of ESWL are that it may be done on an outpatient basis and the time for recovery is very short. Thus, normal activities of the person undergoing the treatment need not be disrupted for a very long time. However, several complications such as occurrence of blood in their urine for a few days after treatment, bruising and minor discomfort in the back or abdomen from the shock waves, and discomfort due to the passing of shattered stones in the urinary tract. ESWL are ideal only for relatively small stones.

 

The second form of treatment is the ureteroscopic stone removal which involves the passing of a flexible, narrow fiber optic instrument called a cystoscope through the urethra and bladder to reach a stone that is lodged in the ureter, especially in the mid- and lower-ureter. The stone is then removed using a device that resembles a cage or shattered into tiny pieces with a shock wave.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) are usually done if the ESWL doesn’t work or a stone is particularly large. PCNL involves surgery under general anesthesia. The surgeon makes a small cut at the back to create a tunnel directly into the kidney and inserts a telescopic called nephroscope to locate the stone and remove it. When the stones are large, an energy probe such as ultrasonic or electrohydraulic energy probes may be used to break the stone into small pieces. Unlike in ESWL, the stone fragment are removed in PCNL by the surgeon instead of letting them pass naturally from the kidney.

Surgical treatment is considered the last resort. It is usually resorted to, among other reasons, when the stone does not pass after a reasonable period of time and causes constant pain, is too large to pass on its own or is caught in a difficult place, damages kidney tissue or causes constant bleeding and has grown larger. Surgery requires a long recovery time of about 4 to 6 weeks.

There has been no findings yet as what exactly causes kidney stone formation. However, doctors suspect that heredity, environment, age, sex, urinary infection, diet, and metabolic diseases to be some of the possible causes of stone formation. Here are some possible causes why stone for in the kidney.

Certain food may cause stones to form, especially in people who are more susceptible to kidney stones formation due, for example, to family history and personal history of kidney stones formation. The kind of stones formed usually depends on the food eaten. For example, eggs, milk, cheese, calcium fortified juices, foods rich in saturated fat such as bacon and whole nuts, cakes and chocolates may be the culprit for kidney stones formation. On the other hand, purine-rich food including internal organs of animals such as kidneys, pancreas and intestines, animal brain, gravy, sardines and anchovies may cause uric acid stones.

Inadequate urinary drainage and urinary tract infection may also cause kidney stones. When substances such as uric acid, phospates and calcium oxalates are not properly flushed out from the body through urination, these substances may crystallize and lump together to form kidney stones.

Dehydration and lack of sufficient fluid ingestion can also cause kidney stones formation. Kidneys, to maintain the water balance and the level of chemical substance in the body may either dilute or concentrate urine. When there is little water intake, the kidneys concentrate urine to expel more wastes and keep more water in the body. The act of concentrating urine compared to diluting it takes more effort for the kidneys thus exhausting it and make it function less effectively.

Certain metabolic diseases also cause the formation of stone s in the kidney. Many of these metabolic diseases are hereditary. For example, cystinuria and hyperoxaluria are two of the most common hereditary diseases that cause kidney stones to form. Other kidney stones-causing diseases are hyperparathyroidism, gout, intestinal dysfunction, renal tubular acidosis, hyperuricosuria and chronic inflammation of the bowel.

People who had intestinal bypass operations or ostomy surgery also have a high risk of developing kidney stones. The same is true with people who only have one kidney left after the other one has been removed through surgery.

There also are medications that cause kidney stones. Examples of these medications are diuretics that increase the levels of uric acid, water pills, protease inhibitor indinavir, a drug used to treat HIV infection, calcium-based antacids for calcium stones and excessive intake of vitamin D.

The kidneys form part of the urinary tract, along with the ureters, bladder, and urethra. They are two bean-shaped organs that may be found below the ribs toward the middle of the back. Its function includes the removal of extra water and wastes from the blood such as urea, uric acid, excess sodium ions, potassium, chloride and hydrogen. These extra water and wastes are then converted into urine and dispelled from the body. In addition to this, the kidneys are also tasked with keeping a stable balance of salts and other substances that may be found in the blood, including chemical constituents such as electrolytes, hormones and blood sugar. Third, it helps the production hormones to build stronger bones and to help the formation of red blood cells such as renin, vitamin D and erythropoietin. Lastly, it helps regulate blood pressure to maintain the proper rate of fluids filtered in the kidneys.

