Bone Cancer: What Should You Be Aware Of?

Bone cancer is an uncommon form of the disease that begins in the bone itself. It can occur in any bone in the body, but usually affects the long bones which make up the arms and legs. There are several types of bone cancer, some of which primarily affect children and others which affect adults. The term bone cancer doesn’t actually include those which begin in other parts of the body and spread to the bone later on – it only relates to cancers which start in the bone. For the former, those cancers would take on the name of the area they began, such as breast cancer that has metastasized to the bone. It also doesn’t include blood cell cancers, such as leukemia, that begin in the bone marrow. The symptoms of bone cancer include fatigue, unintended weight loss, broken bones, bone pain, and swelling and tenderness in the affected area. If you have symptoms that are bothering you, you should speak to your GP as soon as possible. Researchers are still unsure what causes bone cancer, but they know that bone cancer begins as an error in the cells. This error informs the cell to grow and divide in an uncontrolled way which forms a tumour. There are thoughts that certain people are predisposed to develop this if it is a genetic problem in their family history.

There are several different types of bone cancer, which include osteosarcoma – this is the common form of cancer which develops in children and young adults. Chondrosarcoma begins in the cartilage cells and usually affects older adults. Ewing’s sarcoma is a less clear form of cancer, as researchers are unsure where it originates. This is also more common in children and young adults. Inherited genetic syndromes are thought to be one of the main causes of bone cancer, meaning that the genetic syndrome is passed down through families which increases the risk. Paget’s disease of the bone is a precancerous condition which increases the risk of bone cancer and is more common in adults.

You should be well prepared for your appointment if you are concerned about your risk of bone cancer – the more information you can provide your GP with, the better they can diagnose your condition. There will be a lot of ground to cover, so the more preparation you can do the better. Write down any personal information you can such as recent life changes or majorly stressful events that you’ve recently gone through. Your symptoms will be the biggest indicator, so write down a list of anything you’re experiencing, even if you think it might not be relevant – it could well be a symptom. You may want to take along a friend or family member for support, as there may be a lot of information to take in, so it might be useful to have someone to help you remember the details. You should also make a note of any medication that you’re currently taking as this could hinder any treatment or diagnosis. Bone cancer is less common than some other forms of cancer, but if it is caught early there can be a good rate of treatment success. The more aware you are of your body and what is normal for you, the better equipped you will be to spot the signs if something is wrong. If you’ve been experiencing the aforementioned symptoms for a few days without them dissipating, you should speak to your GP for advice.

Categories: adults, bone, Bone Cancer, cancer, include, Symptoms, young adults

ADD All Grown Up: The Six Common Symptoms Adults Face

In adults, attention deficit disorder (ADD) often looks quite different than it does in children—and its symptoms are unique for each individual. This can make ADD and ADHD quite difficult to diagnose, so it can be years before your realise your wellness – or that of a loved one – is even affected by the health concerns. Identifying areas in which you experience difficulty can help you start to work on strategies for dealing with them. So which common ADD/ADHD symptoms should you look out for?

 

1. Trouble concentrating and staying focused: If your wellbeing is impacted by ADD or ADHD, you may find you have problems with staying focused and attending to daily, mundane tasks, albeit, to a certain degree, don’t we all? Those with ADD/ADHD are often easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds, quickly bounce from one activity to another, or become bored quickly. You can overlook these kinds of symptoms because they’re not that disruptive to daily life, but they can be every bit as troublesome.

 

2. Hyper-focus  This may seem a little bit strange considering the symptom we’ve just covered, but, on the other side of the coin, people with ADD/ADHD a tendency to become absorbed in tasks that are stimulating and rewarding. This paradoxical symptom is called hyper-focus and is actually a coping mechanism for distraction—a way of tuning out the chaos. You might get so engrossed in a book or TV programme, for example, that you completely lose track of time and what you’re supposed to be doing. When channelled into productive activities, hyper-focus can be a real asset, but it can also lead to work and relationship problems.

