Hair Loss is Depressing for Men, for Women it Can be a Disaster

In a survey of women who had suffered from noticeable hair loss, half said they had seriously considered suicide and the other half said it had badly affected their marriages. It’s obviously a condition that deserves to be taken seriously by the medical profession, yet until recently there has been a marked disinterest.

‘A lot of people get the feeling that doctors aren’t interested if you go to see them about hair loss,’

‘It’s not life-threatening, it’s not even painful. But it can ruin people’s lives.’

Hair naturally changes in thickness and quality at different times of life. After childbirth, for example, many women find they’re temporarily ‘moulting’ as their hormones change. After the menopause, too, reduced hormone levels usually leave hair a little thinner. But if your hair starts falling out, don’t just accept it.

‘It’s a medical problem, not a cosmetic problem,’

‘It should always be investigated to determine whether there’s a background condition that needs treating.’

Hair loss can take one of several different forms. With alopecia areata, hair starts falling out in patches. This may continue till there’s none left on the body – though a third of sufferers just develop a one-off bald patch, after which the hair grows back and never causes any further problems. Alopecia areata (thought to be an auto-immune condition, in which the body attacks itself) can be triggered by thyroid conditions, anaemia, vaccinations or stress. A tendency to this kind of hair loss sometimes runs in families, along with asthma and eczema.

Male-pattern baldness, or alopecia androgenetica, can affect women too. The hair becomes thin or leaves a bald patch on top of the head. This can be a sign of hormone problems, either caused by a medical condition such as polycystic ovary syndrome or as a reaction to the progestogens in some contraceptive or HRT pills.

Some people lose their hair in the aftermath of a severe shock such as a serious accident or bereavement – a condition called telogen effluvium, in which trauma disrupts the hair’s natural growth cycle so that it all falls out at once. This can also be triggered by unhealthy eating.

‘The commonest cause in women is a nutritional deficiency.’ Avoid yo-yo dieting and crank diets. If you’re not eating animal products, make sure you have enough protein, zinc and iron from other sources, and take vitamin B supplements.

Things have moved on since a GP said not to worry since there were some very nice hats in the shops. Hair loss causes as significant an impact on quality of life as severe illness such as psoriasis.

Treatments for Hair Loss

A lotion called minoxidil has been shown to help alopecia areata when used with the steroid drug prednisolone. Though steroids can have serious side effects, including raised blood pressure and bone-thinning when taken for long periods.

Another course of action is to try to irritate the scalp into producing hair again – amazingly enough, this often works. We use a chemical called diphenylcyclopropenone (Diphencyprone) or leaves from the plant primula obconica.

Minoxidil has been shown to help alopecia androgenetica, with a success rate of two thirds reported for the 5% prescription formula and about one third for the 2% over the counter version. Drugs such as the contraceptive pill Dianette can be used to bring the hormones back into balance.

A new drug called finasteride (Propecia) is available on prescription for men, though it has not yet been tested enough to rule out possible harmful effects on women, and it is suspected of causing damage to babies in the womb.

Whatever your hair-loss problem the first step is to make an appointment with a trichologist.

www.thewestminsterpractice.com

Gary Heron
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/hair-loss-is-depressing-for-men-for-women-it-can-be-a-disaster-118380.html

Endometriosis Part 31 – What is Endometrial Hyperplasia ??

As we mentioned in previous articles during the last stage of the menstrual cycle normally a layer of endometriosis lining in the inside of the uterus is expelled, known as menstruation blood but instead some of the endometriosis tissues grow somewhere in the body causing endometriosis. Endometriosis also reacts to hormonal signals of the monthly menstrual cycle, building up tissue, breaking it, and eliminating it through the menstrual period. In this article, we will discuss what is endometrial hyperplasia.

I. Definition
Endometrial hyperplasia is defined as abnormal thickening of the endometrium caused by excessive cell growth. It normally accompanied by endometrial cells irregularly and cystic expansion of glands.

II. Cause
It is caused by the result of continuous stimulation of the endometrium by high level of estrogen and insufficient level of progesterone being produced by the ovary. This type of abnormality often occurs to woman in perimenopause stage, because her menstrual cycle now becomes irregular and she is no longer ovulates in every cycle.

II. Types
There are 4 difference types of endometrial hyperplasia depending on the level of over growth endometrial cells.
1. Simple
This is the early case of endometrial hyprplasia. over growth endometrial cells exit in the endometrium but lesser in the gland.
2. Simple atypical
Abnormality apprears in the endometrial cells’ nuclei and not cancerous.
3. Complex
In this case, endometrium cells crowded the endometrium glands.
4. Complex atyical
significant abnormality in the endometrium cells’ nuclei as well as over growth of the endometrium cells in the endometrium glands.

I hope this information will help. If you need more information or insurance advices, please follow my article series of the above subject at my home page at:
http://medicaladvisorjournals.blogspot.com
http://lifeanddisabitityinsuranceunderwriter.blogspot.com/

Kyle J. Norton
http://www.articlesbase.com/women’s-health-articles/endometriosis-part-31-what-is-endometrial-hyperplasia–691578.html

Hyperthyroidism Causes Symptoms Information With Treatment

Hyperthyroidism is a medical condition in which the thyroid gland produces too much thyroid hormone (called T3 and T4). It controls your metabolism , which is how your body turns food into energy. Hyperthyroidism can significantly accelerate your body’s metabolism, causing sudden weight loss, a rapid or irregular heartbeat, sweating, and nervousness or irritability. It also affects your heart, muscles, bones, and cholesterol. Other rare causes include e xcess dietary iodine consumption, abuse of thyroid hormone medication when patients overdose on thyroid hormone pills (either accidentally or purposefully because they think it will help them lose weight – a fallacy because taking too much thyroid hormone can be dangerous and life threatening), overactive metastatic thyroid cancer, or rare diseases of the ovary or testicles that can cause the thyroid to be over-stimulated. Or you may have no symptoms at all. Your doctor may discover that you have hyperthyroidism while doing a test for another reason. Several treatment options are available if you have hyperthyroidism. Doctors use anti-thyroid medications and radioactive iodine to slow the production of thyroid hormones. Although hyperthyroidism can be fatal if it’s ignored, most people respond well once hyperthyroidism is diagnosed and treated.

Causes of Hyperthyroidism

The common Causes of Hyperthyroidism :

The body recognizes the thyroid antigens as foreign, and a chronic immune reaction ensues, resulting in lymphocytic infiltration of the gland and progressive destruction of functional thyroid tissue.

Drugs such as amiodarone, interferon alpha, thalidomide, and stavudine have also been associated with primary hypothyroidism.

One such medication is lithium, which is used to treat certain psychiatric disorders. If you’re taking medication, ask your doctor about its effect on your thyroid gland.

Other types of ‘thyroiditis’ (thyroid inflammation) caused by infection or other rare conditions.

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Failure of the pituitary gland to secrete a hormone to stimulate the thyroid gland ( secondary hypothyroidism ) is a less common cause of hypothyroidism.

The most common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, a disease of the thyroid gland where the body’s immune system attacks the gland.

Radiation used to treat cancers of the head and neck can affect your thyroid gland and may lead to hypothyroidism.

Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism

Some Symptoms of Hyperthyroidism :

Fatigue

Weakness

Increased appetite

Constipation

Increased sweating

Inability to tolerate cold.

Heat intolerance

Cold skin.

Weight loss

Muscle cramps

Restlessness

Menstrual irregularities in women

Slow body movements.

Treatment of Hyperthyroidism

Myxedema coma is a medical emergency that occurs when the body’s level of thyroid hormones becomes extremely low.

If a serious illness or infection triggered your hypothyroidism, your thyroid function most likely will return to normal when you recover.

After replacement therapy has begun, report any symptoms of increased thyroid activity ( hyperthyroidism ) such as restlessness, rapid weight loss, and sweating.

Surgery is indicated for large goiters that compromise tracheoesophageal function; surgery is rarely needed in patients with hypothyroidism and is more common in the treatment of hyperthyroidism.

If you have mild (subclinical) hypothyroidism , you may not need treatment but should be watched for signs of worsening hypothyroidism current research does not provide clear evidence to support treatment, and many health professionals disagree about whether mild hypothyroidism should be treated.

Hypothyroidism in pregnancy is associated with preeclampsia, anemia, postpartum hemorrhage, cardiac ventricular dysfunction, spontaneous abortion, low birthweight, impaired cognitive development, and fetal mortality even mild disease may be associated with adverse affects for offspring.

Sometimes hypothyroidism is a temporary condition in older children. (This is not so for children who are born with an underactive thyroid.

Juliet Cohen
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/hyperthyroidism-causes-symptoms-information-with-treatment-241786.html

Painful Ovarian Cysts: The Symptoms and Risks

Cysts are nothing much but ’sacs’ filled with fluids that form in the ovaries and look like small blisters. These cysts are usually harmless and do not generally require medical attention. These cysts are generally non-cancerous or benign in nature. However in some cases the cysts can turn cancerous, that is why tests are required to correctly diagnose the presence of ovarian cysts. But in most cases, cysts do not cause any pain or any problems unless the situation gets complicated.

Some of the cysts that do cause pain have discussed below in detail. These ovarian cysts can lead to some very painful situations.

Bulky ovarian cyst

Research has proven that cysts larger than 10 cm usually lead to pelvic pain unilaterally or bilaterally, i.e. affecting one side only or both sides of the lower abdomen. One of the most unusual things related to these kinds of cysts occurred a few years ago when a 37 old woman had to be operated upon as she complained of severe pain in the abdomen. The surgery revealed an abnormally large ovarian mucinous cystadenoma cyst that had turned into a tumor weighing 328 lbs or 149 kg. The tumor was pressing upon the bladder, and the woman was suffering from acute pain and also had problem relieving her.

Ruptured ovarian cysts

In some cases ovarian cysts rupture or burst and lead to bleeding. They also sometimes twist upon themselves and also cause the fallopian tube to get twisted and cause severe pain in the pelvic area. Sometimes in place of the severe acute pain that lasts for only a few minutes, the patient might have a dull throbbing pain that lasts for days at stretch. Sometimes this dull pain is mistaken as the abdominal pain related to their monthly cycle. But the acute pain is much more severe to be ignored. It can lead to a very painful situation and requires immediate medical intervention.

Ovarian cystic pain might be unilateral or bilateral

Since ovarian cysts are present on both sides of the abdomen, pain can occur in both sides. But in reality that happens very rarely. But if pain is felt on both sides at the same time then chances are that both the ovaries have got ovarian cysts. It can lead to lots of pain.

Ovarian cysts may cause pain after sex

Ovarian cysts can also cause pain after sexual activity. In medical terms it is called dyspareunia, the pain might occur during sexual intercourse or even after it is over and can even persist for quite some time after that.

Ovarian cysts might cause pain during the monthly cycle

The presence of ovarian cysts can lead to pelvic pain just before or after the menstrual period. The correct diagnosis is required to ascertain the true reason of the discomfort; it might also be caused due to painful bowel movement, which is another symptom of ovarian cysts. But pain just before or after the monthly period is one of the very common symptoms of ovarian cysts.

If you have a painful ovarian cyst then you surely need to seek medical attention as soon as possible. You should never neglect this situation as not only the pain is severe but also it can lead to complications later on. The best way to treat ovarian cysts is by adopting holistic remedies. Holistic remedies treat the body as a whole and target all the factors leading to the situation. Holistic remedies target the actual factors leading to this painful situation and not just the symptoms, and that is why holistic remedies are most effective in treating ovarian cysts. Holistic treatment makes sure that the ovarian cysts do not come back ever again. If you want to live a healthy life free of ovarian cysts then you should surely opt for the holistic remedies.

