When she was thirteen I was sure I had the words
To stop her from dying her hair
You'll be sorry! You'll be orange headed!
You'll get expelled! You're GPA will suffer!
Now that latter one did make her pause
Albeit briefly
Then she just shrugged and off she went to the hair dye aisle
Now it is even easier
katie Baby can dye her hair any colour she chooses as often as she likes
It is the manic panic moment don't you know?
It's a young girls dream!
Choose any colour and then in four weeks
POOF!
Choose another and go from red to green to pink to purple and NOW!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!
It is blue.
Well...she always did love the smurfs
barbara bethard
Thursday, August 4, 2011
How to Perform an In and Out Catheterization
As a student nurse (many years ago) in a bachelor's program the opportunities for writing case studies, care plans and memorizing side effects of medications far outweighed the opportunities to practice basic nursing skills. Always remember to first consult the nursing clinical policy and procedure book at the facility where you are learning however, These steps are fairly basic ... good for many facilities. Read, Practice on a doll or manikin (If you have one) then "Go for it"
Go to the patient's chart and review the physicians order. Even if the nurse who told you about this order gets a bit "cool" towards you, remember that they are human too. Remember, you worked hard for your license, so protect it! Now, write out the laboratory slip, place it in the outside pocket of the lab bag then write with magic marker on the specimen cup the pertinent information. That way you don't have to worry about contaminating your pen if you write on the cup after you collect the specimen!
!) Gather your supplies. Double check your supplies. There is nothing more frustrating or intimidating than to get halfway into something and then have to stop just to go back to you chart and get something small like a Q Tip!
Enter your patent's room politely by knocking and calling out a greeting including your name as a way of announcing yourself. Explain the procedure to your patient and provide patient privacy by closing curtain over windows and pull privacy curtain itself around bed.
Place your supplies on the overhead table, open your garbage bag and set it on the end of the bed or on the floor depending on the facilities policy. Now tell your patient that you are going to wash your hands, this is very important; this lets your patient know that you know the best way to prevent the spread of any infection is to...What? Right, go wash your hands.
Scrub your hands for 15-20 seconds with soap and water, letting the water stay running the tire time. The CDC says this is enough time to kill bacteria on your hands; besides you can use this time to go over the steps of the procedure you are about to perform.
When you come back to the patient's bedside you will begin to set up your sterile field, remember to open all items away from you, do not tear open items, and pull apart on the edge or on the dotted line. Even though you did the correct patient right steps at the nurses’ station, do it again. Double check your paperwork; starting with R's, right patient, right MD order, right site, right date, right time, right type
Verbalize every step as you are performing each step/this is a good to keep your patient calm as well as to keep your hands steady! And the more often you speak the steps out loud the easier it will be to continually perform the correct steps in the correct manner every time
The correct steps, the ones that will rarely vary from one facility to the next are as follows after you have washed your hands: Open sterile catheter kit, Remove sterile field maintaining aseptic technique and place in between the patients legs which are opened but patient is still draped for privacy, only the specific part of the body necessary for the procedure should be visible to you. Do not touch the bed, the sheets, the patient, if you do you will contaminate it all and have to get new sterile gloves, wash your hands, do everything all over again so be careful!
Remove catheter from plastic sleeve and drop onto sterile field, Don sterile gloves correctly, Open betadine packet or Chloroseptic packet, place swabs on sterile field next to catheter, open lubricating jelly packet, place end of catheter into packet of lubricating jelly, Decide now which hand will be clean and which hand will remain as sterile as possible. If you are right handed you may find that being on the patient’s right side of the bed with the overhead table facing the head of the bed will work well for you. Regardless of whether catheterizing male or female the next step is the same. With both hands, both still as sterile as possible at this time pick up the cath box with all items inside by the inside. Not as hard as it sounds, place both hands, palms down, into the box, spread your fingers, no you have a grip on the inside of the catheter box and you can lift it up and set it between your patient's legs.
