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Timing your medication appropriately can be crucial to the success of any treatment regime whether it be to cure a life-threatening condition or simply to alleviate troublesome symptoms.
When best to take a medication depends on the active ingredient what product form the medication is in, the nature and severity of the condition to be diagnosed prevented or treated, as well as individual diet and lifestyle. The detailing that your doctor or pharmacist provides often centers on maximizing the effectiveness and safety of the medication.
Getting as much of the active ingredient to be absorbed into the body can be an important goal of correctly timing your medication. Some medication is better absorbed when taken with meals or specific foods while the absorption of others is inhibited when taken in the same way. Extremely little of an osteoporosis medication like Fosamax (alendronate) already ever gets into the body, let alone reaches the bones under fasting conditions from a single dose. This medication needs to be taken with plain water and without food or other drink, weekly on the same day in an upright position upon first rising. Already more than 99% of a single dose will be excreted out of the body under such conditions and if the medication is taken with food or at other times during the day, the amount absorbed can be further reduced by half or more.
Some medications may be safer to take with food rather than on an empty stomach. In better assuring the long-term safety of a painkiller class of medications known as NSAIDs, it may be advisable to avoid taking the medication aspirin for instance, on an empty stomach and to either take the medication with or after food or together with an antacid.
Active ingredients can require a specific dose and timing strategy to be most effective. This is especially so for different types of antibiotics in treating infections. An antibiotic medication like cloxacillin may require four times a day dosing to maintain effective blood levels in treating a skin infection while ciprofloxacin an antibiotic of a another class that acts differently, may only require once or twice a day dosing to treat a urinary tract infection.
The product form can play an important role in when and how often a medication is taken. Long-acting, delayed or sustained release preparations can work to release the active ingredients of a medication product differently or consistently throughout a day allowing the medication to be therapeutic despite being dosed only once instead of multiple times in a day. In managing blood pressure for instance chronotherapeutic medication has been developed to work in tandem with the body's natural circadian rhythms and in effect to best tackle the peak blood pressure that tends to occur upon awakening. Innopran XL (propranolol) can be taken just once at night before sleeping. Technology allows the release of the medication's active ingredient four hours after taking it, with resulting peak blood levels that coincide with the morning spike in blood pressure.
The nature of a medical condition can also help to determine when it is best to take a particular medication. Cholesterol is synthesized by the body, often during sleep in the night hence the arising notion that it may be most advantageous to dose cholesterol-lowering medication like Zocor (simvastatin) or Mevacor (lovastatin) in the evenings. Conditions like migraine, fever and gout may have acute symptoms that occur unpredictably and can often require medicating regardless of the time of day.
Incorporating individual diet and lifestyle patterns often facilitates compliance with taking medication and can be crucial to effectively treating a chronic condition like diabetes without unduly reducing quality of life. To best control the condition, insulin injections may be administered as well as oral medication taken before, with or after food to coincide with specific anticipated spikes in blood sugar levels. In consultation with the treating doctor, oral medication may be timed with meals or scheduled for consumption either consistently in the morning or the night to facilitate lifestyle and compliance.
When specific medications are used to moderate elements of diet and nutrition, taking these consistently with meals can be important to treatment success. A weight-loss medication like Xenical (orlistat) is often best taken with meals or times of food intake that involve the most consumption of fats as these get bound by the medication and are passed out from the body. The cholesterol-reducing medications colestipol and cholestyramine also act in a similar way and are best taken with meals.
Timing medication for best outcomes can be especially important when having to take five or more medications consistently. In such cases known as polypharmacy, it becomes increasingly important not just to match medicating with specific time slots before, with or after food, but also to space out the different medications appropriately so as to avoid negative interactions that could lead to ineffective medicating or even direct harm to health.
Medical terminology is the basis of all medical careers. Whether you go into a hands-on career such as nursing or want to start your career as a medical transcriptionist, you need a thorough understanding of medical terminology to succeed. It’s the starting point for a career in the medical field.
Medical terminology can be defined as an industry-specific vocabulary for accurately describing the human body and associated conditions, procedures and diagnoses. It involves three basic parts: root words, prefixes, and suffixes. The root word is a term derived from a source language, such as Greek or Latin, and usually describes a body part. It is the main, or middle, part of the word. The prefix is an affix that is added to the front of the root word. It is used to modify the word’s meaning and give additional information about the medical term, such as location, number or time. The suffix is an affix that is added to the end of a word. It is also used to add meaning to the word, such as condition, process, or procedure. Put together, the root word, prefix and suffix create a specific medical term.
