Common Symptoms of Clinical Depression June 1, 2008
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Clinical Depression is a catch all phrase for any number of depressive disorders. The symptoms of clinical depression affect everyone who suffers from it in different ways. Depression affects people across all age ranges, genders, ethnicities, cultures and religions. According to the American Psychiatric Association over 17 million men and women in the U.S. suffer from some form of clinical depression every year.
Clinical depression is very different then the normal “blue” moods most people go through during their lives. Most people react to major let downs and traumatic experiences in their lives such as breakups of relationships or deaths of family or friends the same way. They have a period of mourning or just feeling in the dumps but after a few days to a week they start to return to their normal selves.
Clinical depression sufferers do not snap out of their depressed moods. They can spend weeks, months and even years trapped in their malaise. It is the length of the feelings and symptoms that will confirm a diagnosis of clinical depression but many people who suffer from this illness do not seek the help they need. They may not even realize that they are indeed suffering from a form of depression because their current condition has slowly manifested itself over a long period of time.
The common symptoms of clinical depression can be broken up into three categories. Any combination of these symptoms that last for more than a two week period of time signifies that someone is suffering with depression.
1. Physical Symptoms:
Sleep problems - either insomnia or oversleeping and not having normal sleep patterns.
Lack of energy and chronic fatigue
Appetite changes leading to weight gain or loss.
Headaches, digestive problems, back pain and other physical symptoms for which there is no medical illness.
2. Behavioral Symptoms:
Loosing interest in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyable. Withdrawing from social functions and obligations.
Memory loss, inability to concentrate and make good decisions.
Lack of concern over personal appearance, responsibilities and work.
3. Emotional Symptoms:
Feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness and guilt.
Continual feelings of sadness or not feeling whole.
Constant crying and weeping.
Irritable feelings including anxiousness and agitation.
Feeling like suicide or death is an alternative to living.
If any combination of these symptoms last for more than two weeks then a diagnosis of clinical depression will in most cases be made. Only by seeking out and receiving the proper treatment, either through medication, therapy, or a combination of the two, will the sufferer of clinical depression be able to start the road to recovery.
Andrew Bicknell is a writer and Webmaster. For more information about Clinical Depression please visit his website Depression and You.com
Tags: clinical depression symptom, clinical depression symptomsClinical Manifestations of Appendicitis in Children May 27, 2008
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Appendicitis has been labeled as a very difficult to diagnose internal disorder. The symptoms of appendicitis are often vague and unspecific, thus rendering the process of diagnosis very difficult. Appendicitis rarely generates outwardly visible clinical manifestations and doctors often require additional tests in the process of diagnosing the disorder. In order to confirm the presumptive diagnoses of appendicitis, doctors rely on blood analysis, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound tests. However, even modern medical procedures have a certain degree of imprecision and doctors are faced with a real challenge when it comes to diagnosing unspecific cases of appendicitis.
Although it can occur at any age, appendicitis is common in very young children and teenagers. At early ages, children experience serious difficulties in coping with appendicitis and in many cases they present with complications by the time they receive an appropriate medical treatment. Children perceive more intense symptoms of appendicitis and they often experience a wide range of uncharacteristic clinical manifestations. While older children are able to communicate their distress, very young children and babies are unable to express themselves and thus they are more difficult to diagnose with internal disorders such as appendicitis.
While the most common clinical manifestations of appendicitis in adults are intense abdominal pain and discomfort (at first in the umbilical region, later spreading to the right lower side of the abdomen), nausea and fatigue, children may experience additional symptoms such as irritability, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. Considering the fact that appendicitis often involves bacterial infection of the vermiform appendix, children commonly experience high fever, intense sweating and chills. Infants and very young children may experience exacerbated appendicitis symptoms.
Although children often experience intense, visible symptoms of appendicitis, such clinical manifestations mimic those of various other internal disorders and thus they aren’t reliable in the process of diagnosis. Considering the fact that some medical techniques such as computerized tomography (CT) and ultrasound tests aren’t always appropriate for diagnosing very young children and infants, doctors usually perform more elaborate physical examinations (abdominal and rectal examinations) along with blood analyses instead. If all clinical manifestations and blood tests results point to appendicitis, doctors usually recommend medical intervention.
The medical treatment for appendicitis requires surgical intervention. The medical procedure for removing the diseased appendix is called appendectomy and nowadays it can be performed safely and with minimal scarring. Timely performed, appendectomy can prevent the occurrence of serious complications (rupturing of the appendix, sepsis, abcess) and doctors recommend this surgical intervention to most young patients diagnosed with appendicitis.