Instruct your patient as you are doing all of this that you have now made him/her your assistant. Their job is to keep from touching or moving or knocking over that catheter box. This is also the time to start speaking your steps to your patient. It lets your patient know what is about to happen so they stay calm, and the more times you say the steps out loud the more likely you will be to actually perform the steps in correct order every time.
With your unsterile or dirty hand pick up the penis of the male patient and hold it at 90 degree angle or spread the labia of the female patient so you can see the meatus. Remember, male or female, the unsterile hand does not move from this point on, its' job is to keep the meatus visible and keep it from preventing contamination of the catheter as it is being inserted as that would make the UA results false.
With your sterile or cleanest hand each into the catheter box, for the swabs. I cannot hold the packet with my left hand; keep the labia open and meatus visible and swab the meatus of male or female without contaminating. I have to use one swab at a time, being careful not to touch anything but the tips of the cleaning swabs, and dropping the dirty swab into the garbage bag.
I swab down with one swab down either side of the meatus, then the last one right down and directly over the meatus. Remember to drop the dirty swab onto the sterile drape you placed in front of the patient and not behind the cath box, that would mean you crossed over your sterile field and contaminated it remember Ghostbusters "Crossing the streams...I thought you said crossing the streams was bad Russ..."
Still with cleanest, sterile, gloved hand reach into your cath box and take out the catheter, curled into a ball with the end inside the open specimen cup. This is a bit awkward as well; remember you only need 10 ml for a UA, only 30 ml for a C and S.
For a male you may need to insert the catheter to the hub before any urine is obtained, for a female you should see urine flow when you 2-3 inches inside the meatus
Once you have enough for the specimen in your specimen cup you can empty your patient’s bladder the rest of the way or withdraw the catheter. Withdraw the catheter, warning patient first. Try saying "OK, count to three, one, and two and then on three withdraw the catheter.
Reassure your patient; set aside the specimen cup with the top securely closed... spilling the catheter cup in front of your patient is bad! Now pick up and put up. Tidy your patient first, betadine and Chloroseptic are both chemicals, do not let this stuff remain on your patient’s skin or their skin may be burned!
Again, provide privacy, ask patient if door can stay open and let the patient know that UA may come back in 24 hours; if a culture is done it takes 72 hours to know the results and the physician may or may not start the patient on an antibiotic right away This is also the best time to instruct your patient on the signs of a urinary infection, ways to manage or prevent infection, starting with hand washing and how the infection may be treated according to the physicians orders
barbara bethard
barbara bethard
Several Things That Can Be the Cause of Chronic Back Pain
Chronic back pain can be debilitating and crippling. It hurts to move so people move less than the muscle tone goes flaccid and when they try to move, it hurt even more! It becomes a vicious cycle. Many people fall prey to the endless round of pain medications and the side effects they cause from gastric distress to dependency, creating another entire set of problems. However, sometimes just getting to the cause of the back pain itself can be a nightmare of tests upon tests and physical therapy after physical therapy without seeming to do any significant help with the pain. Physicians often refer patients to both a pain management clinic as well as to an orthopaedists at the same time because back pain goes together and must be handled together for best results.
There may be many problems associated with chronic back pain.
Sports Injuries. Even walking, if done incorrectly can cause a gait problem that can be alleviated with physical therapy
Hereditary problems such as scoliosis. Many people with scoliosis must wear special braces to help keep the spice in alignment and prevent further damage and pain.
Obesity. A sensible diet coupled with exercise, just walking, can over a year’s time decrease a person’s weight dramatically. Nevertheless, it must be consistent. When weight is decreased off the spinal cord, the pain is often immediately relieved.
People with chronic back pain may worsen the problem buy the way they walk and cause further damage. These people often benefit greatly from physical therapy to retrain them how to walk without causing undue strain on the muscle, strengthens and tones the muscles they need and improves posture.
Kyphosis is a rounding of the back caused a lot of times by age and can be extremely debilitating. Persons with Kyphosis often need to wear a corset type of garment such as worn by persons with scoliosis to help relieve pain.
Chronic back pain can lead to depression and many people find that they need counseling for the emotional pain of living with the very real pain all the time. Your physician will make a referral to social services or some pain clinics offer this type of service to many individuals with chronic back pain. Persons with chronic back pain often lack energy for some everyday tasks due to knowing in advance “If I do the laundry my back will hurt for two days so I will do it only once a week” But the problem is when chores are left to pile up the doing of them only once a week causes increase back pain and then it takes longer to get over that pain.
Chronic back pain often leads to depression and as noted above sometimes not only an internal medicine physician but also a pain management physician, orthopaedist and a psychiatrist are needed to complete the team of taking care of chronic back pain.
The most important team member for dealing with complications related to chronic back pain is the patient himself or herself. The patient must agree to abide by the therapy exercises, the mediation regime, the physicians plan of care and to follow p at all times in case of complications.
Persons with chronic back pain are also more prone to falls and must call the physician if this occurs. This is because persons with chronic back pain often develop osteoporosis, which can lead to fractures from lack of calcium in the bones themselves. Physical therapy helps with this as weight-bearing exercise; such as walking, will decrease the risk of trauma from falls. No one has x-ray vision and it is best to err on the side of caution at times. Other complications the patient needs to report to his or her physician include:
· Sudden debilitating pain never felt before
· Decreased ability to function, walk, perform dressing or grooming activities
· Numbness in megs especially feet
· Pain in calves especially with walking
· Falls of any kind
· Increased stiffness in the back upon awakening
What You Need to Know About Celiac Disease
This immune disorder is getting more publicity, gaining knowledge as more people are diagnosed, and being successfully treated. It is not the same as a wheat allergy although wheat, barley and rye are all involved. It is the body’s inability to digest these grains that leads to pain, diarrhea, bloating, fatigue and failure to thrive. The failure to thrive may well be one of the first things that are seen in children, as it is found in middle infancy but can be diagnosed at any age. Many persons remain without any symptoms at all for a long time. The three grains, barley, rye ad wheat are not shortened in the jejunum and the villi (tiny hair like projections on the sides of the intestines) so the intestinal tract ends up pushing all the nutrients from these grains out, causing pain along the way.
Celiac disease is called coeliac in England and other names are “celiac sprue, non-tropical sprue, gluten enteropathy, gluten-sensitive enteropathy and gluten intolerance.” Although it has become more known in the past few years it was actually identified in the late nineteenth century and was derived from the Greek word for abdomen, hence, celiac or abdomen. It is easily misdiagnosed as lactose intolerance due to the body’s inability to digest milk products later in the disease cycle. Most persons with celiac disease live with bloating, pain, diarrhea, extremely foul smelling fecal material and severe fatigue.
The worst-case scenario for persons with celiac disease is a predisposition to types of cancer including adenocarcinoma and lymphoma of the intestine and the small intestine, respectively. Other complications include osteoporosis, which will increase risk of bone fractures in children, anemia, and mouth ulcers, worsening of intestinal digestive problems, ulcers in the small bowel or obstruction of the bowel itself. Longstanding and non-treated disease could end with surgery, including gastrostomy or jejunostomy, depending on where the obstruction ended up.
Nowadays there are many gluten free products on the market and many lactose free products as well, however raising a child with this disease can be challenging to say the least. One pudding cup or one piece of cinnamon toast can cause sickness that can last from hours to days. Imagine being unable to have pizza or spaghetti as a child. Many parents resort to spending hundreds of dollars a month on a special food diet that can be easier ordered online rather than trying to run all over town looking for gluten free foods.
There is no cure for celiac disease. This makes early diagnose and consistent proper diet of the person with this disease imperative. Major problems can occur such as decreased growth, vitamin deficiencies that will lead to problems and disease of major organs such as bones, liver, and nervous systems.
