Health Tips

Kidney stones can happen to anyone regardless of gender or age. But studies have shown that this is more common during middle age and three times more in men. So what the symptoms of kidney stones?

The most common symptoms of kidney stones include bloating, blood in the urine, cloudy or foul-smelling urine, an increase in the frequency of urination, nausea and vomiting, pain during urination and tenderness in the abdomen and kidney region.

You may also experience pain that goes on and off. This may last for minutes to several hours which you may feel in the kidney, lower abdomen or groin. You may also have chills, fevers and a loss of appetite which happen to be the same symptoms associated with urinary tract infection or UTI.

What happens then? To find out what is really going on, you have to see your doctor. Once there, you will answer a few questions and then undergo several tests to see if you have kidney stones or not. The results of the test will determine what type of treatment will be done.

If the kidney stone measures 4 mm in diameter or less, there is a strong chance that you dont need surgery and your body can expel it. If it is 8 mm and above, this is the only time that medical intervention is needed.

Medical intervention is another way of saying surgery. There are 4 types of surgery that can help treat kidney stones and these are namely ESWL or extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy, PNL or percutaneous nephrolithotomy, ureteroscopic stone removal and open surgery.

Before you agree to any procedure, you have to know what type of stone is in your kidney. There are 4 types namely calcium, uric acid, struvite and cystine and knowing what it is can already tell you what caused it. It can also help you understand the type of treatment the doctor is recommending.

From there, you can ask how effective is the treatment that they are recommending and what are the risks.

Another good question you can ask is if the kidney stone has caused any permanent damage.

Kidney stones can also be treated by alternative medicine.

You can drink various herbs such as bearberry, cleavers, corn silk, crampbark, gravel root, kava kava, khella, seven barks and stone root. Homeopathic remedies include berberis vulgaris, cantharis, ocimum canum and pennyroyal. Hot packs may also work.

Keep in mind that alternative treatments for kidney stones can only be used if the stones can be expelled by the person. If not, this must be discontinued and a health professional should be the one who will monitor the situation.

Kidney stones should be taken seriously because things could get worse unless it is attended to immediately. You should know that even if the treatment is successful, kidney stones do recur and your best defense against that is prevention.

You will need to make some lifestyle changes and follow the doctors directions because there are a few other things you need to know based on your chemical risk factors. In the end, the power is in your hands because this may put you at risk later on of kidney failure. While getting a transplant is possible, just remember that you have to wait because there are other people who also need it.

What do you need to know about rheumatoid arthritis
Mansi gupta

What is meant by Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Rheumatoid Arthritis is a very commonly found form of arthritis. It is a disease that gets worsened over a period of time and leads to painful swelling and permanent damage in the joints of the body particularly the fingers, wrists, feet and ankle. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease i.e. a disease in which the body’s immune system damages its own tissues. The injured tissues cause reddening, swelling and pain in the particular area. Apart from inflammatory joints, this disease can even hit one’s internal organs such as lungs, eyes and heart. It is therefore a systemic ailment that often produces excruciating intolerable pain.

People prone to Rheumatoid Arthritis
Women especially between 20 to 60 years of age are more susceptible to develop Rheumatoid arthritis due to the innumerable hormonal alterations in their body because of various reasons. However, young and the old, anyone can be afflicted by this autoimmune systemic disease.
Symptoms and Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Pain, irritation, stiffness, extreme weariness after doing day’s work and even swelling of joints, mark the onset of arthritis. If the situation deteriorates gradually, it is definitely Rheumatoid arthritis.
Contrary to gradual development, in some cases the disease might just hit within few seconds with inflammation and fever.

The stiffness of joints and tiredness because of Rheumatoid arthritis is extreme and hampers the individual’s daily activities. The problem may trouble more during winter season.
A burning pain in the joints (left or right hand, cartilage and bone etc.) that prolongs for six weeks or more at a stretch indicates Rheumatoid Arthritis. But if the pain travels to individual’s sacroiliac joints of lower back or to the upper spine, the disease is other than this one

Factors that invoke the disease
No strict causes for Rheumatoid Arthritis have been discovered as yet. But investigations and experience have revealed many some constantly occurring or usual factors that have led to its development.
The individual with a family history of Rheumatoid Arthritis is greatly liable to be afflicted by it. But particularly what infested thing gets passed on from affected ancestors to the patient still needs to be explored.
Acute stress is supposed to be another reason behind Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Different viruses such as mononucleosis can cause Rheumatoid Arthritis. Other than this, infections like strep throat lead to the ailment.

Prevention and Cures
Diagnosis commences with some crucial tests. These tests determine the severity or the stage of rheumatoid arthritis for the individual. Once rheumatoid arthritis is confirmed, anti-rheumatic drugs are prescribed. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen etc. are prescribed initially and more often to those who are suffering from mild form of the disease. But when the case gets worse, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs or DMARDs are given. Corticosteroids like prednisone, narcotics; chemotherapy drugs for instance Cytoxan; anti-organ rejection medicines such as cyclosporine are examples of DMARDs. Arava, Enbrel or Etanercept and Methotrexate are by and large recommended medicines to patients of Rheumatoid arthritis. But as many other antibiotics, these drugs too have numerous side-effects which should be borne in mind before advising them.
Besides medicines patients even find therapies like acupressure and acupuncture quite relieving. In many cases of Rheumatoid arthritis, patients also desire to go for a surgery About the Author
Mansi gupta writes about. rheumatoid arthritis Learn more at http://www.arthritiseffects.com