Mary Parker

http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/painful-ovarian-cysts-the-symptoms-and-risks-734579.html

• Ovarian Cancer Doesn’t Have to Mean Infertility | Strong Together – New Users: Register Here | Home | A place to share news, thoughts, and feelings about cancer care for women. I would like to share with you the inspiring story of Missy Dougherty. Missy came to us in October, 2007 with ovarian cancer.
• Ovarian Cyst Symptoms – Hidden Signs and Natural Treatment Methods … – Nowadays there is a growing number of woman suffering from ovarian cyst signs. This reproductive problem is affecting millions of ladies all over the world.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The Polycystioc Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder affecting between thousands of women worldwide. Since some women are asymptomatic, it is particularly hard for them to detect the condition. Only when it becomes problematic, such in cases of disability to conceive women turn to their doctors to ask for their expert advice and seek treatment. On the other hand, some women have quite pronounced symptoms, including obesity, acne and/or skin pigmentation, hirsutism, male-pattern hair growth or baldness, weight gain and insulin resistance. In addition, records of high blood pressure have also occurred, as well as dizziness, exhaustion and depression. Extremely important are also the psychosocial effects of PCOS, as suffering women tend to have poor body image and low self-esteem.

While PCOS is not a rare health case, the causes of PCOS are unclear. Recent studies indicate both genetic and environmental/lifestyle links. Specifically, doctors attest that about 25 percent of women have ovaries that can be diagnosed as polycystic on an ultrasound examination. This condition is called Polycystic Ovaries (PCO) and it can occur for a number of reasons. But women with polycystic ovaries (PCO) do not necessarily suffer from PCOS. Those having the syndrome have cysts that actually contain small follicles, which have not matured to release an egg.

In countries were special examinations exist, doctors are able to diagnose PCOS when other typical PCOS symptoms are present, but the ovaries appear to be normal. Most frequently, women with PCOS will have more than one of the following symptoms: irregular or only occasional periods, which may be very heavy when they occur; polycystic ovaries; difficulty becoming pregnant; problems with weight gain and increased upper body fat; excessive facial hair growth or occasional loss of head hair; acne or skin pigmentation; and increased blood lipids. As any one of these symptoms can be caused by other health conditions, it is important for women to investigate all the possibilities with their doctor before taking any form of medication.

Unfortunately, although research and knowledge is evolving rapidly, PCOS is not yet fully understood by practitioners. In particular, while doctors know that certain hormones are affected, they do not known where and how the changes begin or why some women will have different symptoms compared to others. In most cases, the hormones typically affected by PCOS are androgens-male-type hormones, such as testosterone-which are present in low levels in all women. But the women having PCOS have higher levels of androgens causing a variety of health problems like the ones mentioned above. Moreover, the hormone of insulin can be also affected. This is extremely serious, as women with PCOS may become insulin resistant, which can lead to weight gain and an increased risk of forming diabetes later in their life. Also, other hormones affected include the luteinising hormone (LH) and the follicular stimulating hormone (FSH). The outcome is that the follicles in the ovary do not mature and thus prevent the ovary from releasing an egg that will lead to a normal monthly cycle.

Oral contraceptives are usually subscribed by doctors since the chemical substances they release can be used to assist with irregular periods and will help protect women with PCOS against uterine cancer. But before taking any type of oral contraceptives, women found to have PCOS must consult with their doctor about the best form medicine for their specific case.

Finally, women with or without PCOS should focus on creating and maintaining a lifestyle that will keep them fit and healthy. Frequent diet changes and weight increase or loss due to irregular eating patterns, should be definitely avoided. Furthermore, exercising should be one of the first priorities women with PCOS should have, as regular exercise can help reduce the insulin levels in the blood and encourage weight loss. However, some women with PCOS will find it very difficult to manage their weight. But, even in cases where weight loss is not necessary, symptoms are improved via a healthier diet and an exercise plan.

Kadence Buchanan
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-60205.html

What is the recovery time after having ovary removed?

I have a 20cm dermoid cyst attached to my left ovary i am waiting on an appointment to go into hospital to have the cyst and ovary removed.I work with young children and need to be fit to look after them .So any ideas of how long it will take me to be fit enough for work.The doctor says 4 weeks but most people i have spoken to say it will be much longer.
I would be grateful to hear others experiences.

It depends on how it is done. Vaginally yes, 4 weeks. Abdominaly 6-8 for heavy lifting.