If you or a loved one has recently been diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) of the brain, it can be a stressful and confusing time. You, as well as other family and friends, may have concerns about what the diagnosis means for the patient’s long-term health and whether treatment is possible. To help alleviate these anxieties, this article provides answers to common questions about brain AVM.

What is an AVM of the brain?

An AVM of the brain (also known as a cerebral AVM) is a disorder of the body’s circulatory system. AVMs occur when an intricate tangle of blood vessels directly diverts blood from the arteries to the veins. Though localized in the brain, cerebral AVMs can lead to severe neurological problems. Left untreated, a cerebral AVM can cause severe hemorrhaging, which may lead to serious complications or death.

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What Is Snoring – Snoring Cure What is Snoring?

Snoring is caused by a vibration in the soft tissues at the back of the throat, including the uvula and the soft palate. Snoring occurs while you are sleeping.The vibrations are caused by your breathing passages either being blocked or severely narrowed while you are breathing, when your muscles relax and your tongue falls back.

The noise can vary from person to person and can sound like everything from a rumbling to a rasp to a jet engine taking off.Some people are completely unaware of the fact that they snore, and it is not until they are sharing a room with a partner or spouse (or sharing a hotel room on a business trip) that they discover how loudly they snore.

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Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland
fails to produce sufficient amounts of thyroid hormones (thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3)). Hypothyroidism is associated with a decreased metabolic rate. Over 5 million Americans suffer from this condition, and many of them don’t even realize it. The thyroid gland can be found just below the larynx, in front of and to either side of the trachea (windpipe).

Historically, iodine deficiency was the main cause for hypothyroidism. The thyroid gland is the only tissue in our body that can absorb iodine and iodine is essential for thyroid hormone production. If a person’s diet lacks sufficient iodine, hypothyroidism can develop. However, we mostly get our iodine through iodized table salt.

Thyroid hormones are essential for all tissues in the body, since thyroid hormones regulate every cell’s metabolism. If thyroid output is insufficient, more thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is being produced by the pituitary gland (a small sized gland in the middle of the brain just below the hypothalamus). The continued stimulation of the thyroid gland could result in a greatly enlarged thyroid, called a thyroid goiter.

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What is Sever’s disease?

Sever’s disease occurs in children when the growing part of the heel is injured. This growing part is called the growth plate. The foot is one of the first body parts to grow to full size. This usually occurs in early puberty. During this time, bones often grow faster than muscles and tendons. As a result, muscles and tendons become tight. The heel area is less flexible. During weight-bearing activity (activity performed while standing), the tight heel tendons may put too much pressure at the back of the heel (where the Achilles tendon attaches). This can injure the heel.

When is my child most at risk for Sever’s disease?

Your child is most at risk for this condition when he or she is in the early part of the growth spurt in early puberty. Sever’s disease is most common in physically active girls 8 to 10 years old and in physically active boys 10 to 12 years old. Children who do any running or jumping activity may be affected. Sever’s disease rarely occurs in older teenagers because the back of the heel has finished growing by the age of 15.

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Herniated discs
are one of the most common of all spinal abnormalities blamed for causing potentially severe and chronic back pain in multitudes of suffering patients each year. While herniations can be problematic in the short term for a minority of patients, they are rarely responsible for causing the long term or excruciating pain that is inherent to their fearsome reputation.

Herniated discs are the most common of all spinal irregularities. They are diagnosed in untold numbers of people, both with and without back pain. Herniations have become the bread and butter of the back pain industry and even enjoy a plethora of colorful nomenclature attached to their diagnosis. The most common terms associated with disc pathologies include: disc herniation, bulging disc, ruptured disc, prolapsed disc, disc protrusion, slipped disc, collapsed disc and degenerated disc. While these terminologies might have some circumstantial differences to some care providers, they are often used interchangeably, much to the confusion of the affected patient.

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Imagine 98 loose bones in your Knee!, 60-year-old Mrs. Arukani Ammal, who hails from Karoor in Tamil Nadu, started feeling knee pain
15 years back, at first she ignored it. When the pain persisted, she consulted a doctor who advised her to undergo a surgery; however the fear of surgery forced her to ignore the pain for some more time. But as the time passed by the pain kept increasing and made her everyday work extremely painful as she was unable to walk, climb stairs or sit cross legged. . When she could bear it no more, she decided to consult the specialist.

She came to Wockhardt Bone & Joint Care at Bannerghatta Road for further treatment. Upon preliminary examination, the tem of Orthopedics felt a few bony pieces lying loose in the knee joint and she was unable to bend the knee joint completely. An X-Ray was advised for further diagnosis.

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The kidney acts as a filter for blood, removing waste products from the body and helping regulate the levels of chemicals important for body function. The urine drains from the kidney into the bladder through a narrow tube called the ureter. When the bladder fills and there is an urge to urinate, the bladder empties through the urethra, a much wider tube than the ureter.

Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of enduring a kidney stone attack will tell you exactly how painful this condition can be. In fact, the pain is most often compared with the pangs of natural childbirth. This is no exaggeration or wishful thinking. The stabbing and shooting pains that accompany a major kidney stone attack can bring you literally to your knees, unable to even drive yourself to proper medical attention.

In many cases, kidney stones develop without producing any symptoms. However, if they become lodged in the ureter (the thin tube between the bladder and the kidney), symptoms can be very severe. Often, they vary depending on the stone’s location and then progress.

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Signs of alcoholism are much severe than expected. Millions of people around the world consume alcohol on a daily basis. Almost daily, they feel negative after effects of drinking alcohol, but either they literally do not know the exact long-term effects or simply they cannot resist themselves from drinking.

Surprisingly, every drinker starts drinking as an occasional activity but when this becomes an addiction is not known to them. They literally do not know when this innocent activity when they start drinking socially becomes a bad habit. They start realizing it when it has created a total chaos in their physical, physiological, personal and professional life. Generally, alcoholic persons are less productive, lazy and loose tempered than their normal counterparts.

Though, the exact negative signs of alcoholism start after years with heavy consumption but some general negative signs start as soon as with the first drink. To stay away from total devastation in our personal and professional life we need to understand the signs of alcoholism. Practically, understanding alcoholism signs can help you determine whether there is alcohol abuse or dependency, so that proper measure could be taken for a normal life.

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Bipolar depression is different than many forms of depression. With a bipolar disorder, a person experiences mania. Mania allows an individual to experience an extreme high that more than likely will impair judgment. Bipolar disorder will affect a person their entire life, but with the right treatment plan, a person can cope with bipolar depression as long as they completely understand this illness.

Bipolar depression usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood. However, at this early stage, it is usually not seen as a psychological problem because it is sporadic. Individuals that have this disorder will have unique patterns to their mood cycles.

These cycles will combine both depression and mania. Once the unique patterns of cycles are identified, treatment can begin. But, until a person’s cycles are seen as being true bipolar disorder, a person can suffer for years needlessly.

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Computer Glasses – Do You Need Them?

If you have reached the point where you need reading glasses to read a book then you probably need computer glasses while using your computer. Why? Reading glasses are designed to help you see clearly while reading text about 12 inches in front of you. If you use these same glasses while using a computer you still have to keep your head 12 inches from the text but now that text is being displayed from a bright computer screen. Staring at a computer screen from this distance can hurt your eyes.

Your eyes may start to become sensitive to the light. Your eys might start feeling strained and dry. Your vision might start becoming blurry. You may start getting headaches while sitting in front of your computer. All of these are signs of Computer Vision Syndrome. People who are suffering from Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) may not even know why their eyes are bothering them.

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