It is important to note that in medical terminology, the root word usually doesn’t make sense alone – it wouldn’t be used as a standalone word in a sentence. This is because medical root words are derived from foreign languages. The prefix and suffix is added to make the term make sense.
In a medical transcription or other medical-related career, the deciphering process is a vital part of understanding the medical term. It usually requires practice on your part to effectively and accurately form and decipher medical terms. To understand a medical term, you need to break down the word and look at its component parts: root word, prefix and suffix. By evaluating them one-by-one, you can learn each meaning and then put them together for full comprehension.
Understanding medical terminology is fundamental to accurately performing medical careers such as medical transcription. Without a complete understanding, you would not be able to accurately spell or use medical terminology in your transcriptions. All medical professionals consult their medical dictionaries on a regular basis – add a handy medical dictionary to your reference library. It’s the perfect way to learn and verify medical terminology.
Medical terminology is the basis of all medical-related careers. Think of it as a stepping stone to reach your ultimate career goal. You will get the foundation you need to do your job in an accurate manner. Your thorough knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes will lead to success in your career.
Did you know that over 180,000 people search for information on acne everyday out of which 77,000 want to know more about acne medicine ? And that there are over 22 million sites talking about acne and acne medicine, treatment and products ? This tells me a few things. One, there are many people out there suffering from acne, and they are interested in knowing what kind of acne medicine is available to help them cure their problem. Equally there are millions of available acne treatments and products out there. Obviously no one acne medicine is suitable for any one person then.First a quick review on what acne is. It is what the layperson calls pimples or "zits". There are different forms of acne, and all can occur at the same time though one stage does not necessarily progress to the next. There are comedones, or blackheads and whiteheads, as they are usually called. Then there are acne spots caused by bacteria leading to inflammation, resulting in a red possibly painful swelling called a papule. If the papule does not subside spontaneously a pustule may form. This heals by discharging pus. A severe enough reaction may cause a lot of deep damage leaving behind scars.Acne medicine has different purposes. There is acne medicine to prevent acne. There is medicine to prevent infection of the acne. And there is medicine to prevent scarring from the acne. Finally there is medicine to minimise the effects of acne scarring, should scars form.Acne medicine can be divided into those that are applied to the skin - called topical acne medicine, and those that are taken orally - called systemic medicine.Topical treatments come in the form of creams and lotions. There are two main types of topical acne medicine . The keratolytics which act by peeling off the top horny outer layer of the skin so helping to dislodge the comedones ( blackheads and whiteheads), and the antiseptics, which attempt to get rid of harmful bacterial action. Examples of keratolytic acne medicine include benzyl peroxide Retin A and sulphur. Examples of antispetic acne medicine include iodine ( eg Betadine) chlorhexidine zinc salts which are frequently incorporated into acne creams and lotions, azelaic acid.One of the main problems with topical acne medicine is that they can be rather harsh. They can cause skin irritation and inflammation. Some, like retin A cannot be used during pregnancy. Sulphur containing acne medicines can be extremely smelly, like rotton eggs !I can still remember the days when acne used to rule my life. I was so desperate for a cure I must have tried every over-the-counter acne medicine there was available. And there were plenty. That was the time when nobody thought acne was a serious problem. Everyone got it. Nobody had died from it. So it never occured to me that maybe I would need help.It started with a few small spots. So I tried the standard sulphur-based acne medicine. I would apply it just over the offending spots and wait patiently till they went away. But they gradually got worse, with the number of red spots extending to different areas of my face. Soon it covered large areas of my face. I followed the instructions for how to use the acne medicine. I would cover my face with it faithfully every night, and went to bed smelling of sulphur. Even my pillows would smell of it. But I would hope and pray the medicine would do its wonderful work, and my acne would be gone. I always awoke the next day disappointed. I would wash my face, apply on a fresh layer of acne medicine and go about my day. I finally gave up when someone pointed out to me they always knew when I was coming, because the smell of the acne medicine announced my arrival !I decided to try the benzyl peroxide-based acne medicine next. At least these did not smell of sulphur. The instructions seemed easy enough to follow. Just apply