 

3. Dis-organisation and forgetfulness: Life seems chaotic and out of control to most people, but this is especially the case in ADD/ADHD. The challenge lies in staying organised, sorting out the relevant information for the task at hand, prioritising, keeping track of tasks and responsibilities, and managing your time. Common symptoms include chronic lateness, procrastination, trouble starting and finishing projects, losing or misplacing things often and frequent forgetting of appointments, commitments, and deadlines.

 

4. Impulsivity: The symptoms involved in this category boil down to the face that you struggle in inhibiting your behaviours, comments, and responses. You might blurt out comments or interrupt people often, rush through tasks without reading the instructions, say rude or inappropriate things, get addicted to things quite easily, struggle to sit still during a long meeting, and just generally have poor self-control. For better or for worse, you go headlong into situations and find yourself in potentially risky circumstances.

 

5. Emotional problems: When you have ADD/ADHD, managing your feelings – especially emotions like anger or frustration – can be difficult. It’s likely that you have a sense of underachievement, don’t deal well with frustration, are easily flustered and stressed out, exhibit irritability or mood swings, have trouble staying motivated, are hypersensitive to criticism, demonstrate a short, often explosive, temper and/or experience low self-esteem and sense of insecurity.

 

6. Hyperactivity or restlessness: This is the most well-known symptom of ADD/ADHD in kids and hyperactivity in adults with ADD/ADHD can often look the same. People might say you’re perpetually “on the go” as if driven by a motor, due to your high levels of energy. However, for most adults with ADD/ADHD, the symptoms of hyperactivity present themselves in more subtle and internal ways as they grow older. Still, you may have this problem if you show symptoms like feelings of inner restlessness and agitation, a tendency to take risks, getting bored easily, racing thoughts, trouble sitting still, constant fidgeting, a craving for excitement, excessive talking and doing a million things at once.

Categories: add adhd, ADHD, adults, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), common symptoms, easily, hyper focus, nbsp, staying, staying focused, Symptoms

What Are The Characteristics Of Sexually Healthy Adults?

When we think about sexually healthy adults is can be difficult sometimes to ask ourselves whether it is a category that we fall into. For many people the worries about this sort of thing can be overwhelming as we can easily begin to consider that our behaviour is abnormal or that we are doing things the wrong way. But to live a happy and healthy life there are certain things that we look for with regards to sexual health. These are the characteristics that are associated with all sexually healthy health adults and they can be broken down into distinct categories. Indeed there are many different aspects of life we need to look at to establish normalcy.

 

So one of the first thing that it is important to look at is communication. If you can be considered sexually healthy it is usually true that you will be able to communicate with both genders in appropriate and respectful ways. You should also be able to communicate effectively with family and friends, as well as being able to talk to other adults about sexual issues. When it comes to the act of sex, it is true that you should be able to accept refusals of sex without hostility but also that you should be comfortable about not wanting to have sex and be able to express it properly.

 

Indeed this goes even further when we think about the concept of communicating about sex with your partner. You should be able to discuss limits, contraceptive and condom use and other issues regarding what happens between you sexually. When you do this you should be able to accept the limits that your partner asks for and also feel confident in setting limits that you are happy with.

 

It is important too that you are able to develop friendships that do not have a sexual agenda and that you can enjoy without the need for a sexual aspect. You will also need to be able to avoid exploitative relationships and choose partners who are responsible, trustworthy, safe, giving and loyal. You should also be able to be sexually intimate without being physical. It’s also true that sexually healthy people will be able to express yourself physically without going to the point of intercourse including things such as holding hands and kissing your partner. But one thing that is especially important is being able to take responsibility with your own boundaries.

 

Self-esteem is an important issue in everyone’s lives. When we think about sexually healthy adults it is a serious issue and there are a number of key issues. You should be able to respect your own body and be able to touch your own body without feeling ashamed. You should be able to feel happy about sexual experiences that you choose. It is also true that you should have a sense of who you are and to be able to accept yourself for the person that you are. Perhaps most important is that you should be comfortable with your sexual identity and orientation.

 

You should be able to accept and understand the consequences of sexual activity. You should also be able to respect the things that other people enjoy. And knowing your values is an important aspect of this. Beyond knowing your own values and living your life by them it is also true that you should be able to accept the values of other people. You should not feel threatened or worried by the values of others if you are to lead a happy life that you enjoy.

Categories: accept, adults, Healthy, healthy adults, sexual, sexual activity, sexually, sexually healthy

Are We Equipped to Help Adults with Autism?

While autism is a health concern you usually associate with children and young people, the disorder is likely to continue to affect sufferers’ wellbeing right through into adulthood. This is according to a wealth of wellness experts and researchers in the field, who note that the US healthcare system isn’t equipped to deal with the rising numbers of adults with autism. They add, however, that some individuals with autism may be able to surpass their non-autistic counterparts at university and beyond.

 

According to the US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, it is estimated that one in every 88 children has an autism spectrum disorder. Autism researcher Paul Shattuck, from Washington University in St. Louis, notes that this means 45,000 to 50,000 kids with autism turn 18 each year. Dr. Joseph Cubells, director of medical and adult services at the Emory Autism Centre at Emory University in Atlanta, explains, ‘This is an impending health care or community care crisis. The services that are available vary from state to state, but often the resources just aren’t there.’

 

The National Alliance on Mental Illness states that, if you have an autism spectrum disorder, you are entitled to services from your public school until you reach the age of 22, at which point it is up to you and your family members to find educational or employment opportunities and appropriate living arrangements. However, wellness experts point out that the programmes for adults with autism are already thin on the ground, and this is likely to get worse as the increasing number of children who are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders grow into adults.

 

The problem with treating or helping people with an autism spectrum disorder is that the needs change from person to person. Cubells clarifies, ‘We say autism as if it’s a single thing, much like we say cancer, but, within the general category of things we call cancer are brain tumours, lung tumours, pancreatic tumours, and each requires different treatments. Autism is very individual. It varies from one extreme where someone needs custodial care for their entire life to the other extreme where someone is a highly functional, successful person who may be regarded as being a little quirky. There are some common themes, but there’s really nothing that applies to every single person.’

 

With regards to higher education, if you’re on the higher-functioning end of the spectrum you may still be able to go to university, albeit still facing certain challenges. ‘There’s often a substantial mismatch between verbal skills and performance skills,’ Cubells says. ‘You can be highly intelligent and able to do complex math and abstract reasoning, but you don’t know how to ask someone out for coffee. Having to make friends, schedule meals, and get to class without help can be like hitting a brick wall for a lot of people on the spectrum. I often tell people with Asperger’s that they have to learn in words what most people learn intuitively.’

 

However, colleges do often provide services such as peer mentorship programmes to help ease people with autism into college life. Moreover, Shattuck and his colleagues have recently found that people on the autism spectrum are more likely to choose a science, technology or mathematics degree than people without autism, and these types of careers may be just the ones where autistic individuals find the most success. Cubells explains, ‘People on the spectrum can focus on the details. In jobs that would be hideously boring and tedious to most of us, like jobs where you spend hours alone, having a social deficit can be a real strength.’

Categories: adults, autism, autism spectrum, Disorder, nbsp, people, spectrum, spectrum disorder, university, wellness experts

Adults Financially and Emotionally Dependant on Parents

If your children are under the age of 30, chances are that you still play a disproportionately large role in their emotional and financial wellness, and even take care of smaller aspects of their wellbeing. This is according to a new report from the Co-operative Group, which has identified a ‘lost generation’ of 18 to 30-year-olds in the UK for whom debt is normality – a “debt-eration” – and who are finding it hard to become independent in the country’s challenging economy.