Proper and rapid diagnosis is imperative as the symptoms mimic those of Crohns disease, irritable bowel symptom or even stomach ulcers. If your child shows persistent signs of any of the following take him to their pediatrician as soon as possible. These symptoms include, tiredness, pale stool, diarrhea that comes and goes, abdominal pain and cramping, skin rash on elbows or knees that look like dermatitis, or sores in the mouth, signs of anemia such as dry brittle hair and nails, fatigue, loss of weight, slow to no growth rate.
As noted, the cause is unknown though it is suspected it may be an inherited trait. It is important that if someone in your immediate family that you are aware the risk of one of your children having or contracting celiac is a definite possibility. It has also been noticed that celiac disease can occur following trauma, infection, pregnancy or physical injury though the reasons for this remain unclear. The continue treatment for celiac disease remains a lifelong persistence to a diet free of gluten. There can be no cheating in this diet especially as parent's as our children’s health is paramount and we do not want to be the cause for any complications further down the road. Research and talk with other parents of children with celiac disease, develop a support group and try to remain as strong as possible for your children. Children can be very persuasive and they cannot understand the difference between parents refusing to give them a chocolate chip cookie from a friend’s house as the chocolate chip cookie in their own cookie jar. Increased knowledge and education remains the key or both parents and children of this disease.
barbara bethard
barbara bethard
The Importance of Dedicated One on One Orientation in Home Health Nursing
July 26,2011
Medicare has decreased the amount of PPS (Prospective Payment System) in home health by 4.74% effective January 1, 2014. The reason was this decrease was twofold. Home health Agencies had not put into place the Face-to-Face requirement and they could not prove that their patients overall health and well-being had improved. One way to improve on showing Medicare patient improvement is to have staff who are knowledgeable in Medicare guidelines and are performing every task, from use of point of care to wound care the same way, every time. One way to achieve that goal is by dedicated one on one instruction or orientation for all staff, from old to new. This article will talk briefly of a new home health nurses orientation.
Orientation should provide the new nurse more than a copy of the agency dress code and when will the next payday begin. Of course, all of the things that Human Resources does on the nurses first and second day is important and must be done before the new nurse is able to accomplish anything else. That is why it should never be considered as part of orientation. Human Resources (HR) manages all these tasks for every employee in the home health agency; HR is not just for nurses. Do not count the two or three days it takes for the new nurse to accomplish all the paperwork, fingerprinting, drug tests, W-2 and CPR requirements.
Once all the tasks for HR are completed, greet your new nurse and tell her “Now you’re orientation begins!” Orientation can take anywhere from a two to six months depending on how much experience the nurse has, if the nurse is familiar with Medicare and home health, if the nurse is competent in instruction of medical surgical disease, if the nurse is self assured and well organized. If the nurse does have organizational skills or needs a lot of reassurance then the orientation period may take longer but this in no means is a reason to give up or not hire the nurse in the first place. All it means is the clinical educator or the supervisor will continue to keep close tabs on that nurse for a longer period of time.
It is easier to write out a timeline and tasks for a brand new home health nurse than it is to try to teach an experience home health nurse Medicare guidelines and nursing for home health patients. Obviously, this is because the clinical educator will be able to impress upon a nurse who has never done home health the importance of following Medicare Guidelines as well as the way the particular agency expects their nurses to perform. The use of the internet for verifying information on the cms.gov website is a crucial part of orientation and should be used from the first day of “true” orientation to home health. It is always more impressive to use the Medicare website because that makes your orientation date current.
Timelines can be re-written and tasks moved around; home health is never the same way two days in a row. This is one of the most important reasons to have a clinical educator or even a consultant who can dedicate every moment of the day to nothing but orientation of all new staff members, although today we are concentrating only on the nurse. With one dedicated person for orientation the new nurse will receive the same instruction, in the same way, without variation or contradictions that sometimes occurs when a new nurse is shuffled from one supervisor to another or one field staff RN (registered nurse) to another.
