Archive for February, 2011

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

San Jose Care Resource Guide: Anxiety, few do not have it, but there are levels. Here is a link to a good article on the topic of generalized anxiety disorder published by JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Symptoms mentionned in JAMA:

• Fast or irregular heartbeat (palpitations or “fluttering” in the chest)

• Sweating or flushing of the skin

• Muscle tension

• Headaches

• Difficulty sleeping

• Changes in appetite

• Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea

• Edginess or irritability

Note: Article mentions there can be physical reasons for the anxiety:

•  heart problems,
•  thyroid conditions,
•  or other medical issues

The symptoms look  fairly general, and can probably be everything and anything. Which means, you have to talk to your Doctor…

• Treatments include
• Cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT)
• relaxation techniques
• medication

Share this:

Stroke Rehab: Intensive Home Therapy As Good As “High Tech”?

San Jose care Resource Guide:  Good news for the fans, (include us) of  Home Therapy! 

San Jose care Resource Guide: Quoting MedicalNewsToday

“…The results of this study show that the more expensive, high tech therapy was not superior to intensive home strength and balance training, but both were better than lower intensity physical therapy..”

Key word is” intensive”.  What constitutes intensive therapy is not clear. Below is a home  stroke therapy that looks interesting focusing on the arm and hand. video from StrokeSurvivor2008 at YouTube

But it is difficult to understand how a home health rehab can beat  a program for stroke survivers such as NorthwesternU see this YouTube video:

What do you think?

Share this:

Chronic shoulder pain: comparison of acupuncture and conventional treatments

San Jose Care Resource Guide: Chronic shoulder pain can have many causes, the next link  Chronic Shoulder Pain: Part I. Evaluation and Diagnosis   will bring you to an detailed article from Kelton  M. Burnank et. al. on the the diagnosis of the various aspects of it.

•  rotator cuff disorders,
•  adhesive capsulitis,
•  shoulder instability,
•  shoulder arthritis

This article is quite technical: as the it  goes into the details of sub-categories of underlying illness or condition, , the complexities of the diagnosis of the causes of shoulder pain become apparent.

The classical treatments of such causes is described in another article by the same author.  Chronic shoulder pain: part II. Treatment.

Those treatments consist of

• Activity modification and analgesic medications
• physical therapy
•  Combined steroid and local anesthetic injections

Then: “…Symptoms that persist or worsen after six to 12 weeks of directed treatment should be referred to an orthopedic specialist…”

Cure or long term relief does not seem  a given.

Then come a method apparently more benign: accupuncture.  Accupuncture seems to have  some good rate of success according to an article in JAAPA   Chronic Shoulder Pain and Acupuncture Treatment. This article concluded:

“… A treatment series of 15 acupuncture sessions produced signifi­cantly greater pain relief than sham acupuncture or conservative treatment in patients with chronic shoulder pain not due to osteoarthritis or rheuma­toid arthritis…..”

Talk to your Doctor

Share this:

Home Health Experts Systems

SJCRG: There some online expert systems for the home care community. We will list some here

Warning:

• Those Expert System have not put health providers out of  business yet! They could be used though to help you decide to go see your Doctor. Also, do not forget your own expert system: what your body and gut feel are telling you!
• SJCRG does not endorse the accuracy of the Expert Systems mentionned.

• EasyDiagnosis.   This is an easy to use, simple, system.
• EverydayHealth:  Designed by an MD, Stephen Schueler, MD, is an emergency physician, teacher, and author
• FamilyDoctor.org  

More Expert Diagnosis Systems to come….

Confirm whatever you find out with your Doctor.

Share this: