Vicoden is a prescription medication that contains acetaminophen (like in Tylenol) that is combined with hydrocodone. Hydrocodone is a narcotic used for pain relief and the acetaminophen is used to increase the overall effect of the hydrocodone. Because vicoden is generally a habit-forming drug, it is only recommended for pain that is moderate to severe. It is also advised to inform a physician if you consume more than three alcoholic beverages a day or have been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver because in these cases, acetaminophen is contraindicated for use. It is also advised to keep in contact with your prescribing doctor as sometimes the effects of vicoden may decrease or become completely non-effective at relieving pain, and in these cases, some other type of medication to control pain will be necessary. Vicoden has been rated by the FDA to be a Category C medication during pregnancy, meaning that in animal studies harm was caused to the unborn animal when the drug was administered. It can also mean that there are no human study reports available. Vicoden is thought to cause addiction withdrawal symptoms in newborns and possible breathing problems. In either case, it is recommended to not take vicoden during pregnancy to avoid possible negative side effects unless the medication benefit to the mother out weights the risk to the unborn baby. Vicoden is known to pass through to breast milk, possibly causing harm to the nursing infant. It is advised to avoid vicoden while breastfeeding.

Side Effects of Vicoden

As with any medication, it is important to take vicoden exactly as prescribed. Normally, vicoden is prescribed as an as-needed drug and therefore an individual will not be required to take the drug on a set schedule. If a schedule is prescribed and a dose is missed, take the missed dose as soon as possible or if it is getting near to the next scheduled dosing time, skip the missed dose and take the next pill as scheduled. Do not take two doses at one time. Some common side effects of vicoden include drowsiness, an upset stomach, nausea or constipation, dry mouth, blurred vision, anxiety, headache and a ringing in the ears. An overdose may occur if vicoden is combined with other medications that contain acetaminophen. Some symptoms of an overdose include a weak or slow pulse, shallow breathing, fainting, clammy skin, a bluish appearance of the lips, dark urine, a coma or cessation of breathing. When first speaking to your doctor, it is important to discuss medications that you are currently taking as some drugs do not interact well with vicoden or may lessen the effects of vicoden.

References Cited in this Article

www.drugs.com

www.rxlist.com

An ulcer is a sore that can develop in the lining of stomach, the duodenum (the beginning of the small intestines below the stomach) and the esophagus. Ulcers of the stomach are called gastric ulcers, ulcers of the duodenum are called duodenal ulcers and ulcers of the esophagus are called esophageal ulcers. Gastric and duodenal ulcers are also referred to as peptic ulcers.

Formation

Ulcers can form in the lining of these structures if there is too much acid and pepsin present. Too much acid and pepsin can cause damage to the lining of the stomach, duodenum and esophagus and this damage can lead to ulcers. The formation of ulcers may also develop even if acid levels are normal; if there has been previous damage to the lining from other causes, normal acid levels are strong enough to cause an ulcer in the damaged lining. The stomach lining is protected from acid and pepsin by bicarbonate formation that coats the lining and circulation of blood that generates new cells and repairs damage to the lining. If there is any impairment of these functions of the lining, an ulcer  may form. The most common cause of ulcers is the presence of the bacterium, H. pylori (helicobacter pylori). This spiral-shaped bacterium is found in the stomach and can burrow through the stomach lining, attaching to the stomach wall and  producing an ammonia-enzyme called urease.

Risks and Symptoms

Because of the risks and symptoms, it is important to seek treatment for an ulcer immediately. Left untreated, an ulcer could become a bleeding ulcer (the ulcer has reached blood vessels), a perforated ulcer (a complete hole has been eaten into the stomach or duodenum and allows food and bacteria to pass through the hole)  or cause a narrowing of the opening of the intestines. When an ulcer is present, a person may feel nauseated and fatigued and experience a burning sensation in between the breastbone and belly button. When someone has a bleeding ulcer, blood may be present in the stool and in vomit. There are instances where a person has an ulcer but feels no symptoms.

Diagnosis and Treatment

When an ulcer is the suspected diagnosis, an upper GI x-ray series with contrast may be performed.  Barium is a chalky drink that is swallowed to allow the ulcer to be seen on x-ray. A more detailed procedure called endoscopy may be done that allows a physician to send an endoscope through the esophagus, stomach and duodenum searching for an ulcer along the pathway. It is also important to determine if H. pylori is present because if it is, eliminating the bacterium will most likely cure the ulcer. Medication is used for the treatment of ulcers along with the recommendation of dietary and lifestyle modification. Proper diagnosis and treatment will help the healing process to begin but if no improvement is noted after several weeks of treatment or if symptoms worsen during treatment, surgery may be required. 

References Cited in this Article

www.healthscout.com

www.medicinenet.com

Allergies are a condition of the immune system which is a form of hypersensitivity.  Most allergic reactions are to non-harmful allergens in the environment.    Allergy is one of the four forms of hypersensitivity classified at Type I, or immediate hypersensitivity.  This type of allergy immediately activates white blood cells, mast cells, and basophils by an antibody known as IgE.  This antibody causes an immediate inflammatory response in the human body.  Some common allergic reactions are found with the following allergens: hay fever (pollen and dust allergens), grass, molds, foods, bees and wasps, etc.  The reaction can range from a mild one to very severe in which emergency room referral is needed. 

Hay fever

Hay fever is an allergic inflammation of the nasal airways when pollen or dust is inhaled.  This is a very common outdoor allergen affecting many Americans.  Symptoms include: itchy watery eyes, runny nose, and conjunctivitis.  The antibodies bind to mast cells which releases histamine to promote the inflammatory response.  Some people may develop hives or rashes when extremely sensitive to the allergen.  This may occur seasonally or all year round, as seen in certain younger children. 

Bees and wasps allergy

The most aggressive stinging bites include the bald-faced hornets and other yellow jackets; however, not all hornets are this aggressive.  When individuals are allergic to bee or wasp stings, it produces an anaphylactic shock.  This is an extremely dangerous and potentially deadly situation.  The main component of bee venom responsible for pain in humans is the toxin melittin.  Histamine causes the local pain and itching response as well. 

Treatment

Treatment to allergens varies greatly on the allergen itself and the severity of the condition.  Once diagnosis has been made via blood or skin test, a treatment program may be developed.  Traditional treatment includes: avoidance of the allergen itself, pharmacotherapy, immunotherapy, and enzyme potentiated desensitization (EPD).

Acid Reflux or GERD stands for gastro esophageal reflux disease.  This is a medical condition in which acid, bile, and partially-digested food in the stomach backs up into the esophagus.  This food contains a strong acid; when it comes in contact with the esophagus causes irritation, inflammation, and pain.  The stomach layer contains a mucous lining that protects against such acids; however, this lining doesn’t line the esophagus making it vulnerable.  Typically, this condition happens right after a meal and causes an uncomfortable burning irritation behind the sternum.  It just so happens that most patients with GERD also suffer from hiatal hernias in addition.  A hiatal hernia is when part of the stomach bulges into the chest cavity through an opening in the diaphragm, a thin sheet of muscle.  It’s approximated that one in four Americans experience heartburn once a month.  Some additional GERD facts include: about 15 million Americans experience heartburn every day, it is extremely common during pregnancy about 50% of women; most GERD patients also have hiatal hernias, affecting 15% of patients. 

Treatment of GERD

GERD may be treated with diet changes, medication, or surgery.  When patients remove daily factors which cause significant symptoms a substantial reduction overall is noted.    A change to diet along with pharmaceutical medication and/or natural supplements improves symptomatology.  Triggers to GERD include but are not limited to: alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, tea, coffee, spicy foods, and fatty foods.  Other factors that contribute to GERD include: cigarette smoking, overweight and obesity, stomach sleeping, and restrictive clothing on the abdomen.  Some guidelines to live by to reduce or eliminate GERD are the following: quit smoking, eat a proper diet, eat smaller meals more times a day for satiety instead of a few larger meals, sleep with the your head raised a few inches, avoid eating 2-3 hours prior to bedtime, avoid restrictive clothing or belts, and avoid trigger foods that exacerbate the symptoms. 

Chiropractic and GERD

Since Chiropractors work with the ever-important nervous system, they affect the nerves that correspond with the stomach and esophagus.  They will check for interference within the nerve pathways to restore optimal capacity to these organs.  A reduction or complete elimination of symptoms and often medication is noted when Chiropractic care is introduced to the health regimen. 