Kidney stones are solid or semi-solid mineral-like substances that developed from crystals that separate from the urine and build up on the inner surfaces of the kidney when chemical inhibitors contained in the urine are insufficient to prevent the crystals from forming.

There are four major types of kidney stones. Calcium stones, the most common of all stones, are caused by excess calcium in the blood. The second type of stones produced by high uric acid level in blood is the uric stones. Third is the cystine stones caused by a congenital effect called cystinuria that involves crystallization of excessive amounts amino acids. The last type is struvite stones that are caused by infection and which tend to develop when the urine is alkaline.

Kidney stones usually do not have any symptoms, especially if they are small enough to pass through the urinary tract unnoticed. The problem begins when the stone grows larger and starts to block the flow of the urine. The first symptom you will notice is extreme pain, depending upon the gravity of your condition. The pain may be felt more commonly in the back and side area of the kidney or in the lower abdomen and may later spread to the groin. Blood may also appear in the urine due to the movement of the stones. Sometimes, the blood may be the first symptom you will see if the kidney stone is not painful. You may also feel a burning sensation during urination. You may also notice that you urinate more often than you normally do. In addition to this, you may also experience nausea, vomiting and restlessness. Lastly, if there is an infection present, fevers and chills may also be present along with these other symptoms.

Is a friend or close family member suffering from binge eating disorder? This is the right time to act! Know how to diagnose and treat binge eating disorder!

Identifying Binge Eating Disorder

A binge eating disorder must be distinguished from other eating disorders, such as bulimia nervosa.

There is, in fact, an essential similarity between a binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa, or what is otherwise known as the binge-purge syndrome, because both involve eating excessive amounts of food and feel guilty or ashamed about it afterwards. However, the person suffering the former kind of disorder does not get rid of the food he just ate, whereas in the latter kind, the person suffering it would purge the food, either by inducing himself to vomit or by using laxatives to avoid gaining weight. Thus, physically, the difference is immediately noticeable: one who suffers from a binge eating disorder is usually overweight, while one who suffers from bulimia nervosa is usually very thin.

Diagnosis for Binge-Eating Disorder

Binge eating disorder is diagnosed by checking the existence of the following symptoms: binge eating a hefty amount of food in a relatively short period of time, binge eating that lasts for a period of at least two days to six months, being distressed about eating behaviors, eating unusually fast, eating until uncomfortably full, eating when not hungry, loss of control over eating, and binge eating that isn’t associated with regular purging with laxatives or by vomiting. The last symptom is an important determining factor because this differentiates binge eating disorder from bulimia nervosa.

Treatment Options

After diagnosis comes the process of treating the disorder. Treatment will not come easily. Treatment can take a long time while the patient learns how to have a healthier approach to food. Thus, it is important for a person suffering from a binge eating disorder that he receives therapy.

Therapy for binge eating may be of different kinds. It could consist of techniques to monitor and change one’s eating habits and the way he respond to emotional stress. It could require family members to participate in the process of helping the individual. This help may consist of talking with the patient and making their support known. Family and friends may also help by being a model of how one develops a positive relationship with food and exercise. Where the above treatments do not work, as in other extreme cases of eating disorders, doctors may also prescribe antidepressant medication to be used in conjunction with therapy.

If you are flushing out excessive food that you have taken in, it’s not merely a diet strategy anymore. You could be bulimic already and suffering from bulimia nervosa!

What is Bulimia Nervosa?

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by recurrent binge eating, then intentionally flushing out food in the body to prevent weight gain. A person is classified as bulimic when he or she feels helpless to control binges. Binges happen when one consumes more food than what a person can eat in one sitting. Bulimics often binge, and these binges happen for at least twice a week for a period of three months. Often, these binges are followed with purging behavior, in which bulimics try to vomit what they have eaten in order not to get fat.

Bulimia is a psychological disorder that involves body image. This often affects people who desperately want to become thinner. Normally, bulimic patients are young females aged 10 to 25 years old, belonging to a higher socio-economic status, and are active in dancing in sports, though all people are vulnerable to this disorder. Bulimia is less about food, and more to do with psychological issues, and lack of control. Bingeing episodes are commonly very severe, with bulimics eating food of more than 4000 calories – which is the equivalent of two days of eating. Purging sessions are worse, as bulimics feel compelled to vomit their food.