the acne medicine twice a day after washing the face and the acne would be gone within three to five days. It was again with great hope that I applied the new acne medicine. The first night, nothing happened. By the second night, my face was beginning to get a little itchy. By the third night, the side effects of the acne medicine were causing me to have a rather dry and red face. By the fourth night, my poor face was positively uncomfortable. By the fifth night, I gave up. The acne was still there. This acne medicine had not worked either.Things just got from bad to worse. The small little red spots progressed to big spots. Big spots joined with other spots to form entire continents. There was hardly a clear space on my face. My confidence dipped to an all-time low. Acne ruled my life. It was the first thing I saw when I awoke and the last thing I saw when I went to bed. Well meaning friends and relatives constantly commented on it and had lots of advice of what type of acne medicine would work best. I had tried everything.Generally topical acne medicines work well for those with mild acne. A good number can be simply bought over-the-counter without the need of a doctor's prescription. And for many, this may be the only treatment required
The average person spends approximately 1/3 of his or her life sleeping. Although we do not yet fully understand either the purpose or the mechanics of sleep we do know that an insufficient amount can have far-reaching consequences: our work performance our personal relationships, and our physical and mental health all depend on getting an appropriate amount of rest.The inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep throughout the night is a condition known as insomnia, and it is among the most common of all medical complaints; approximately 1/3 of all people experience a period of insomnia at least once during their lifetime. Individuals with insomnia typically experience at least one of the following symptoms:- Difficulties falling asleep Inability to stay asleep, or waking up too early;- Sleepiness during the day Fatigue or lack of energy Irritability Headache Decreased ability to concentrate- Increased errors or accidents Depression and/or anxiety- Continual worry about sleep.Health Risks of InsomniaIf you are not getting the sleep that you need, your insomnia may eventually lead to serious consequences for your health. In the short term, your alertness and focus are impaired, which can have a negative effect on your school or work performance. Relationship problems may result from irritability due to lack of sleep while fatigue may prevent you from participating in your normal activities.In the long-term the complications of insomnia can be even more severe. Hypertension, cardiovascular disease obesity and mood disorders are all associated with chronic insomnia; these conditions can be life-threatening and they will certainly reduce the quality of your life.What Causes Insomnia?Insomnia is symptomatic of a large number of physiological disorders; if you are having difficulty sleeping chances are that an underlying health problem is to blame. Illness, infection, mental health disorders and medications can all keep you from getting the proper amount of rest. Hormone and neurotransmitter imbalances can affect your body's ability to fall asleep, and dietary deficiencies can cause insomnia, as well. Exposure to toxic elements such as heavy metals molds and other environmental pollutants have also been shown to impair sleep.Finding the Cause of InsomniaBy determining what is causing your insomnia, your health care provider will be better able to help you design a plan for managing your sleep problem. To find out what is keeping you up at night your doctor may ask you a series of questions about your lifestyle, your sleeping environment and even the sleep habits of your partner. A variety of lab tests can also be useful in pinpointing the cause of your insomnia in the event that a health problem is involved.Managing InsomniaThe first step to getting back to sleep is to treat the underlying cause. Establishing good sleep habits may include nutritional support, exercise, detoxification, and incorporating a relaxation technique into your daily routine.Good sleep hygiene is important for getting the rest you need. By following the guidelines listed here, you will find yourself drifting off easily without the constant worry about getting enough sleep every night.- Stick to a constant sleep schedule with a consistent bed time and wake-up time;- Avoid bright lights (including the television and computer) for at least two hours before bedtime;- Do not exercise within three hours of bedtime- Make sure your bedroom is for sleeping - keep the TV computer and any other distractions in another room;- Make sure your sleeping environment is cool, dark and quiet Avoid caffeine smoking and alcohol especially before bed; Don't eat right before you go to bed Try a relaxation exercise such as deep breathing before you turn in.Over-the-counter and prescription sleep medications are best avoided; they may help you fall asleep, but they can be habit-forming, and they have a variety of negative side effects. By identifying the cause of your insomnia and making some adjustments to your lifestyle, you should be able to overcome your sleep difficulties naturally.
