Archive for February, 2009

Causes Of Tinnitus – The Key To Defeating Tinnitus Is To Understand It

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

Millions of people are affected by this debilitating condition that frankly does not receive enough funding compared to other conditions. Although it is not directly life threatening, it greatly affects the quality of life of sufferers, many of which can even become suicidal.

Hair Cell Damage

Tinnitus depends on a number of factors but in every case there is always some damage to the ear.

The inner ear contains a small organ known as the cochlea. This looks similar to the spiral shape of a snail’s shell and contains tiny hair cells.

Like grass on a football pitch, if a little force is applied to the hair cells then they will merely deflect but return to their original shape. However, if too much force is applied then the hair cells can become permanently damaged.

Timing

Long term and progressive hair cell damage can happen particularly if someone is within range of very loud noises for frequent and continuous periods. It can even happen from a single incident if it is loud enough.

Stress

Nearly all people who have tinnitus also suffer from stress. Greater stress also causes much higher intensity symptoms of tinnitus.

It is not clear why this is so but it is thought to be related to the circulation of the blood and how this links in with the hair cells and their connection to the brain via the nervous system.

What is known is that reducing your stress can relieve or even eliminate your tinnitus.

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Panic Attack – What Is An Attack And How Can You Stop Them?

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

More and more people these days are suffering from panic attacks. A single attack will not do much damage in itself but it is very easy to fall into the trap of recurring attacks and this gives you a new condition called panic disorder. Let’s find out exactly what happens during an attack and how we can use this knowledge to prevent them happening again in future.

What Are The Symptoms Of A Panic Attack?

This is useful to know because some people experience great anxiety with some physical symptoms but it is not a panic attack.

In a panic attack there is a very rapid onset of physical symptoms and fear that builds very quickly and lasts for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Some of the symptoms described are an intense fear of dying, a feeling of helplessness, rapid heart beat, profuse sweating and chest pains.

What Happens During A Panic Attack?

So why does this happen? There is a key system in your body that almost takes over called the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).

All animals have evolved so that if they are in immediate danger from a threat like a predator, the SNS takes over and delivers a good dose of adrenalin plus increased heart rate and sweating to give you the best chance of survival. If you get even more scared then the SNS does its best to give you even more “tools” to escape with.

When someone has a panic attack they get a feeling of fear. The SNS responds. The problem is that people who get panic attacks mistake the symptoms as something much worse e.g. a heart attack. They get even more fear. The SNS responds even more. It’s a vicious circle and suddenly you reach peak fear and peak symptoms very quickly and you find it all hard to understand. This is a full panic attacks.

Some people get repeated panic attacks (panic disorder) because the fear of having another attack actually drives the attack in the first place. This is an even more vicious circle but it can be broken.

During An Attack

One way to cope during an attack is to use “coping statements” such as “this is natural and it will pass” or “I cannot come to any harm, this will not kill me”.

Try to disassociate yourself from the attack. Try to stop thinking about “what if” and focus on the now. It can help to detach yourself and try to visualise looking at yourself from the outside and overcoming the attack. This disassociation works because the emotional connotations are removed.

These simple techniques are just the tip of the iceberg and there are many other techniques that you can use, for example behavioural therapy. What even the doctors agree on is that drugs are not an answer and are largely ineffective. You are better off seeking therapy and using self-help books to overcome panic attacks and panic disorder.

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Testicular Cancer – How Would You Know If You Had It?

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Testicular cancer is one of the rarest generally but among guys aged 15 to 40 it is the most common there is. How would you know if you had testicular cancer?

Symptoms

The main symptom of testicular cancer is a small peanut or pea sized lump on the testicle. If you feel your testis during a hot shower or bath then it should be smooth all over the front and sides (the back is covered in a tubular structure called the epididymis that extends from top to bottom). If you feel a hard lump coming from within the testicle then this could be cancer.

In some men there is no small lump but instead the entire testicle becomes hard or even swells to 3 or 4 times the normal size. Although there is usually no pain in the testis some men do report pain.

Rarely, the first symptom of testicular cancer can be extreme back pain. This means that it has spread to the nearby lymph nodes. It is much more common to first discover something wrong with one of your testes though.

Tests

If you think there is something unusual about one of your testes then you should visit your doctor who will check them himself. He might not be able to feel what you can. If you are sure that there is something wrong then insist on testing.

One of the tests that will be done is an ultrasound. This is a cheap, easy and non-invasive test and is the same equipment that is used to check the healthy of an unborn child. The sonographer puts some gel on a transducer and slowly moves this over both your testes.

The second test that is normally done is a blood test to look for tumor markers. There are two tumor markers that are very useful for detecting testicular cancer. If they are raised then you have cancer. However, if they are not raised then it does not mean that you don’t have cancer. Therefore the ultrasound is still the definitive test for determining if you need surgery because 95% of lumps found on the ultrasound will turn out to be cancer.

Also, in most cases your doctor will refer you to a specialist doctor called a urologist first. The urologist will order the tests and decide if you need to have your testis removed in an operation called an orchidectomy.

After Surgery

After surgery your testis will be checked for cancer and what type it is and the size of the tumor/extent of spread. If there is confirmed cancer then you will also have a CT scan of the abdomen and chest X-ray and you will be referred to a cancer specialist also known as an oncologist.

The oncologist will look at your tumor type and scan results and then advise what treatment (if any) you need. Testicular cancer is highly treatable even if caught late. However, you should get medical treatment asap if you suspect you have it because it could mean the difference between not needing any treatment after surgery (surveillance) or needing 3 months of chemotherapy.

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