Saturday, September 3, 2011

Osteitis Deformans (Paget Disease)

Osteitis Deformans also known as Paget's disease is a slowly progressive disease that is congenital and may affect many members of a family. It is insidious in nature, as there may be no or minor symptoms at first. Generally there are 2 stages of Osteitis Deformans. In the first stage there will be the start of bone resorption. This is followed by the second stage when an osteoblastic action occurs with forming of new bone. Both of these stages can occur at the same time.

The individual is not aware that this is occurring because there are no symptoms at first. When symptoms start to occur, there will be bone pains that can start at different parts of the body. The pains will occur adjacent to a joint. As the disease progresses, there will be an overgrowth of bone tissue. The initial sign may be a blood test that shows an increase of the alkaline phosphatase. Another sign that the disease has triggered may be a routine x-ray that has been taken for a painful joint. The x-ray may show that there have been the beginnings of enlargement of the bone. If there is pain in the tibia, the x-ray may show signs of bowing of the tibia, which can occur in Osteitis Deformans. Generally the area most affected in this disease is the hip joint with significant over growth of bone in the area.

At this stage of the disease, the skull is also affected and will be enlarged. When this occurs, there may be a hearing loss that can affect one or both ears, depending on the degree of increased bone surrounding the areas of each ear. The enlargement of the skull may also affect the vision in one or both eyes. The enlargement of the skull can also have an impact on the teeth causing them to loosen. Chewing will then be a problem when this occurs. When Paget's disease affects a joint area, the joint usually will become arthritic as well. Another area that will be impacted by Paget's disease is the spinal column, causing a curvature of the spine, (kyphosis).

There may be other consequences as well for the patient with Osteitis Deformans. The patient may be prone to kidney stones, and arthritis of the joints. It can also cause the heart to increase its pumping capacity to provide more blood to the problematic areas affected by the disease, thus increasing the individual's heart rate. As stated before, Paget's disease can affect any part of the body at any given time. However, the areas mostly affected will occur in the following order, the pelvis, femur, skull, tibia, vertebrae, clavicle and humerus. At the first sign of any type of symptom, such as bone pain, soreness in a particular area with a burning sensation, the individual should visit their healthcare provider and discuss the symptoms with them. The doctor will do several tests in order to arrive at a definitive diagnosis.

These tests will include blood tests, including the alkaline phosphatase, x-rays and possibly a bone scan. Once a definitive diagnosis is made, the doctor will suggest a course of treatment. The treatment will probably consist of different kinds of medication. The patient should discuss these medications and their possible side affects with the doctor before starting the course of treatment. They also seek the advice of practioners of alternative medicine. The most important thing is to recognize this disease at its earliest stages and initiating a course of treatment. By doing so, the progression of the disease can be slowed down, lessening the more drastic affects caused by this devastating disease.

Symptoms Of Leaky Gut Syndrome - Learn This Hidden Condition

Diagnosing the symptoms of leaky gut is sometimes complicated for many doctors and even some specialists. The main reason for this is that each person who suffers from this condition will react differently to the many different symptoms caused from it. This causes these professionals to treat each person and symptoms individually per case which, as you could see, leads to missing the underlying factor of their problem.

Now before symptoms of leaky gut begin you may want to know a bit on how they develop. It starts when the lining of your intestines become irritated and inflamed which prevents them from doing their job correctly. Now your intestines begin to leak harmful toxins into your bloodstream which then triggers your body's immune system to react. Even though your immune system is meant to protect you it also kills necessary cells you need along with the bad ones. A few symptoms that follow are bloating, constipation, heartburn and diarrhea.

The harmful toxins that were leaked into your bloodstream will also affect your organs and tissues. Your organs will begin shutting down and deteriorating from the chronic state of inflammation. As you can guess, this will lead to medical conditions like allergies, kidney disease, acne, headaches, arthritis, Fibromyalgia, and Candida (A Leading Symptom of Leaky Gut). Unfortunately your body is not out of the woods yet. The first organ that is affected by leaky gut is your liver and with all the harmful toxins that are leaking in your bloodstream causes your liver to put in many more hours of work that it is not used to.

Just like anything else in life that is overworked, your liver will begin to tire out and not properly function. If your liver is not able to help your immune system filter out these harmful toxins they will be released back into your bloodstream opening more doors for infection. Your kidneys also help fight off infection with aid from the adrenal glands which sit on top of your kidneys. Leaky Gut Syndrome will not allow your adrenal glands to function correctly, again causing fatigue. A few signs you can look for would be exhaustion, restless sleep, inability to cope with stress, difficulty concentrating, and poor digestion.

As you can see it could be difficult at times to know if what you are dealing with are symptoms of leaky gut syndrome. Your bodies only way to tell you that something is wrong are symptoms like these so it is crucial that you don't push them aside. These symptoms could lead to a more serious problem and can be dealt with properly if caught by the right time. If you are accurately diagnosed in have Leaky Gut Syndrome then you will be fortunate enough start yourself onto a clear path of treatment and put the discomfort from symptoms of leaky gut in the past.

Distinction between Gout and Pseudo Gout

There is a difference between gout and pseudo-gout but most people are not aware of this difference. While gout is characterized by uric acid crystal's pseudo gout is characterized by crystals are made from calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate. The pseudo gout is also called calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition disease or CPPD. There are many common misspellings of pseudo gout however every one of these variations refers to the same disease.

The reason people may be confused about gout and pseudo gout is because the symptoms are similar in nature. Both gout and pseudo gout are accompanied by fever and painful joints. They appear like joint injuries causing joint stiffness and inflammation as well as pain.

However, even though there are similarities in symptoms, there are clear differences as well.

•    Pseudo gout is caused by a different substance as opposed to the regular gout symptoms. The pseudo gout crystals can be seen on x-ray machine whereas doubt crystals cannot be seen on an x-ray machine although it is indeed possible to see the bones and joints that have been damaged by the disease. In order to diagnose the disease accurately the crystals have to be identified as either MSU crystals or pseudo gout crystals. The difference between these crystals is that gout crystals are needlessly whereas pseudo gout crystals are rhomboid shaped. This can be easily examined under a microscope.
•    Gout is a disease that is common in people between 40 to 60 years of age. However, it is more common in men than women who have not yet reached the age of menopause. With the pseudo gout, it is more likely to occur in individuals who are above the age of 65 years. In most of the cases, symptoms tend to get worse as the age increases.
•    There is also a difference in the way each of these attacks occurs. Gout attacks are quick and usually occur during the night and can get fully implemented within 24 hours whereas pseudo gout attacks take a longer time and are not as severe as gout attacks.
•     Gout is caused by excessive uric acid found in the body whereas pseudo gout does not have any particular cause. In other words the actual cause of pseudo gout is unknown. Gout commonly occurs or starts in one of the big toes on either foot whereas pseudo gout can start anywhere in the body especially in the knees but not in the big toe.