Regardless of how talented and competent your field RN’s are, wait a long time before sending the new nurse with them out on the road. The Clinical Educator needs to be the one to go into the field with the new nurse, do the tasks and have the new nurse give return demonstrations on every task as well as on the point of care. The Clinical Educator needs to be the one responsible for “imprinting” the agencies policies and procedures and Medicare guidelines on every new home health nurse. It is the dedicated one on one instruction from the best home health educator to the new nurse that will ensure success and retention of the home health staff forever.
A template for orientation will follow along on a calendar. The new nurse will be on a Monday through Friday schedule until competency and confidence is achieved. The home health agency can use their own policy and procedure book to get a return demonstration on every skill or task and several will eventually be done in a single day as the orientation progresses. Orientation should if possible always be done in the field, not in a lab; home health is not nursing school.
The Clinical Educator will be the one to perform a skill or a task, and then at then at the next patient home the new nurse will perform the same skill or task. Sometimes it may be more efficient if the Clinical Educator also have a current number of patients, as this will be less stressful on the other nurses whenever a new nurse is hired. This is especially important if the home health agency is still paying nurses per visit instead of salary. It will also make acceptance of the new nurse easier within the circle of nurses already employed by the agency, as they will not feel threatened.
In summary, orientation should never take a specific amount of time. The new home health nurse can become a valued team member if given the proper start. Although it may sound comical to talk of “imprinting” the new nurse like a Mother Goose with her goslings, this is not far from the truth. When the home health agency is dedicated to providing quality patient care within the budgets and guidelines of Medicare; this leads to another dedication. That new dedication becomes to provide all of their nurses the tools, knowledge and the support from Medicare and the home health management itself. When the staff see their Clinical Educator or supervisor out in the field, instructing and assisting instead of sitting in the office having “tea and crumpets” attitudes will changes and improved outcomes will be the end result. Improvement in outcomes will mean only one thing; the patient will improve and the home health agency will be able to show they were the cause for the patient improvement!
barbara bethard
barbara bethard
How Much Tylenol is Too Much for My Child?
Tylenol or acetaminophen is in a class of drugs called pain and fever reducers. It is not an NSAID (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug) which includes Advil, Motrin ibuprophen to mention a few. Tylenol or acetaminophen is in so many over the counter products along with many narcotic pain medications that the risk of over dosage, of taking or of giving the incorrect dose has become a big concern. There have been over dosages especially in children of Tylenol. Sometimes this happens when there are babies, toddlers and young schoolchildren in the same house. It can become quite expensive as well as confusing. There are thirteen different kinds of Tylenol on the grocery and drug store shelves and this only includes the ones that are over the counter! Tablets, caplets, gel capsules, suppository, chewable tablets, liquid and extended release. How much do you give to which child or for that matter, to yourself?
Although the manufacturers of the product include the paper form inside every product, the language is difficult and the print is extremely small. The majority of people use the side of the box as to how much to give and rarely read beyond the initial dosing instructions. The safest maximum amount for an ADULT is 4000 milligrams of acetaminophen during a 24-hour period. For children it should be based on their weight and then it should be told in dropper or the cap of the bottle how many millimeters or drops to give. The FDA and CDER are researching the efficacy of this but there have not been any changes noted at this time. This is one of the things that FDA and CDER (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) are attempting to correct. The Obama Administration in June of 2011 proposed that the amount of milligrams per tablet, capsule, liquid and all other forms be reduced in an attempt to stop the accidental overdosing that has been occurring.