 

The study found that young adults in the 18-30 age range have asked their parents for financial help for a range of things from food shopping costs (43%) to holidays (36%) to debt payments (16%) and house purchases (8%). However, the economy cannot take all the blame for this strange outcome of family wellness, as it goes beyond financial support. 80% of emerging adults still rely heavily on their parents for help with basic tasks and decision-making, including transport (40%), chores such as cleaning and ironing (34%) and help with finding a job (27%).

 

The report has identified a “debt-eration”, with nearly two thirds (60%) of 18 to 30-year-olds admitting to having debt, and an alarming 77% not alarmed or worried by it. This debt has many sources, including student loans (63%), credit cards (31%), personal loans (23%), overdrafts (19%) and money borrowed from parents (18%). On broader issues, the report found that two-fifths (40%) are dissatisfied with their lives so far, feeling that they should have achieved more in their lives.

 

According to Martyn Wates, the Co-operative Group’s deputy group chief executive, ‘The findings of our study into 18 to 30-year-olds living in Britain today offers a unique insight into their view of the world and their prospects for the future. It should not be forgotten that it is these young adults who are ultimately going to shape the future of Britain for years to come, so they need support and encouragement to thrive.’ Psychologist Donna Dawson added, ‘In order to help this generation to cope better, parents should encourage independence, initiative and self-sufficiency. This in turn will generate the self-confidence needed to tackle work and money issues, as well as help them to develop a more realistic outlook during an uncertain economy.’

Adults Financially and Emotionally Dependant on Parents

Categories: adults, debt, Debt-eration, group, operative group, Parental Dependancy, Parents, report, Research, year olds, young adults

How Much Physical Activity Should You Do to Stay Healthy?

A lot of diet and exercise advice is geared towards fitness freaks and weight loss wishers, but what about your average Joe (or Jo) who just wants to look after their wellbeing? Let’s say you’re a working-age adult (19-64), how much physical activity do you need to do in order to keep healthy?

 

Whether you want to maintain or improve your wellness, you need to do two types of exercise on a weekly basis; aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity. How much you need to do depends on your age, so don’t follow these guidelines if you’re under the age of 19 or over 65. For the rest of you, your fitness regime should incorporate at least 150 minutes a week of aerobic exercise at a moderate intensity, which means taking up activities like fast walking or cycling. On two or more days a week, you also need to perform muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups (i.e. your legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms). Alternately, you could swap the 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise for 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activities, such as running or tennis, or you could mix it up! You can do activities that strengthen your muscles on the same day or on different days as your aerobic activity, just choose whatever is best for you.

 

A great way to do your recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity is to break it down into manageable chunks of 30 minutes on 5 days a week. If you’re aiming for moderate-intensity activity, you know you’re on the right track if you breathe faster, feel warmer and have an elevated heart rate. You should be able to talk, but not sing the words to a song. Good examples of activities to choose from include walking fast, water aerobics, riding your bike on level ground or with a few hills, playing doubles tennis, pushing a lawn mower, hiking, skateboarding, rollerblading, volleyball and basketball.

 

When it comes to vigorous-intensity aerobic activities, your options are jogging, running, swimming fast, riding your bike fast or on hills, singles tennis, football, rugby, using a skipping rope, hockey, aerobics, gymnastics and martial arts. To determine whether or not you’re at the right level of intensity, check your speaking ability. You shouldn’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. Moreover, you should be breathing hard and fast, and your heart rate should have gone up quite a bit. Generally, you’ll get the same health benefits from 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity as you would from 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity.

 

You count muscle-strengthening exercises in repetitions and set, with a repetition being one complete movement of an activity (like lifting a weight or doing a sit-up) and a set being a group of repetitions. On your two days of muscle-strengthening workouts, you should aim to complete eight to 12 repetitions in each set. While one set of each muscle-strengthening activity is a worthy goal, you’ll get even more benefits if you do two or even three sets. However, you may have to build up to this if you’re just starting out. The way to get the health benefits from muscle-strengthening activities is to do them to the point where you struggle to complete another repetition. You can do muscle-strengthening exercises at home or in the gym. This might mean lifting weights, working with resistance bands, yoga, heavy gardening like digging and shoveling, or doing exercises that use your body weight for resistance, such as push-ups and sit-ups.

