An Overview of Abdominal Pain

Posted on November 28, 2011 by admin

We can hardly find a person who has not suffered from abdominal pain at least once in his life. Abdominal pain may be of different types, caused by a number of causes, which range from simple to life threatening conditions. Irrespective of the cause and the severity, it is troublesome for the sufferers and the caregivers, and hence forces them to go for a medical consultation.An Overview of Abdominal Pain

Abdomen is the part of the body between the thorax and the pelvis, which is separated from the thorax by a diaphragm and from the true pelvis by an imaginary plane. Anteriorly the anterior abdominal wall supports it and posteriorly, the spine and back muscles. Skin, superficial fascia, deep fascia, muscles, layers of fascia (Fascia transversalis), extra peritoneal connective tissue and the outer layer of peritoneum form the anterior abdominal wall. The abdominal cavity extends upwards in to the concavity of diaphragm and downwards in to the pelvic cavity. Since there is overlapping by the ribs in the upper part and pelvic bones in the lower part, the exact size of the abdominal cavity is masked. Continue reading →

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ADHD and Food Allergies

Posted on November 25, 2011 by admin

Preface

There are a number of controversial areas in medicine when it comes to ADHD. Food allergy is certainly one of them.

The classic allergic reaction, which is classified as the type-1 hypersensitivity reaction, can be elicited by food, but this is fairly uncommon. When we discuss food sensitivities in ADHD we are discussing a different, not well-defined, mechanism.

One of the main progenitors of the food allergy/ADHD connection is Dr. Doris Rapp. Dr. Rapp was a pediatric allergist who noticed that many children in her practice had significant physical and behavioral changes when exposed to certain foods. They may have red ear lobes, dark circles under their eyes, or glazed eyes after eating certain foods. These children could have tremendous swings in behavior. They can be calm one minute and wildly hyperactive a few minutes later.

To make it more interesting, children with food allergies usually crave the food that affects them negatively. That means a child who is allergic to peanuts will demand peanut butter and jelly for lunch everyday, and for the rest of the afternoon you have to peel him off of the ceiling. Continue reading →

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What about Seizures?

Posted on November 25, 2011 by admin

Seizures have been an important part of my life since I was 3 ½ years old. At birth, it was believe that the forceps were responsible for lesions in the brain. At the tender age of three, I fell down the stairs, hitting the top of my head three times before my dad could catch me. This event was the major event that triggered it all. A week later, I was diagnosed with tonic clonic Epilepsy also known as “Grand Mal”.

Seizures and brain damage

My mother told me that my longest period of seizures lasted approximately 1 ½ hour. It is quite alarming as any neurologist will tell you that brain damage occurs following a period of seizures lasting 30 minutes or more.

Treatments of seizures

In these days, Epilepsy treatments were quite new which explains the rather basic care and methods. For example, the medication that I was taking was not monitored until I reached 10 years of age. It was then changed as my new neurologist realized that the medication that I had been using was too strong for an adult, never mind a child. It also explained that the first 10 years of my life are a blur with few memories. My family is actually the one filling me in mostly about what happened in my life during this decade. Continue reading →

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