Effects of Being a Bulimic

Bulimics, due to these unhealthy behaviors, are at risk for many illnesses. They are especially prone to electrolyte imbalance (due to frequent vomiting), which leads to heartbeat irregularities and failure. They have eroded teeth, and are at risk for stomach and esophagus ruptures. They are also prone to ulcers, and pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas). In fact, bulimia and other eating disorders have the highest death rates among all mental illnesses.

Treatment Options

Treating bulimia is not easy, but attainable. In intervening in bulimia cases, clinicians must exercise firmness in making a patient comply with the treatment, though an air of understanding and compassion must be there at all time. Normally, with proper clinical and psychological treatment, bulimics recover within months and a few years.

 

Food is one of the basic human needs in order to survive. Yet, some people have difficulty in judging between need and craving for food. Sometimes we ear excessively because there is simply too much food available. But this pleasure can lead to eating disorders which can be harmful, if not fatal, to humans.

 

The occurrence of eating disorders is directly related to dieting behavior. It was noted that only a minority of young people who diet go on to develop an eating disorder. However, when dieting and the desire to be thin combine with problems of self-esteem or interpersonal relationship, eating disorder are a possible outcome.

 

Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa

The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia or absence of appetite can lead to sever form such as anorexia nervosa. It is a syndrome of unknown cause characterized by intense dislike to food. It leads to starvation and sometimes serious nutritional deficiency. The anorexic see that they are too fat to fit the ideal female body figure. They believe that to be beautiful, they must have a body like those of the superstar and supermodels. And they fear of losing control of their body weight. The anorexic’s chief concern is body image which can be attributable to psychological undertones or certain conflict with significant persons.

 

Gluttony

Meanwhile, gluttony is the excessive indulgence in eating or it can be imply vigorous appetite for others. There are different types such as bulimia nervosa or an insatiable appetite and too much food intake mostly seen in psychotic states.  The other type is binge eating where there is a constant struggle to lose weight. A person with this disorder has low self-control and makes it an excuse to indulge more. Defective thinking process results to guilt and to attempt to vomit the food he/she ate. It can produce abdominal bloating or weight gain which then creates guilt and now reinforces difficulties with self-image. Some binge eater will win their battle for control and proceed to anorexia. Others will engage in uncontrolled comfort eating and progresses to bulimia. A third group may shift between anorexia and bulimia.

 

 

Many people think that diet is the best way to lose weight. They adopt diet regiments that are passed around to be good and effective in making you lose weight. But wait! Many of these diet data have been proven to be wrong.

Here are some misconceptions many people have about dieting. Only the excess carbohydrate is converted into bad fat. And even if it is converted to body fat, it will just be stored energy that can be dissolved by using up that energy.

1. Eliminate all carbohydrates. Many diet and weigh loss programs concentrate on elimination of all carbohydrates. The theory is that the key to losing weight is avoiding all sources of carbohydrates. Thus, we are asked to stay away from all carbohydrates-high food such as pasta, rice, potatoes and bread. This is wrong. Carbohydrates are our bodies’ preferred energy source. Only the excess carbohydrate is converted into body fat. And even if it is converted to body fat, it will just be stored energy that can be dissolved by using up that energy. You will only gain weight if you eat more energy than what is needed by your body.
2. You should not eat desserts because it is fattening. Wrong. The key to a good diet is a balanced diet. That means the right amount of food from all food groups. You can actually eat anything as long as you control your total intake of calories. Denying yourself the foods you like can actually lead to bad things. It can make you feel deprived and will not want to continue dieting anymore.
3. Do not drink while eating because it is fattening. This is founded upon the misconception that the digestive juices and enzymes in your stomach will be diluted by the water and will thus not allow you to digest the food properly and will result to the food being transformed to body fat. This is wrong. Drinking while eating may actually aid in digestion. Also, it can help you have the feeling of being full and will make you eat less.
4. It is necessary to lose a lot of weight. Yes, losing a lot of weight is good but you should not go beyond your ideal body fat. Also, large amounts of lost weight are not always necessarily good. Small, sustained improvements are better and have the biggest impact on your health.
5. The most important thing is to control what you eat. No. What matter is how much of this you eat. Remember that it is not the type of food you eat but the total calorie intake you have, along with carbohydrates and others. It is how much you eat that you must control.
6. You should only eat fruits for breakfast. Wherever this idea came from, it is wrong. There is no concrete study showing that eating only fruits for breakfast has actual health and weight loss benefits. In fact, it may even give you the result, which is opposite that which you expected. After not eating for one whole night because of being asleep, our body needs to supply more energy through food. This is one reason why breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. Fruits alone will not be able to provide our body with the needed energy to last us all day. Fruits provide fiber and vitamins, which are also needed by the body, but most of them are not good sources of carbohydrates that provide energy.
7. You can eat whatever you want in whatever amount if you work out. This is wrong. Diet and exercise must always go together to have a healthy and effective weight loss regime. You might be losing fat and weight through exercise but you can regain them again by eating more than you need to. And if you gain more fat by eating than you lose by exercising, then you will gain more weight instead of losing it.
8. Some food can help you lose weight if you eat them. They say that food such as grapefruit or kelp can burn off body fat. This is not true. There is no evidence that such food actually has the effect of fat-burning that many people attribute to them

