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The current options for treatment of uterine fibroids mainly involve surgery.

Today surgery does not necessarily require a full removal of the uterus, though, in extreme cases a hysterectomy is the only available option. Other types of directed or laparoscopic surgery may be able to remove the discomforting fibroids while saving the uterus. However these procedures are still somewhat invasive and risk damaging the uterus to a point where the patient could not support a viable pregnancy.

MR guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS) is a non-invasive, outpatient procedure which uses high doses of focused ultrasound waves (HIFU) to destroy uterine fibroids, without affecting any of the other tissues around the fibroid. The procedure is conducted in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner which helps the physician “see” inside the body to pinpoint, guide, and continuously monitor the treatment.

Imagine using a magnifying glass to focus the sun’s energy on a single point to create a flame to burn a leaf. The focused ultrasound energy is directed at a small volume of the fibroid, raising its temperature high enough to cause thermal ablation (killing of the cells) without impacting other tissues. Pulses of energy are repeated until the entire volume is treated.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an advanced diagnostic technology which provides 3D imaging of internal organs without radiation. The MR guided FUS treatment uses the MR images to identify where the fibroid is and what portion has been treated, without the need for any incisions. It also provides real time feedback about temperature changes of the treated fibroid to make sure that the fibrotic tissue has been ablated (destroyed).

Before treatment you are given a sedative and pain medication to help you relax. You lie on a patient table and are made comfortable before starting treatment. The treatment takes place with you lying on the patient table inside the MR scanner. Your clinical team will be in the next room with two-way communication using a microphone and a speaker. The doctor will inform you when images are being acquired (scanning) and when the system is sonicating (treatment).

First, the doctor identifies the fibroid(s) on MR images taken of your pelvic region. Then, after detailed planning, high energy focused ultrasound waves heat a small spot in the uterine fibroid to a temperature of up to 85oC. During the pulse or sonication, which lasts about 15 seconds, the doctor monitors the progress and reviews temperature-sensitive images. Since each sonication treats a very small volume, this process will be repeated until the required volume is treated. The procedure lasts about 2-3 hours depending upon the size and number of fibroids treated.

During the uterine fibroids treatment, it is normal to feel a warming sensation in the pelvic region. You will be given a safety stop button that allows you to immediately stop the sonication if the treatment becomes painful.

You are conscious the entire time and provide feedback during the procedure to the physician. Afterwards you’ll be asked to rest for a couple of hours in the clinic, while the mild sedation wears off. Then you’ll be able to go home and resume normal activity.

Following the treatment the body gradually removes the treated tissue over a period of months, providing symptom relief.

Flu vaccines are being offered everywhere from clinics to pharmacies to supermarkets. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the only side effects of the flu vaccine are redness, soreness and swelling at the shot site, low-grade fever and aches, others believe that the vaccines contain mercury and other problematic constituents and are more deadly than the flu itself.

Moreover there are literally thousands of strains of the flu virus but the vaccines marketed each year select and target only a few, which health officials guesstimate will be the most prevalent that flu season. Their guess is often not right.

But long before there were targeted vaccines there were flu fighting mushrooms. The Chinese have used mushrooms as medicine for thousands of years and recent scientific studies have confirmed the effectiveness of mushrooms in boosting the immune system. And a strong immune system right now is your best defense against the flu.

The most common cultivated edible mushroom in the world is the button mushroom which was for many years believed to have no nutritional or medicinal value. Recent studies, however, have established that the lowly button, as well as crimini and portobello, contain as much antioxidant power as their Asian counterparts that have been prized for centuries for their disease prevention and healing properties. In particular, buttons contain polysaccharides and ergothioneine among other compounds that activate the immune system and act as free radical scavengers.

In Asian medicine, shiitake and maitake mushrooms, now widely available in U.S. markets, have proven so successful in boosting the immune system and fighting cancer, that they are now being tested against HIV. Enoki mushrooms also have proven immune system benefits.

Reishi mushrooms are also a staple of Chinese medicine. Although they are not edible, they are available in teas, extract and capsules and are used to improve immunity and reduce inflammation.

