What Differentiates A Migraine From A Headache?

The cause of migraines is unknown but the symptoms can be very debilitating – those suffering with a migraine will experience a throbbing, intense headache, far worse than the mild headache we all experience from time to time. During an attack, the blood vessels in the brain dilate and draw together with stimulation from the nerve endings near the affected blood vessels. Researchers agree that these changes to the blood vessels are probably what causes the pain, though they don’t have a full understanding of how a migraine works or what brings them on. Those who suffer with migraines tend to do so because of a predisposition for the condition in their family but, again, it is not fully understood what role genetics play in the development and risk of migraines. Around 20 percent of females and 6 percent of males suffer with migraines, making it a fairly common condition. It’s rare for people to develop them in later life though, as 90 percent of sufferers have their first attack before they’re 40 years old. Researchers suggest hormones are connected to migraines, as many women often find they start getting them around puberty. Most believe that certain foods make the problem worse, so it may be worth avoiding cheese, chocolate, wine and citrus fruits – these can cause an attack. Furthermore, emotional triggers can be worth trying to avoid where possible, such as anxiety, and stress. The contraceptive pill, travel, bright lights and exercise are all connected to migraines according to sufferers.

 

People often refer to a regular headache as a migraine, but there are differences that set these two ailments apart. The ‘classical’ migraine has a variety of specific features, including headaches which affect one side of the head at a time, regular headaches which occur in bouts of roughly four to 72 hours, nausea and vomiting, preceding symptoms such as flashing lights and a blurred vision, and sensitivity symptoms such as sensitivity to light and sound, and a tingling sensation in the body. In rare cases, people with migraines experience a transient loss of the power of a limb, or temporary difficulty with speech, but this is not commonly associated with migraines. The initial diagnosis requires great care, as the first attack of a migraine can look like other serious concerns, such as meningitis or a stroke. However, once several attacks have occurred it makes it easier to spot patterns that can determine whether or not the individual is suffering with a migraine problem.

 

Many women find that the oral contraceptive pill makes attacks worse, and if this is the case then this should be stopped. The best solution when you’re suffering with a migraine is to rest in a quiet, dark room – bright lights can make it worse. You’re best treating a migraine as soon as it starts, as the treatment becomes less effective the longer you’ve had it. The treatment varies depending on your age and the severity of your problem, so you should speak to your GP before buying over the counter remedies if possible. However, simple painkillers can be effective in relieving the symptoms – they’re usually the first form of treatment tried, so may be worth trying if you’re suffering with the symptoms. Some people find that homeopathy helps, including acupuncture. It may be worth speaking to your GP anyway though, in order to ascertain if this is the best course of treatment and also to see if there are any other changes you can make to lower your risk of having an attack.

Categories: Attack, blood vessels, contraceptive pill, headache, migraine, migraines, people, Symptoms

Could You Save Someone’s Life During a Heart Attack?

According to a shocking new health survey, where emergency doctors were asked for their opinions, around 90 percent believe that resuscitation practices aren’t effective enough.

 

This was carried out via a State of Resuscitation survey, which looked at the implications of current rescuscitation practices on the wellness and wellbeing of cardiac patients. Around 88 percent of those who responded felt that the intervention of bystanders (in the form of CPR) was a very important factor in improving a patient’s chances of survival if they are having a heart attack.

 

A further 77 percent felt that patients needed to be got to a doctor more quickly in order to boost their chances of survivial, while 73 percent felt that better sharing of information and data collection were needed in order to improve outcomes for patients. Of those surveyed, 66 percent also felt that automated technologies could be improved.

 

The survival rates for those who have a sudden heart attack are quite poor, and the doctors surveyed felt that this ws likely to be due to the fact that there is an aging population. About a quarter of the doctors also felt that obesity was an important factor in the low survival rate for heart attacks. Many of the doctors felt that CPR feedback devices should be available to more of the population to improve the outcomes of those who had to have CPR.

 

Having said all this, significant improvements have been made in terms of resuscitation, with more people understanding what they need to do in the event of being present when someone suffers from a heart attack.

 

To continue this understanding, doctors need to engage with communities more and encourage extensive CPR training. This will help more members of the general public to increase their awareness of what to do if someone they are with suffers from a sudden heart attack.

Categories: Attack, attack nbsp, cardiac, Doctors, felt, heart, Heart Attack, nbsp, percent, percent felt, sudden heart

How to Resume Your Sex Life After a Heart Attack

If your well-being has been affected by a heart attack, you may be too embarrassed to inquire about your sexual health. But when is it OK to have sex again? And what’s the safest way to go about it? Now, new guidelines, published in the journals Circulation and European Heart Journal, are urging doctors to help their patients resume a healthy love life, and provide – for the first time – specific advice on enjoying sex safely after a heart attack, stroke, heart transplant or other heart condition.

 

This isn’t the first time that guidelines have discussed how long you should wait before getting back between the sheets, the new advice details exactly which sexual positions and activities you can engage in if you aren’t ready for the physical exertion of intercourse. According to Elaine Steinke, lead author of the statement and professor of nursing at Wichita State University in Kansas, ‘Patients are anxious and often afraid sex will trigger another cardiac event – but the topic sometimes gets passed over because of embarrassment or discomfort.’

 

The paper also recommends that you undergo some type of sex counseling, and discuss with your doctor the health risks of embarking on an affair. As having an affair has been shown to increase the risk of dying from heart problems, the guidelines urge doctors not to be embarrassed about fully discussing the issue. Professor Steinke commented, ‘We deal with the intimate parts of the body in many ways as health care providers. Those who want information are very much relieved that the health care provider has brought up this topic.’