However, it is education and publication of the consequences that can occur with an overdose that will assist in the reduction of overdosing. Most of the over the counter cough and cold medications have been removed from the outer shelves and kept behind the pharmacist counter, however, it is when it taken home and a parent uses the product for the baby, with just the amount cut in half that the problem can begin. One problem that may go undetected until much later is that some products contain aspartame, a non-sugar sweetener thought to e the cause of hyperactivity in young children. The worst thing that could occur however with any acetaminophen overdosage is liver damage and or death. Couple the large amount of acetaminophen with the cough and cold suppressant, which decreases respirations and causes severe sleepiness and a tragedy could result.
The safest thing in any case is to treat every individual as exactly that, an individual and read the instructions on the over the counter acetaminophen carefully. One suggestion is to use a white board or just a sheet of paper, write the name of each child and below that write the amount recommended and below that write the date and time every time you give a dose to that child. Make columns, keep separate pages or whiteboards, do whatever it takes to keep your children safe from harm; Just as you are doing every day, the safety and health of your children is paramount.
barbara bethard
Although the manufacturers of the product include the paper form inside every product, the language is difficult and the print is extremely small. The majority of people use the side of the box as to how much to give and rarely read beyond the initial dosing instructions. The safest maximum amount for an ADULT is 4000 milligrams of acetaminophen during a 24-hour period. For children it should be based on their weight and then it should be told in dropper or the cap of the bottle how many millimeters or drops to give. The FDA and CDER are researching the efficacy of this but there have not been any changes noted at this time. This is one of the things that FDA and CDER (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) are attempting to correct. The Obama Administration in June of 2011 proposed that the amount of milligrams per tablet, capsule, liquid and all other forms be reduced in an attempt to stop the accidental overdosing that has been occurring.
However, it is education and publication of the consequences that can occur with an overdose that will assist in the reduction of overdosing. Most of the over the counter cough and cold medications have been removed from the outer shelves and kept behind the pharmacist counter, however, it is when it taken home and a parent uses the product for the baby, with just the amount cut in half that the problem can begin. One problem that may go undetected until much later is that some products contain aspartame, a non-sugar sweetener thought to e the cause of hyperactivity in young children. The worst thing that could occur however with any acetaminophen overdosage is liver damage and or death. Couple the large amount of acetaminophen with the cough and cold suppressant, which decreases respirations and causes severe sleepiness and a tragedy could result.
The safest thing in any case is to treat every individual as exactly that, an individual and read the instructions on the over the counter acetaminophen carefully. One suggestion is to use a white board or just a sheet of paper, write the name of each child and below that write the amount recommended and below that write the date and time every time you give a dose to that child. Make columns, keep separate pages or whiteboards, do whatever it takes to keep your children safe from harm; Just as you are doing every day, the safety and health of your children is paramount.
barbara bethard
Different Types of Disease Processes Caused by Hormonal Changes
How many hormones are in the human body?
Scientists are discovering more hormones in the human body on a daily basis however, at this time the known count is more than fifty different hormones in the human body. There are the same number in both male and female. The only difference is in the amount of some hormones rather than others. In other words, both male and female have testosterone, but males usually have a larger amount and conversely males also have the estrogen hormone, but women usually have a greater supply. With over fifty different hormones it stands to reason that, one cannot speak of a hormone imbalance in general terms. There are just too many hormones that may be the culprit. One way to understand hormonal imbalance is to discuss different disease processes that are caused by a hormonal imbalance.
Where do hormones come from and what good are they?
All hormones originate from the Endocrine system. Within the Endocrine system are more glands that assist with the regulation and production of the hormones attached to it. The Endocrine system consists of the ovaries, testes, hypothalamus, thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, adrenal and the pineal glands. Hormones do much more than assist in reproduction; they are responsible for growth, metabolism, development and even homeostasis (like our own thermostat for hot or cold.)
What happens if there is a low hormone or an increased hormone?
Because there are so many hormones and because they control of affect so many different parts of the human body an imbalance, trauma or birth defect can have a negative, sometimes lifelong effect. One thing many people can sympathize with is menopause. Menopause is definitely caused by a shift or imbalance in a female’s hormones, progesterone and estrogen. However, did you know that Hypothyroidism is also cause by a hormonal imbalance? Many disease processes can be tied directly to a problem with a hormone and those will be discussed next.