Categories: adults, aerobic activities, aerobic activity, Health Benefits, Heart Rate, intensity activity, intensity aerobic, moderate intensity, muscle strengthening

Lack of Legacy: Olympics Fail to Get Us Exercising

With the Olympic and Paralympic games but a year behind us, you’d think we’d still have the proverbial torch burning bright. After seeing the nation’s best athletes storm to victory, surely we’re all still tying up our running shoe laces and breaking out the badminton rackets? Not according to a new study, as researchers from the University of Bristol have found that most adults in England are risking their well-being by failing to get enough exercise. Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum and honorary chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, commented that “No-one should be at all surprised by these woeful statistics,” and blamed the government for failing to make the London 2012 Olympics inspiring enough for getting us to participate in grassroots sport.

 

The government target that fitness and wellness involves taking moderate exercise at least 12 times in a four-week period. However, when the researchers analysed exercise data for more than a million adults in England, they found that 80% have failed to meet this target. Those who were poorer and least educated were more likely to be in this group, while better-off and better-educated adults were most likely to exercise. The perhaps most concerning finding was that approximately 8% of adults who were physically able to walk had not walked for even five minutes continuously during a four-week period, while 46% had not walked for leisure for more than 30 minutes continuously. In terms of other activities, 90% of those studied had not been to the gym and 88% had not been swimming.

 

The study researchers noted that those with no qualifications were three times as likely to not exercise, while people with a degree only had a 12% chance of being inactive, and those with higher socioeconomic status also got plenty of exercise. Therefore, the study results indicate a correlation between your education, household income and local area deprivation and your level of physical activity. According to Carol Propper, professor of economics at the university’s Centre for Market and Public Organisation, “Physical inactivity is the most important modifiable health behaviour for chronic disease, so knowing who is physically inactive is important for designing cost-effective policy interventions.” She added that “financial as well as cultural barriers need to be overcome to reduce the prevalence of physical inactivity”.

Categories: adults, exercise, exercising, inactivity, minutes continuously, Olympics, physical inactivity, Research, week period

How Does ADHD Affect Your Life if You’re an Adult?

Wellness experts used to believe that it was common for children to outgrow ADHD. Unfortunately, a growing amount of evidence in this area implies that this is less of a common outcome that scientists previously thought. ADHD affects adults’ wellness too, often causing them to experience difficulty with time management, organisational skills, goal setting and professional achievement. As an added complication, the mental health condition also impairs your personal life; impacting your self-esteem, self-worth, drive, sense of wellbeing and personal relationships with friends, family and significant others.

If you had ADHD as a child, the chances are that your symptoms were noticeable before you turned seven. The condition is usually diagnosed between the ages of three and seven, as parents notice red flag signs of ADHD such as inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. The first symptom means that you’re easily distracted and unable to follow directions or finish tasks. You probably didn’t like to sit still as a child and made careless mistakes as children with ADHA are often forgetful, lose things and have difficulty organising daily tasks.

Classic hyperactivity symptoms of children with ADHD include constantly squirming, fidgeting, or bouncing while sitting, while the symptom of impulsiveness means you used to relentlessly run and climb on everything, interrupt others, have difficult waiting for your turn and blurted out recklessly. So how does being an adult with ADHD compare to the symptoms that children experience?

If you are an adult with ADHD, you are more likely to experience low-self esteem, excessive procrastination and depression. Sufferers also tend to have lower incomes as well as higher rates of accidents, unplanned pregnancies and substance abuse than those without ADHD. The symptoms often present themselves in the form of chronic lateness, forgetfulness, poor organisational skills and employment problems. Other signs of the condition can even tear apart your personal and professional life, such as blaming, not taking self-responsibility for your actions and anger issues. Therefore, if you think that you may have adult ADHD, it’s important that you look online for more information, and consult your doctor for help and advice on getting your personal life in order.