The Pain caused by cancer usually falls into one of two categories: Nociceptive Pain and Neuropathic Pain.Nociceptive pain is caused by damage to tissue. It is usually described as sharp, aching, or throbbing pain. It is often due to tumours or cancer cells that are growing larger and crowding body parts near the cancer site. It may also be from cancer that has spread to the bones, muscles, or joints, or caused a blockage of an organ or blood vessels. Neuropathic pain happens when there is actual nerve damage. It may be caused by a tumour pressing on a nerve or a group of nerves. People often describe this pain as a burning or heavy sensation, or numbness. If you have been diagnosed with cancer pain, talk to your doctor to learn whether you may be a candidate for pain-control pump (intrathecal drug delivery). Your doctor (or a doctor to whom you are referred) will put you through a screening process to determine if these treatments may benefit you. Results vary; not every result is the same.Key messages about cancer painThe experience of pain will be different for every patient. ? Pain does not always get worse. The level of pain experienced may remain unchanged, or may increase or decrease. In any situation medication can be adjusted to ensure pain relief. ? Pain is not related to the extent of the cancer. Experiencing pain does not necessarily mean that the cancer is more serious than if you had no pain.? Take action as soon as the pain starts. Take pain relief when you first start to feel uncomfortable. It is harder to ease pain once it has taken hold. Taking medication for pain relief when the pain is bearable will not make the medication less effective later. The aim is to prevent pain. If you wait until the pain comes back you will suffer from unnecessary pain.? When pain relief is taken regularly or 'by the clock' (such as every 4 hours), there is little danger that you will become addicted to these drugs. Addiction to pain killers is very rare in women with metastatic breast cancer. The dose can be tailored to your needs. Doses are increased or decreased according to the severity of your pain.? Drugs for pain do not usually make you feel drowsy after the first or second day. Drowsiness can occur with strong pain relief drugs like morphine. However, the drowsiness usually passes in one or two days. People vary in how the medication affects them. You should ask your general practitioner about whether you can drive or work with machinery, and the effect of drinking alcohol with your medication. ? If one drug does not effectively help your pain, many other drugs or combinations of drugs can be used to give you pain relief. There is a large range of effective drugs for pain of all types and severity. It may take time, in consultation with your doctor, to establish the drug or drug combination that is right for you.? Any pain can be difficult to cope with. However, pain is more difficult to cope with if you are also experiencing anxiety or depression. Also, being in pain can make you more likely to be depressed or anxious. If you are concerned by the feelings you are experiencing, it is important that you talk to your doctor as soon as possible.Why Do People Suffer With Pain?Many people suffer with chronic pain because they are unaware of treatment options that can help them live more normal lives. Others have fears that prevent them from talking about their pain, which in turn creates barriers to seeking adequate relief. (Not all treatment options are applicable to your type of pain.)Read the following to see if you fall into one of these categories. If you can relate to these fears, remember that help and relief are possible, but only if you discuss your symptoms with your doctor.? Fear of being labelled a "bad patient." You won't find relief if you don't talk with your doctor about your pain.? Fear that increased pain may mean that your disease has worsened. Regardless of the state of your disease, the right treatment for pain may improve daily life for you and your family.? Fear of addiction to drugs. Research shows that the chance of people with chronic pain becoming addicted to pain-relieving drugs is extremely small. When taken properly for pain, drugs can relieve pain without addiction. Needing to take medication to control your pain is not addiction.? Lack of awareness about pain therapy options. Be honest about how your pain feels and how it affects your life. Ask your doctor about the pain therapy options available to you. Often, if one therapy isn't effectively controlling your pain, another therapy can. ? Fear of being perceived as "weak." Some people believe that living stoically with pain is a sign of strength, while seeking help often is considered negative or weak. This perception prevents them seeking the best treatment with available therapies.Management of Pain and side effectsYou may experience acute pain due to your illness or after surgery. You do not need to put up with this pain, your health care team can work with you to prevent or control just about any kind of pain. A combination of pain control methods may be used to give you greater relief from pain.Don’t let pain control you! Because there are many new ways to treat pain, it is important that you speak openly and honestly with your doctor or with a doctor who specializes in treating chronic pain.