What kinds of diseases are due to a hormonal imbalance?
Hypothyroidism is a disease where the thyroid gland is not producing enough of the thyroid hormone. Symptoms include hoarseness, extreme lethargy, constipation, high cholesterol level, heavy menstrual periods, depression and brittle hair and nails. Treatment is to monitor your thyroid level regular and take a thyroid replacement. Very easy, one pill taken every morning before your feet hit the floor then wait an hour before eating or drinking anything.
Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not secrete enough or none at all, of the hormone insulin. Insulin changes your food into fuel and along with oxygen takes that food to every cell in your body. Symptoms include sweating, increased urination, sweet smell to breath, increased thirst. Treatment is to monitor blood sugar as physician orders, changing of your diet and exercise is imperative and taking insulin subcutaneously or an oral antidiabetic agent daily or more often is necessary to keep blood sugars below 120 milligrams per deciliter.
Acromegaly is the syndrome that begins when the person is a teenager and involves too much of the growth hormone from the pituitary gland. Symptoms include teeth gapping, lower jaw is thrusting forward, forehead protrudes and hands and feet are extremely large. Treatment includes taken a synthetic form of the brain hormone somatostin analogue, which decreases the production of the growth hormone in the pituitary.
Cushing’s disease is caused by too much of the hormone cortisol. Usually it is from taking too much steroids but can also be due to a tumor of the adrenal gland. It is the adrenal gland that produces the hormone cortisol. Symptoms include acne, slow healing, weight gain especially in face so it becomes as round as a full moon (hence the term “moon face”)and in front portion of torso and over the back between shoulder blades (buffalo hump.) Treatment includes reduction of the amount of steroids being taken, or surgery if the cause is a tumor of the adrenal gland or complete removal of the adrenal gland.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome is when a woman has too much of the androgen hormones. These hormones are comprised of androstenedione, testosterone and Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. Treatment includes management of weight, addition of antidiabetic meds if needed and sometimes oral contraceptives will assist with the regulation of these hormones.
Menopause is the normal cycle for women where their reproductive hormones, progesterone and estrogen slowly deplete and stop. Women have the choice to choose of taking estrogen replacements or to wait until the symptoms stop. Remember that once estrogen replacement is stopped, regardless of how old the woman is at the start of menopause, all the symptoms of menopause will return and the woman will still have to go through all the symptoms again. Symptoms of menopause are well known, night sweats, hot flashes, foggy memory, and irritability.
Andropause is the equivalent of menopause except it attacks men. It is caused from a depletion of the male hormone, testosterone. Symptoms include male breast enlargement, night sweats, decreased libido, weight gain, hot flashes, hair loss and depression. Treatment includes hormone replacement therapy as well, or time. Therefore, both men and women can go through reproductive hormonal imbalance and both have the options of taking replacement hormones to counter the effects of the symptoms
Graves Disease is both an autoimmune disease and a hormonal imbalance. There is no cure but the symptoms can be managed. It is caused by the thyroid gland, which is producing an excessive amount of the thyroid hormone. Symptoms include irritability, insomnia, weight loss but increased appetite, sweating, heart problems, diabetes, gastric distress and hypertension. Treatment is actually the same as it has been since the 1940’s and includes radioactive iodine, antithyroid medications or surgical removal of the thyroid gland.
Addison’s disease is the opposite of Cushing’s disease. The adrenal glands do not produce enough of the hormone cortisol. Symptoms include low blood pressure, fainting, gastric distress, depression, no appetite and low blood sugar. Treatment includes steroid therapy with hydrocortisone.
barbara bethard
barbara bethard
References:
http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/type-2/?utm_source=Homepage&utm_medium=ContentPage&utm_content=type2&utm_campaign=TDT
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