MUA

Manipulation under anesthesia, or MUA, was once a procedure that was performed by doctors of osteopathy in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the late 1980’s, a group of chiropractors in Texas began the procedure again, and since then, it has remained a source of controversy between MD’s and chiropractic physicians. This group of physicians in Texas began developing protocol for the procedure and concluded that for successful treatment, a patient would be recommended for three rounds of MUA consecutively. The patients to receive treatment were selected and all had common histories of failed surgeries or were people who had undergone many years of conservative care such as physical therapy and chiropractic care and were not approved as candidates for spinal surgery. Manipulation under anesthesia is generally considered to be a safe and effective procedure for people suffering from neck, back and joint pain and from muscles that have shortened or have chronic spasm. MUA is a procedure that has been studied and has been shown to offer an improvement of pain and dysfunction in patients who receive the treatment. For more detailed information of the success rate of manipulation under anesthesia, go to www.spine-health.com.

The Procedure

When it has been determined that a patient may benefit from manipulation under anesthesia, the procedure will be scheduled and take place at either a hospital or surgical center. MUA has been done to help treat issues of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine as well as the pelvis and sacroiliac area. The procedure is performed either under general anesthesia, with the patient mildly sedated or immediately after the injection of an anesthetic solution into certain soft tissues of the spinal region The patient is put under anesthesia by a licensed anesthesiologist and the manipulation is done by a chiropractic physician who is trained and certified to perform a MUA. There is an assistant present during the procedure, also a chiropractic physician who is certified in MUA. While under sedation, along with receiving spinal manipulation, a patient may also undergo passive stretching to the muscles near the joints to help break up scar tissue and to reduce muscle spasm. This stretching is done more easily during MUA because the muscles are completely relaxed. A patient who is an appropriate candidate for this procedure is typically someone who has received many forms of conservative care with no long term success. They may feel temporary relief from pain, but for reasons such as scar tissue formation around the joints from an injury, the pain they feel becomes chronic. It is important to speak with a chiropractic physician who is certified in MUA if you feel you may benefit from the treatment.

References Cited in this Article

www.dynamicchiropractic.com

www.spine-health.com

Do you assume you’re sick every time you cough, sneeze, have a runny nose and eyes, have diarrhea, or have a fever?  All these Natural Responses are actually normal reactions to fighting a bacteria, virus, or allergen within your human body.  The body is specially designed to rid itself of these particular invaders.  Allow your body to actually fight this infection and do what it was designed to do instead of reaching for pain medications, fever reducers, and cold medications.  These are immune system responses that don’t need the assistance of these pharmaceutical or over-the-counter medications.  The body coughs to allow for clean lungs, sneezes to clean out the sinus cavities, vomits to clean the intestines of organisms, and produces a fever to make the body a less desirable habitat for foreign objects like viruses, bacteria, and other parasites.  Your body has the ability to correct issues from within when the proper nutrition and rest are provided.  If you take medications to decrease the symptomatology of an infection recovery can actually take longer. 

Vitamins

Vitamin A is one of those vitamins that people don’t know that it helps to play a role in immunity but this vitamin helps immensely.  When the immune system is fighting off infections, Vitamin A levels are often depleted.  Foods that are rich in Vitamin A include: carrots, spinach, orange veggies, and leafy greens.  Vitamin C is another important vitamin to boost immune system defense.  It is also important for cell growth and cancer prevention.  Most people never think of Vitamin D as being good for their immune system; they typically think it’s primarily used for bones.  However, most Americans are deficient in this vitamin and don’t realize it.  Even during the summer we don’t get enough of the sun’s rays to make enough vitamin D in our bodies.  Before assuming that your Vitamin D levels are low you should have your blood checked before you take a supplement.  Vitamin D helps to fight depression and can reduce some cancer risks.  Vitamin E is an antioxidant and reduces free radicals.  It has been shown to prevent certain cancers and heart disease.  In addition to healthy supplementation, it’s important to eat a balanced diet and obtain moderate physical activity most days of the week.  This helps to reduce the risks of heart disease, overweight and obesity, autoimmune disorders, and Type II Diabetes. 