 

If you’ve had no complications after your heart attack, and can walk briskly without experiencing chest pain or other symptoms, the guidelines state that you can typically engage in sexual activity after one week. However, if you’ve undergone heart bypass surgery, you need to wait for your incision to heal fully, and can generally safely resume sexual activity after six to eight weeks. This should be done gradually, and you might want to consider more PG stuff before you move onto the main event, Professor Steinke advised.

Categories: Attack, guidelines, health, health care, healthy sex life, heart, Heart Attack, positions, professor steinke, sexual, sexual activity

Asthma: Why Dust In The Air Can Trigger Attacks

In Dubai, weather warnings have been released stating that high winds will wreak havoc on cities and towns. These winds will pick up dust, creating dust storms and rain. The high speeds of the winds and sands will decrease visibility, too. The most important factor of this weather though is the effect it will have on people with respiratory issues. Those stating the report have explained that anyone with asthma should either wear a mask or avoid heading out into the weather if at all possible. Doctors in Dubai have noted that there has been a 20 percent increase in patients with upper respiratory complications since the arrival of such extreme weather.

Such sandstorms contain two types of particles, one of which is coarse and one which is fine. Generally, the fine particles cause more damage to people with asthma. GPs have advised that anyone who suffers from asthma should continue to take medication during this weather, even if staying indoors. They suggested that if patients are experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath and severe cough, they should seek medical advice as soon as possible in case of an attack.

Asthma is a respiratory condition which affects one’s ability to breathe easily – irritants and particles cause the airways to create an anti-inflammatory attack on the body, which causes the airways to swell and constrict. People suffering from asthma can help to reduce the risk of an attack through limiting their exposure to excess dust and mould spores, chemicals in the air such as air fresheners, and perfumes. Exercising helps to open up the lungs, so light physical activity once or twice a week can help. It’s important to take it easy with exercise though, as it can have an adverse effect – speak to your GP if you’re unsure which forms of exercise are best for the severity of your condition.

Asthma: Why Dust In The Air Can Trigger Attacks

Categories: Asthma, Attack, dust, Stormy Weather, weather, Winds

When Should You Turn Off Your Internal Defibrillator?

If you have suffered from a heart attack, heart disease or any other similar cardio or heart health related problem, you may have been fitted with an internal defibrillator. These tiny devices are around the size of a matchbox and are implanted into the chest. When the heart stops beating, this is detected by the clever device, which fires a jolt of electricity into the heart in order to kickstart it again.

Designed to save lives, these tiny devices can greatly increase the wellness and wellbeing of cardio patients, and can help to save lives, as they jolt the body back into life instantly, rather than requiring others to get the patient to hospital in time.

There are instances, however, when such a device can be a curse rather than a blessing, such as when someone has reached old age and a natural point of death. If they are still fitted with one of these devices, it can actually lead to a long, drawn-out and extremely distressing death, as every time the body reaches a natural point of death, the device will then shock it back into existence again. There have been instances where distressed patients have received up to 30 shocks in the moments before their death.

Patients are now being advised to think carefully about when would be the right time to have their devices switched off, in order to avoid this kind of scenario. Hospices don’t have the ability to switch these off at the time of death as it requires specialist equipment that is only available in a number of hospitals.

With these devices being implanted under the collarbone of around 9,000 people every year, the implications of their effect in later life is one that needs to be seriously considered.

When Should You Turn Off Your Internal Defibrillator?

Categories: Attack, defibrillator, heart

Why do Kids with Asthmatic Attack visit ER?

An asthma attack is when symptoms are worse than usual. They can come on suddenly and can be mild, moderate or severe.

 

What happens during an asthma attack?

• The muscles around your airways tighten up, narrowing the airway.
• Less air is able to flow through the airway.
• Inflammation of the airways increases, further narrowing the airway.
• More mucus is produced in the airways, undermining the flow of air even more.

 

In some asthma attacks, the airways are blocked such that oxygen fails to enter the lungs. This also prevents oxygen from entering the blood stream and traveling to the body’s vital organs. Asthma attacks of this type can be fatal, and the patient may require urgent hospitalization.

 

At onset, an asthma attack does allow enough air to get into the lungs, but it does not let the carbon dioxide leave the lungs at a fast enough rate. Carbon dioxide – poisonous if not expelled – can build up in the lungs during a prolonged attack, lowering the amount of oxygen getting into your bloodstream.
Asthmatic children with high rates of asthma make many more visits to the Emergency Room (ER).  While socioeconomic factors such as lack of adequate preventive care are part of the equation (high-asthma neighborhoods tend to be lower income), new research points to a possible biological basis for the disparity. Asthmatic children living in asthma hotspots are twice as likely to experience a common symptom known as exercise-induced wheeze than are those in neighborhoods with lower asthma rates.
Exercise-induced wheeze is very uncomfortable for children. It can present rapidly after beginning any strenuous activity and lead quickly to respiratory symptoms, so it is not surprising that it is a factor in ER visits.
It was found that one-third of the children experiencing exercise-induced wheeze had not used an inhaler prior to exercising. “The good news,” is that these symptoms are preventable. Parents should talk with their Doctor, so they can be ready with a plan, including the use of appropriate medication such as a bronchodilator inhaler prior to exercise.
Exactly why asthma hotspots have higher rates of this symptom remains a mystery. While inadequate use of a bronchodilator inhaler prior to exercise was part of the story, it didn’t fully explain the findings. Allergens and air pollution related to fossil fuel burning were not found to be factors. Neither were differences in physical activity, obesity, or neighborhood conditions such as the number of parks.
“Exercise-induced symptoms” may identify a distinct population of asthmatics with causes for their exacerbations yet to be determined. The important lesson is that with greater awareness and treatment, you Dan hope to prevent those unscheduled visits to the doctor and trips to the ER.”

Why do Kids with Asthmatic Attack visit ER?

Categories: Asthma, Attack, ER