How Does ADHD Affect Your Life if You’re an Adult?

Categories: ADHD, adults, Personal Life

What is the Promising New Supplement For Autistic Children?

An antioxidant supplement may be the way forward for those with autism symptoms, following research into the substance known as N-Acetylcysteine (NAC).

Rather than relying on a heavy number of chemicals and drugs, the supplement clarifies the body and supplies extra antioxidants to those that need it, similar to Vitamin C tablets or Calcium Supplements.

Autism is a mental illness that usually develops in childhood. Whilst it is possible to live independently, the difficulties lie in learning and general functions that are usually picked up with ease. Akin to autism is Asperger syndrome, in which language – both body and speech can sometimes be an obstacle.

It is not uncommon for those with autism to be sensitive to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours.

The researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard’s Children’s hospital noted that the supplement caused symptoms such as irritability, which can lead to involuntary bouts of kicking, hitting and biting far more manageable than before.

“Today, we have no effective medication to treat repetitive behaviour such as hand flapping or any other core features of autism,” said study author Antonio Harden.

After research of over 12 weeks, the symptoms of autism were far lowered, with a significant decrease of irritability.

The supplement was given to children aged between 3 to 12 years old for 12 weeks. Afterwards, the scores of autistic symptoms dropped from 13.1 to a surprising 7.2, pending research into repetitive behaviours, shyness and the ability to communicate.

The supplement was suggested after research concluded that those with autism are deficient in antioxidants. By providing them with this supplement, life may be lubricated for them, giving both autistic children and adults the brightest future that they can attain.

In the meantime, scientists will continue to research into this promising new supplement based on their positive results.

What is the Promising New Supplement For Autistic Children?

Categories: adults, Aspergers Syndrome, autism, autistic children, Children, Research, supplement, Symptoms

Do Young Adults Struggle to Transfer into Adult Psychiatry?

Transferring young adults from Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to the Adult psychiatry can have a damaging impact to their wellbeing. This is according to new research from researchers at the Luleå University of Technology, who have found that the consequence of moving young adults could be that they won’t receive the care offered. The researchers say that, in order for the transfer to be successful, individuals need a clear plan based on their personal wellness needs.

According to Eva Lindgren, who has a PhD in Nursing, LTU, there are completely different perspectives involved in children’s and adolescents’ mental health and adult psychiatry. This means that making the transfer is a big step for young adults, as they will be expected to be mature enough to be able to make their own decisions about continuing care and treatment. Lindgren explained that having a mental illness makes it even more complicated.

There is a family focus to child and adolescent psychiatry whereas adult psychiatry focuses on you as an individual. Therefore, there is a risk that young adults will fall through the cracks during the transfer without the support they need from relatives. Young adults require self-motivation and a strong will, as well as a confidence in their healthcare. Lindgren said that those who have a good relationship with their relatives anyway don’t tend to have a problem, but when young adults don’t have anyone to help them, the chances are they won’t get the care that they need.

For her study, Lindgren interviewed focus groups made up of staff involved in child and adolescent psychiatry and adult psychiatry. She also conducted individual interviews with young adults and their relatives. The results of the study revealed that there’s a need for transfers to be planned in time, with the patient’s parents involved, in order for them to be successful.

The study also found that both sides need to put in the same amount of work, and staff need to collaborate and get to know each other, as they need to start from a shared consensus. Lindgren added that staff need to put in the time and resources necessary to make the transition as smooth as possible, and there also must be some flexibility based on individual needs.

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Do Young Adults Struggle to Transfer into Adult Psychiatry?

Categories: adolescent psychiatry, Adult, Adult Psychiatry, adults, lindgren, psychiatry, Research, young, young adults