At one point or another each of us has experienced pain.Though few people actually welcome it, few would deny that it has an essential role to play in our survival. After all, without pain, we simply wouldn't be aware that tissue damage is taking place somewhere in our body and that we need to do something - fast.In any approach to pain, of course, we need to first check with a qualified doctor or other medical practitioner. It is essential that we get a proper medical evaluation of our situation and the correct treatment for any disease or injury that we may have suffered.But what if we have already done this? But what if we have already received and understood the message pain brings, done all we - and the doctor - can do and yet still the pain exists?This is the predicament faced by millions of us on a daily basis. And living with this kind of pain seriously affects the quality of life for anyone forced to experience and endure it.Generally speaking, pain may be divided into two distinct types: Acute pain and chronic pain.Acute pain is useful and indeed, essential. It informs us of what needs attention and this is the reason for its existence. It's a signal relayed from the wounded area to the brain alerting us to take action.But chronic pain is altogether different. With pain of this kind, we have already received the message and still it persists. It is ongoing and relentless. It's as if we seem to be just stuck with it.Indeed, the chronic pain generated by conditions such as rheumatism, back and shoulder pain, arthritis, migraine headaches, post surgical pain, cancer (and sometimes its treatment), fybromyalgia etc serves no useful purpose. It is unneeded for our survival.Put simply, chronic pain is useless pain.When pain outlives its usefulness it needs to be muted or silenced.Perhaps the most surprising thing is that we almost always look to ourselves last in any attempt to control our chronic pain. Yet it is within our self and our own mind that real pain relief and truly effective pain control can be found.Because we are so accustomed to looking outside of ourselves for help with pain, we seem to have a learned mind-set of helplessness when it comes to chronic pain. We have been conditioned to accept that something or someone external to ourselves is responsible for making pain go away.Understanding that we have it within our self to control pain is a major step forward in releasing its truly debilitating grip on our life.And this is the wonderful power of using hypnosis and self-hypnosis for pain relief.With properly applied hypnosis we are empowered to instruct our own mind to dramatically reduce - and in many cases totally eliminate - any pain we may be experiencing.No drugs, no apparatus, no TEMS machines are needed. Indeed, hypnosis is so powerful that it can be, and sometimes is, used instead of local or general anaesthetic in order to completely eliminate pain even in major surgery.All that's required is your mind's own innate capacities and abilities.If you or someone you care about suffers from chronic pain, there really is something you can do about it.By working with an experienced and fully qualified transformational hypnotherapist, you can learn how to control even long-standing chronic pain.Using the power of your own mind you can indeed learn to control pain - and regain control of your life.
Achieve pain control through diet, not painkillers.Pain is not a disease, but often a result or a symptom of disease.Pain is a subjective experience - the perception of pain varies with individuals. Pain is often difficult to describe, but you know it when it strikes you. Nobody is immune from pain throughout lifespan. Some learn to accept pain as part of the unpleasant side of life, while others fight pain tooth and nail.Your diet plays a significant role on pain control.Pain is often connected with diet, given that it is related to disease, which may be a result of a poor diet. You reap what you sow, and you become what you eat.Fortunately, foods not only can prevent pain but also effectively fight pain.Research findings have shown that foods work against pain, even acute and chronic pain. Research studies have also shown how and why foods work against pain.Foods have nutrients (not junk foods), which can work miracles in the human body against disease and pain.At the site of injury, nutrients can reduce further damage done to cells and tissues. In addition, appropriate nutrients can cool your body's inflammatory response to the injury inflicted. Furthermore, they provide analgesia on pain nerves, thereby instrumental in alleviating, if not suppressing, the pain. Finally, good nutrients from foods may enhance your brain's chemicals to reduce pain sensitivity.Different types of pain require different types of foods or nutrients for optimum pain control. For example, if you have arthritis, you need to use diet to stop the joint damage as well as to suppress the pain caused by the damage. If you have cancer pain, you may want to use foods to control the disease progress, thereby minimizing the resultant pain.Research has shown that certain foods have certain food nutrients for different kinds of pain. For example, brown rice (not bleached white rice, which is partially depleted of its nutrients) soothe your digestive tract. Ginger has been used by the Chinese for thousands of years to cure migraine and headaches. Cranberry can alleviate pain due to bladder infections. Vitamin B6 enhances your brain's resistance to pain or its pain sensitivity.Therefore, it is important to choose pain-free foods as your staple foods to avoid pain in the first place.Pain-free foods are foods that do not cause any pain or allergy leading to pain. They include rice, green vegetables, colored vegetables (with the exception of tomatoes). They are all safe for consumption in any amount.Then, you should add other foods that may ease your pain, that is, foods that improve your blood flow to prevent inflammation or stagnation; or avoid foods that tend to cause blockage in your blood vessels. All dairy products and foods rich in animal protein are not friendly to blood flow. Foods rich in fiber help your body remove unwanted fats and cholesterol, which may cause blockage and inflammation. It is also important that you eliminate any food that causes allergy and reaction in your body.If intake of foods is inadequate in pain control, you may consider taking supplements of herbs, extracts, and vitamins to enhance your pain control.