Mushrooms are a good source of B vitamins including niacin, which forms enzymes needed to convert sugars into energy, and riboflavin, which converts other nutrients like vitamin B6 and folate into usable forms.

Mushrooms are fat-free, high in fiber and protein, and a good source of potassium. Most importantly, they are versatile and easy to incorporate into your daily diet. All it takes is a one-half cup serving to start to get the benefits. Add them to soups, stews, grains and greens or toss them into your salad.

Add a variety of mushrooms to your meals today and every day to battle the flu or any other pandemic that comes your way.

Sleep paralysis is just one of those easy to dismiss conditions until you have experienced it. Suffering repeated attacks of this condition will no doubt leave you wanting a sleep paralysis cure. Having gone through the panic and anxiety attacks myself I know how it feels like too. Waking up in the morning feeling weakened and restless over a period of time does take its toll.

Is there a cure for sleepless paralysis in the first place? If you are interested in a medicine or some form of prescribed drug the answer is no. Whilst there are drugs available for people with sleep paralysis they do not necessarily cure it. One way of approaching this problem is simply by preventive measures.

There are certain things and behaviors that are known to bring about episodes of this condition and by avoiding these things then you won’t experience any attacks. Since it happens when the brain suddenly awakes during REM the idea is to avoid things that will interfere with your sleep pattern. So you might consider this to be a sleep paralysis cure.

Even in your state of sleep the brain will be able to respond to external stimuli. You can easily drift out of sleep if the stimulus is strong. If it is weak however as in the case of leaving the lights on, or the TV or radio you will experience periods of partial consciousness increasing the chances of you having an attack.

As I mentioned earlier sleep paralysis cure is basically about preventive measures. The attacks can be brought on by so many different reasons. It would be a good idea to get to know all the possible causes of this condition and prevent any future occurrence.

Natural cures for arthritis may be more of not eating or drinking something, than supplementing with something. There are plenty of foods and supplements which can help you relieve your arthritis symptoms, but let us focus on a few of the items causing arthritis.

One of the items which can cause arthritis is sodium fluoride. This is the active ingredient found in toothpaste and also the chemical being placed into some of the public water systems. Now, there is a difference in sodium fluoride and fluorine, which is found in food and naturally in plants. The natural variety is very important, and does help harden bones and teeth. So, when we see tooth decay, we think lack of fluorine, and add fluoride to the water and toothpaste. The chemically produced sodium fluoride has some undesirable effects:

Inhibits proper functioning of the thyroid gland Damages the immune system, and can result in arthritis

The sodium fluoride in the public water is usually in quantities of 1 part per million. Per homeopathic study, this amount is considered toxic if ingested on a regular schedule.

So, just a simple change in going to fluoride free toothpaste, and ensuring your water is fluoride free can help to relieve, and possibly even cure your arthritis symptoms, depending on the severity.

If you are eating a diet rich of animal products, this will cause arthritis as well. See, arthritis results from minerals, especially calcium, being in the joints. And the reason calcium is in the joints is the body is releasing it from the bones to neutralize your blood pH. Protein is a very acidic food, and when eaten, it can make the blood turn acidic. Since the body operates on a neutral pH of around 7.0, it pulls calcium from your bones to neutralize the acidity. It is these calcium deposits in the joints which cause great pain. If you remove most of the animal products you have in your diet, you will have an immediate impact in relieving your arthritis.

So, just the removal of 2 things from your lifestyle, sodium fluoride and animal products, will help to eliminate the pain cause by arthritis, and depending on the severity of it, can be a natural cure for arthritis.

Physiotherapy has its origins in the days of Hippocrates. Even in those early days, massages were used as supplementary medical treatments. From those simple beginnings, physiotherapy has evolved into a complex science today.

In 460 B.C. Hector used a treatment known as aqua therapy for physical treatments. Professionals to treat their patients even in today’s advanced age, use the same therapy, modified to suit different requirements.

The first incident of nurses using physiotherapy with the Chartered Society is recorded in 1894. Within two decades of this, several physiotherapy systems were in place in different countries. 1931 saw the setting up of the first physiotherapy clinic in New Zealand, and 1914 was America’s turn to do the same.