It is very important to ask for medical guidance as soon as you spot any signs of abdominal pain and discomfort in your child. Abdominal pain, vomiting and fever are common signs of childhood appendicitis and you should quickly inform a doctor of the presence of such manifestations in your child.
So, if you want to find out more information about acute appendicitis and especially about acute appendicitis, please follow this link and you will find one of the best appendicitis informational websites.
Tags: acute appendicitis, appendicitis, signs of ap, symptoms of appendicitis, treatment for appendicitisPermanent Hair Removal - A Growing Problem May 24, 2008
Posted by ryhan in : Health Clinic , add a commentThe nature of hair is to grow. That’s why laser clinics and other so called “permanent” hair removal methods cannot and will not guarantee permanent hair removal results. Once you better understand hair and the hair growth cycle you’ll know why claims of permanent hair removal are like claims of permanent weight loss: dubious. Without continued vigilance, hair, like weight, will come back.
There are three key factors to understanding hair and hair growth: types of hair, the hair growth cycle, and follicle activation.
Most people have three types of hair: vellus, intermediate and terminal.
* Vellus: Small, colorless hairs often referred to as peach fuzz.
* Intermediate: Thin, shortish hairs between vellus and terminal (hence the name) typically exhibiting some lower level of pigmentation.
*Terminal: Fully pigmented or gray, deep-rooted, coarse hairs. These are the hairs most consumers want removed.
All hairs, regardless of type, have a three-stage growth cycle. The first phase is anagen or the active growing phase. Depending on the body area somewhere between 10% and 90% of hairs are actively growing. The second phase is catagen, a transitional phase that is the shortest of the three phases. The third and final phase is telogen, the inactive phase. This is the longest phase and lasts until the hair is shed and the cycle repeats itself. This phase can last up to a year.
The final point to consider is follicle activation. Our skin is covered with thousands and thousands of follicles. Many follicles are like volcanoes: dormant but not extinct. Even though these follicles aren’t currently producing hair they can be activated at any time. The primary catalysts are hormones. If you have any experience with teenagers, pregnancy or just getting older (did your husband get back hair for his 45th birthday?) you know exactly what I’m talking about. And as sure as some people want to get rid of hair, others want it to grow again and seek products to stimulate follicles (see Rogaine). In short, you can’t keep a good follicle down so new hairs are likely to grow even after a “permanent” hair removal procedure.
Consumers have a reasonable expectation that the word permanent, when used in conjunction with hair removal, actually means existing perpetually. However, as we’ve shown, the nature of hair is to grow. Therefore, the so called permanent hair removal industry is seeking to redefine the word “permanent.”
It’s fair to say that permanent hair removal is achieved when a particular hair follicle is rendered impotent or incapable of generating new hair. But, because follicles are so numerous, hair is likely to emerge from nearby follicles. So, even if “permanent” hair removal is achieved (i.e. a follicle destroyed), the area that was treated is still likely to produce new hairs.
This fact has given rise to lesser claims of “permanent hair reduction.” The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes “permanent hair reduction” as, “The long-term, stable reduction in the number of hairs regrowing after a treatment regime.” It goes on to state, “Permanent hair reduction does not imply the elimination of all hairs in the treatment area.” This is when the whole conversation begins to sound like a politician reading “Alice In Wonderland.”
So just what is permanent about “permanent hair removal?” The answer to this question gets more elusive when you consider that a significant percentage of consumers don’t respond to either electrolysis or laser hair removal. Things become grayer still when regrowth rates for laser-treated follicles are estimated at somewhere between 20% and 80%, and 10-50% for electrolysis.
The bottom line is that hair grows. That’s just what it does. While laser hair removal treatments and electrolysis can effectively destroy active follicles, calling either method permanent is like pulling a few dandelions and declaring your lawn free of weeds forever.
When you factor in the cost, the pain, the potential for scarring and other real health risks associated with so called “permanent” hair removal techniques, you might want to reconsider a temporary hair removal method that has been around for centuries: waxing.
Waxing isn’t permanent. But it works.
Ben Johnson is the president of Amphora Worldwide, the parent company of Bombshell Wax, premium depilatory waxes and waxing accessories, Cream 100 Calming Balm, and Tonic 86, the cure for ingrown hairs. For more information visit http://www.amphoraworldwide.com or http://www.bombshellwax.com
Tags: bikini wax, electrolysis, laser hair clinic, laser hair removal, lip, permanent hair removal, waxing