]]> http://www.echiropractor.org/natural-responses/feed/ 0 http://www.echiropractor.org/chiropractic-techniques-2/ http://www.echiropractor.org/chiropractic-techniques-2/#comments Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:27:03 +0000 echiropractor http://www.echiropractor.org/?p=3628

Logan Basic Technique: 

Very similar to how there are different methods for painting a picture, the same is true of chiropractics. Various chiropractic techniques exist, many of them specializing in certain areas or as a remedy for specific problems. The same way a painter may choose to use a scumbling effect with their paintbrush to paint a landscape, a chiropractor may choose to use the Logan Basic technique (a sustained pressure at the base of the spine) to correct the sacrum. Target area, age, and body type all factor in when a chiropractor is choosing a specific technique

Common Techniques:

Some of the more common techniques include the following: The Cox Flexion Distraction is a technique that focuses on compressed intervertebral discs and effectively stretching the spine to alleviate lower back pain in a patient. A more diagnostic chiropractic technique is the Thompson Terminal Point technique. This method is used to locate subluxations (misalignment of a vertebra) within the spine before determining which interventions may or may not be necessary. Much in the same way, Applied Kinesiology is a technique that assesses. This time however, it is the musculature as opposed to the skeletal. A person’s gait, range of motion, and posture all play into this chiropractic technique. Despite all of the adversities a patient may be experiencing, a chiropractor has an array of skills to combat and correct them.

Treatment

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, conservative treatment helps alleviate pain for 9 out of 10 people.  Studies show that most patients get better within 4 weeks of treatment.  The physician may suggest: modified activity, physical therapy, or pain medication.  The type of treatment selected for the patient depends on the severity, time frame and diagnoses of the problem.   

 Options

Modified activity is used when the patient is experiencing severe pain.  It is recommended that he/she does not do any heavy lifting or bending and keeps fitness level at a low level. The patient should work on light flexibility or strength training that can be done with a chiropractor.  Eventually, activity level will increase.  Physical therapy is another form of treatment.  The physical therapist will show the patient different exercise techniques that can help strengthen the core and maximize the patient’s health.  The doctor may also use an ultrasound or electrical stimulation to decrease pain.  Another alternative is pain medication.  Pain medication can be prescribed by a doctor, but isn’t always the solution.  Medication will only mask pain, not cure it.  After a period of time, the patient’s dosage might have to be raised because they become tolerant of the medication.

12/04/2009

The experience of a cancer diagnosis and related treatment can be a traumatic one for both the mind and body. Certain aggressive malignancies, including mesothelioma cancer, are extremely difficult to treat and will often require incredibly toxic dosages of either chemotherapy or radiation to effectively eradicate malignant cells. These treatments put the body through a great of stress, pain, and illness. Therefore, some of the most important treatments utilized by patients during cancer care will be those that effectively alleviate cancer-related pain and discomfort.

Integrative oncology emphasizes the use of doctor-recommended complementary or alternative therapies in conjunction with traditional therapies. Often, patients who are healthy enough to manage the pain and discomfort are those who emerge from treatment with the most favorable results. The ability to manage these symptoms then becomes directly correlated to the efficacy of the overall treatment regimen.

Chiropractic care is one emerging area in which patients have introduced into formal and traditional treatment regimens. Musculoskeletal pain is one of the most common symptoms of malignant cell growth as well as radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Chiropractic care has been shown effective in some exploratory clinical trials as a pain management tool. Other services by many chiropractic care providers, such as acupuncture and massage have also assisted in providing and easing of anxiety and decreased pain for those undergoing cancer treatments.

Chiropractic care is not appropriate for all cancer patients, particularly those with whom the introduction of additional stress on the body may be detrimental, or those who are not healthy enough to undergo treatment. Patients are urged to speak with their primary oncologist before commencing any integrative or alternative cancer therapy. Ability to participate in such therapies will depend on any other number of specific patient conditions. However, all patients are encouraged to explore any therapy which improves overall health and quality of life.

James O’Shea
Mesothelioma.com

Referenced:
Alternatives in Cancer Pain Treatment: The Application of Chiropractic Care
http://www.chiro.org/ChiroZine/ABSTRACTS/Alternatives_in_Cancer_Pain.shtml

 Research

Research conducted by the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) shows the effectiveness chiropractic care has on migraines and chronic headaches.  The study done at Duke University in 2001, demonstrated different types of physical and mental treatments used to treat patients suffering from chronic headaches.  Researchers compared chiropractic care to amitriptyline, a medication used for headaches, and found that chiropractic care was highly effective for patients with tension headaches.  Even after chiropractic therapy was discontinued, patients continued to see reduction in headache tension whereas patients on medication reverted back to the same state as before.  Chiropractic care can improve physical health and allows the body to fix a correction that lasts beyond the actual treatment itself.