Portland Oregon’s Walter Reed College and Hospital was the leading light for professional physiotherapists in America. In those days, they were known as reconstruction aides. Nurses who had received physical education practiced physiotherapy. Several World War I veterans owe their recovery to these reconstruction aides.

In modern history, physiotherapy has been a widely researched subject. The US boasts a comprehensive research study that was carried out and published in 1921. Research in the various specialized fields continues even today.

Mary McMillan formed the Physical Therapy Association in 1921. Now known as the APTA, it remains the most important and influential association in the history of physiotherapy in America.

In 1924, the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation was set up. The main focus of this foundation was the spreading problem of polio. Physiotherapy for polio victims was its main offering. Sister Kinney who is renowned for her work with patients suffering from polio’s devastating after-effects, was a revered figure at Mayo Clinic. Physiotherapy took a major turn at the point of the polio epidemic in history.

Once the polio crisis passed, the popular treatments remained massages, traction and of course, exercises. Chiropractic treatments came to the fore in 1950, and has remained a norm in Great Britain.

Since then, physiotherapy has become a treatment of choice in hospitals as well as other areas. Physiotherapists have been working in places like nursing homes, private clinics and even schools. Around this time, physiotherapy also developed a special line related to Orthopedics.

The International Federation of Orthopedic Manipulative Therapy developed at this time and introduced treatments that changed the face of the physiotherapy profession. One of the physiotherapists who made several important changes was Mariano Rocabado. A Norwegian physiotherapist who is also renowned for his work on the Eastern coast of US is Freddy Kaltenborn. Australian Geoffrey Maitland heavily influenced the methods used in the training of physiotherapists.

Technology became the point in focus in the 80s, when several new techniques using modern technology were invented. These new procedures included ultrasound and electrical stimulation requiring the use of computers. As physiotherapy entered the 1990s, manual therapy came into the limelight with Kaltenborn again pioneering new techniques.

Throughout its history, practice and training methods have been revisited and revised repeatedly. Several practitioners have left behind marks of their brilliance in history through literature and foundations for physiotherapy. Due to the effort of al those involved, today, physiotherapy is a respected and revered profession.

Lupus can be a debilitating illness that confines previously healthy, active people entirely to their homes and even to their beds. There is no known cure for lupus, and the causes are also not entirely known or understood.

Lupus occurs when the body’s immune system attacks healthy tissue, causing painful or swollen joints, unexplained fever, skin rashes and inflammation, kidney problems, cardiovascular complications and utter exhaustion.

To make matters worse, while the progression of the disease can be stalled with steroids and other drugs, many doctors hesitate to prescribe these medications and many patients refuse to take them because the side effects of the treatments can be as harsh as some aspects of the disease itself.

Fortunately, there are options. However, your doctor may be reluctant to recommend them or may even be unaware of them because while they have been widely clinically tested, they have not yet met with the approval of the medical community at large.

Basically, even though the results are overwhelming, the medical and scientific communities have not accepted them as “conclusive,” and therefore refuse to make them public. However, if you are suffering from lupus or know someone who is, then you must be aware of this groundbreaking discovery.

Omega 3 fish oil, long touted as a serious weapon against cardiovascular disease, also can be used to fight inflammatory diseases and disorders like lupus.

Even better, omega 3 does not have any negative side effects, so you can take it as a preventative measure even when you are not currently experiencing lupus-related complications.

Over time, some experts believe that omega 3 can provide people who take it steadily with thousands of times the anti-inflammatory power of aspirin and other pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications.

Omega 3 fish oil can be obtained by eating a steady diet high in fatty game fish like mackerel, salmon and tuna. However, it’s far easier and more effective to get omega 3 in supplement form, as consuming large quantities of these types of fish can cause heavy metals and some types of toxins to build up in your system, as well as leading to a fishy body odor and the taste of fish in your mouth even when you are not eating.

Good omega 3 fish oil supplements, such as Salmon Oil supplements are engineered specifically to avoid these types of unhealthy and unpleasant side effects while delivering an FDA approved dosage of omega 3 fatty acids to your body.