These 8 diet rules are myths. If you believe any of them, then it is time to correct your mindset. To be sure, before going on a diet, consult a dietician or any expert to make sure that your diet regime is healthy, effective and free from the many misconceptions that are spreading around. Another question people often ask is, can chiropractors help them with their weight issues? I have covered this topic earlier. Enjoy!

Kidney disease encompasses any condition involving your kidneys that causes reduced kidney function or damage to the kidney. The kidneys’ function is to filter wastes from your blood and excrete them in your urine. They are able to do this by by sensing imbalances within your blood and controlling what should be retained and what should not. When kidney disease it at its advanced stage, fluids, electrolytes, and wastes in your body can reach dangerous levels.

Kidney problems are a growing phenomenon. In the last ten years, kidney diseases have increased by 16 percent. Data shows that one in three Americans is at risk of having kidney disease. Records also indicate that up to two million people in the U.S. may have chronic kidney disease, some being undiagnosed. Chronic kidney disease develops gradually and may not have apparent symptoms until your kidney function is impaired significantly. Because of this, 80 to 90 percent of all cases of chronic kidney disease may likely go unrecognized. One in three people have increased risk of being afflicted with this disease in the future.

Kidney infection is a common kidney condition. It is a type of urinary tract infection that develops in your bladder and ends up in your kidney after travelling up the urinary tract. Many people deal with recurring kidney infections for a long time in their lives. They usually try to treat them using antibiotics and prescription medications, but are unsuccessful in finding long-term relief.

Treatment of Kidney Diseases

Some kidney diseases can be treated, depending on their underlying cause. However, kidney damage may continue to progress despite being able to control the underlying cause, such as hypertension symptoms. Often, chronic kidney disease does not have a cure. Conventional medical treatment for chronic kidney disease is focused on slowing the progress of kidney damage and on measures to control the symptoms. Treatments for kidney diseases include:

• Medications to control high blood pressure – A complication with kidney disease is increasing blood pressure.
• Medications to control cholesterol levels – Patients with chronic kidney disease usually have high bad cholesterol levels.
• Medications for anemia – These medications may relieve fatigue as well as weakness from anemia, another complication of chronic kidney disease.
• Anti-swelling medications – The swelling in the legs of patients with chronic kidney disease is from fluid retention in their bodies.
• Bone-strengthening medications – Your doctor may advice calcium and vitamin D intake against the weakening of your bones and to prevent fracture.
• Low protein diet – This is to avoid extra waste products from foods rich in protein that go into your blood, and which, your kidneys need to filter.
• End-stage kidney disease treatments – You may require treatment for end-stage kidney disease if the damage to your kidneys become so severe. Dialysis and kidney transplant are the last treatment options in this serious stage of the kidney disease.

Chiropractic Care for Kidney Problems

The primary focus of all chiropractic care professionals is the health of the central nervous system. Chiropractors are educated and trained in the diagnosis and treatment of problems or abnormalities with the nerves in the human body. When your nervous system is strong and healthy, all the systems of your body are functioning properly.

An abnormality called subluxation can significantly impair or cause damage to the nerves that are linked to and that control your kidneys, bladder and urinary tract. The experienced doctor of chiropractic is able to accurately identify and correct subluxations, which can restore your nerves’ health and the normal functions of these organs. A healthy nervous system also boosts the effectiveness of the immune system of your body. An optimized immune system helps fight and prevent infections.

An equally helpful service a chiropractor provides to patients is advice and guidance on the patients’ nutrition and lifestyle. Healthy diet and lifestyle, including exercise are all important aspects of addressing kidney problems.

All the chiropractic care activities in the treatment of the kidney problems are done without the use of over-the-counter or prescription medications and antibiotics and invasive procedure. All the techniques that the chiropractor employs are natural, safe and most importantly, effective.