I Need a GP ASAP: 10 Aches and Pains that Need Checking

Your body is a mysterious thing; sometimes you get pain or aches for no apparent reason, but your wellness is completely secure. However, sometimes there are pains which occur as a warning that something has gone seriously wrong, and you need immediate medical attention.

 

1. Jaw and Chest Aches – Sometimes, these aches, when accompanied by aching shoulders, can be a sign of a heart attack so stop what you are doing and seek medical attention immediately.

 

2. Lower Back Pain – Lower back pain is a sign of kidney troubles, such as a kidney stone, an infected kidney or even a severe UTI.

 

3. Severe Abdominal Pain – This can indicate a problem with your kidneys, uterus, pancreas, liver, lungs or worse, an appendicitis attack. There are so many possible causes that you should definitely get it checked.

 

4. Pain in the Calf Muscles – If you haven’t been working out, but experience this pain, you may have Deep Vein Thrombosis, or clots in veins that are putting pressure on proper blood circulation.

 

5. Burning in the Hands and Feet – If this occurs when you haven’t been sitting in a folded position, you might have peripheral neuropathy, or nerve damage. This can be caused by alcohol abuse, dehydration, diabetes or shingles, so it’s worth getting it checked out.

 

6. Vague, Unexplained Aches – Fibromyalgia heightens your sensitivity towards a pain or just a mere pressure, which means that you ache more often than before in your legs, head or back.

 

7. Testicular Pain – This could be hernia, cancer, testicular torsion or just an infection, but either way, you shouldn’t ignore it.

 

8. Severe Headaches – While headaches may not seem like a major health concern, those which descend suddenly and feel more like a thunderclap indicate that you may be having a Transient Ischemic Attack. If left untreated, this can result in a stroke.

 

9. Pelvic Pain – If you experience pelvic pains during intercourse, it may be a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease. This is a bacterial infection which causes inflammation in your uterus and fallopian tubes, and can occur due to uterine cancer.

 

10. Aching Joints – This seems like an inescapable part of life but the mysterious appearance of an ache could indicate that your well-being is at threat to osteoarthritis, hepatitis or rheumatoid arthritis.

Categories: aches, Aching Joints, lower back pain, medical attention, nbsp, Pain, Pelvic Pain, severe

Could a New Procedure Offer Hope to Asthma Sufferers?

Around 30 million people in the United States of America suffer from asthma. This is a debilitating respiratory condition which can cause wheezing, shortness of breath, swelling and, in severe cases, it can lead to premature death. Those who suffer from asthma find that it affects their wellbeing on a daily basis at times, and, as well as these unpleasant physical symptoms, the effect of living with such a condition can also have a negative effect on mental wellness, too.

That’s why many asthma sufferers will be intrigued to learn that a new procedure is being offered in some parts of the USA. Whilst many people can control their asthma to varying degrees through medication, in the most severe cases, the condition can be difficult to control with medication alone.

The new procedure is called bronchial thermoplasty and is now on offer at the University of Minnesota Medical Centre, amongst other places.

Thirty million people in the United States have asthma, but in some cases it is so severe that it can be difficult to control with medications. A trained Pulmonologist performs the procedure, which requires the use of a device that has been made by Boston Scientific.

This is a bronchoscope which is passed through the airways of the patient in order to apply heat to their airways. This then shrinks the muscles around the internal airways, as they are heated to 150 degrees for 10 seconds each time. By shrinking the muscles, the procedure opens up the airways, allowing more room for easier breathing.

The process involves a series of treatments – three in total. These are spaced out with three weeks between each treatment. Each part of the treatment targets a different area inside the lungs.

Not everyone with asthma is entitled to this new treatment – only those who have severe asthma that is not controlled and is affecting their quality of life will be eligible.

Could a New Procedure Offer Hope to Asthma Sufferers?

Categories: Asthma, procedure, severe

How to Use Magic Mushrooms to Cure Severe Depression

It is very difficult to carry out any research using illegal drugs, which is why it is only just coming to light that a compound found in the illegal drug magic mushrooms may be the answer to curing depression. People who live with this emotional difficulty will welcome the revelation, but there is still a lot of red tape stalling research trials, due to the illegal nature of the substance.

Depression affects the wellness and wellbeing of millions of people in the UK, but they could benefit from the chemical psilocybin, which is the ingredient in magic mushrooms that causes the psychedelic effect. It is thought that this could be used to turn down regions of the brain that are associated with depression, such as the anterior cingulate cortex. In people with depression, these areas seem overstimulated, and are held responsible for many of the symptoms found in severe depression, such as dwelling on feelings of worthlessness, unhappiness or inadequacy.

A research team was headed by David Nutt, a former UK government drugs adviser and took place with the help of a team from Imperial College London. The team from the college believes strongly that psilocybin may be the vital breakthrough that they have been looking for to help tackle serious depression, as sometimes this strength of depression cannot be treated in the usual way, such as with antidepressants and talking therapy.

Volunteers were used for the preliminary research, and the results showed that there may also be benefits beyond improving the wellness of those with severe depression. Increased emotional wellbeing was demonstrated in the volunteers, with effects lasting for up to two weeks after they took the drug.

This exciting preliminary lays the ground work for further research, and the team has secured a half million pound grant to proceed, but first they must tackle the fact that research on the illegal drug is strictly controlled.

How to Use Magic Mushrooms to Cure Severe Depression

Categories: depression, illegal, illegal drug, magic, magic mushrooms, mushrooms, Research, severe, severe depression, team