MIGRAINE HEADACHE

What is a migraine headache?

A Migraine Headache is a form of vascular headache. Migraine Headache is caused by vasodilatation (enlargement of blood vessels) that causes the release of chemicals from nerve fibers that coil around the large arteries of the brain. Enlargement of these blood vessels stretches the nerves that coil around them and causes the nerves to release chemicals. The chemicals cause inflammation, pain, and further enlargement of the artery. The increasing enlargement of the arteries magnifies the pain.
Migraine attacks commonly activate the sympathetic nervous system in the body. The sympathetic nervous system is often thought of as the part of the nervous system that controls primitive responses to stress and pain, the so-called "fight or flight" response, and this activation causes many of the symptoms associated with migraine attacks; for example, the increased sympathetic nervous activity in the intestine causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

• Sympathetic activity also delays emptying of the stomach into the small intestine and thereby prevents oral medications from entering the intestine and being absorbed.
• The impaired absorption of oral medications is a common reason for the ineffectiveness of medications taken to treat migraine headaches.
• The increased sympathetic activity also decreases the circulation of blood, and this leads to pallor of the skin as well as cold hands and feet.
• The increased sympathetic activity also contributes to the sensitivity to light and sound sensitivity as well as blurred vision.

Nevertheless, migraine still remains largely underdiagnosed and undertreated. Less than half of individuals with migraine are diagnosed by their doctors. Don’t ignore yours. No oral Medication is given at OPTM Health Care.

SCHIZOPHRENIA

What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that has affected people throughout history. About 1 percent of Americans have this illness.
People with the disorder may hear voices other people don't hear. They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. This can terrify people with the illness and make them withdrawn or extremely agitated.
People with Schizophrenia may not make sense when they talk. They may sit for hours without moving or talking. Sometimes people with Schizophrenia seem perfectly fine until they talk about what they are really thinking.
Families and society are affected by schizophrenia too. Many people with Schizophrenia have difficulty holding a job or caring for themselves, so they rely on others for help.
Treatment helps relieve many symptoms of Schizophrenia, but most people who have the disorder cope with symptoms throughout their lives. However, many people with Schizophrenia can lead rewarding and meaningful lives in their communities. Researchers are developing more effective medications and using new research tools to understand the causes of Schizophrenia. In the years to come, this work may help prevent and better treat the illness.

What are symptoms of Schizophrenia?

The symptoms of Schizophrenia fall into three broad categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms:-


Positive symptoms-
Positive symptoms are psychotic behaviors not seen in healthy people. People with positive symptoms often "lose touch" with reality. These symptoms can come and go. Sometimes they are severe and at other times hardly noticeable, depending on whether the individual is receiving treatment. They include the following:


Hallucinations are things a person sees, hears, smells, or feels that no one else can see, hear, smell, or feel. "Voices" are the most common type of hallucination in Schizophrenia. Many people with the disorder hear voices. The voices may talk to the person about his or her behavior, order the person to do things, or warn the person of danger. Sometimes the voices talk to each other. People with Schizophrenia may hear voices for a long time before family and friends notice the problem.
Other types of hallucinations include seeing people or objects that are not there, smelling odors that no one else detects, and feeling things like invisible fingers touching their bodies when no one is near.


Delusions are false beliefs that are not part of the person's culture and do not change. The person believes delusions even after other people prove that the beliefs are not true or logical. People with Schizophrenia can have delusions that seem bizarre, such as believing that neighbors can control their behavior with magnetic waves. They may also believe that people on television are directing special messages to them, or that radio stations are broadcasting their thoughts aloud to others. Sometimes they believe they are someone else, such as a famous historical figure. They may have paranoid delusions and believe that others are trying to harm them, such as by cheating, harassing, poisoning, spying on, or plotting against them or the people they care about. These beliefs are called "delusions of persecution."


Thought disorder are unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking. One form of thought disorder is called "disorganized thinking." This is when a person has trouble organizing his or her thoughts or connecting them logically. They may talk in a garbled way that is hard to understand. Another form is called "thought blocking." This is when a person stops speaking abruptly in the middle of a thought. When asked why he or she stopped talking, the person may say that it felt as if the thought had been taken out of his or her head. Finally, a person with a thought disorder might make up meaningless words, or "neologisms."


Movement disorders may appear as agitated body movements. A person with a movement disorder may repeat certain motions over and over. In the other extreme, a person may become catatonic. Catatonia is a state in which a person does not move and does not respond to others. Catatonia is rare today, but it was more common when treatment for schizophrenia was not available.


Negative symptoms
Negative symptoms are associated with disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors. These symptoms are harder to recognize as part of the disorder and can be mistaken for depression or other conditions. These symptoms include the following:

• "Flat affect" (a person's face does not move or he or she talks in a dull or monotonous voice) 

• Lack of pleasure in everyday life

• Lack of ability to begin and sustain planned activities

• Speaking little, even when forced to interact.

People with negative symptoms need help with everyday tasks. They often neglect basic personal hygiene. This may make them seem lazy or unwilling to help themselves, but the problems are symptoms caused by the Schizophrenia.

DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

What is a Depressive Disorder?
Depressive disorders have been with mankind since the beginning of recorded history. In the Bible, King David, as well as Job, suffered from this affliction. Hippocrates referred to depression as melancholia, which literally means black bile. Black bile, along with blood, phlegm, and yellow bile were the four humors (fluids) that described the basic medical physiology theory of that time. Depression, also referred to as clinical depression, has been portrayed in literature and the arts for hundreds of years, but what do we mean today when we refer to a depressive disorder? In the 19th century, depression was seen as an inherited weakness of temperament. In the first half of the 20th century, Freud linked the development of depression to guilt and conflict. John Cheever, the author and a modern sufferer of depressive disorder, wrote of conflict and experiences with his parents as influencing his development of depression.
In the 1950s and '60s, depression was divided into two types, endogenous and neurotic. Endogenous means that the depression comes from within the body, perhaps of genetic origin, or comes out of nowhere. Neurotic or reactive depression has a clear environmental precipitating factor, such as the death of a spouse, or other significant loss, such as the loss of a job. In the 1970s and '80s, the focus of attention shifted from the cause of depression to its effects on the afflicted people. That is to say, whatever the cause in a particular case, what are the symptoms and impaired functions that experts can agree make up a depressive disorder? Although there is some argument even today (as in all branches of medicines), most experts agree on the following:

1. A depressive disorder is a syndrome (group of symptoms) that reflects a sad and/or irritable mood exceeding normal sadness or grief. More specifically, the sadness of depression is characterized by a greater intensity and duration and by more severe symptoms and functional disabilities than is normal. 

2. Depressive signs and symptoms are characterized not only by negative thoughts, moods, and behaviors but also by specific changes in bodily functions (for example, crying spells, body aches, low energy or libido, as well as problems with eating, weight, or sleeping). The functional changes of clinical depression are often called neurovegetative signs. This means that the nervous system changes in the brain cause many physical symptoms that result in diminished participation and a decreased or increased activity level. 

3. Certain people with depressive disorder, especially bipolar depression (manic depression), seem to have an inherited vulnerability to this condition.

4. Depressive disorders are a huge public-health problem, due to its affecting millions of people. About 10% of adults, up to 8% of teens and 2% of preteen children experience some kind of depressive disorder.

• The statistics on the costs due to depression in the United States include huge amounts of direct costs, which are for treatment, and indirect costs, such as lost productivity and absenteeism from work or school. 

• Adolescents who suffer from depression are at risk for developing and maintaining obesity.

• In a major medical study, depression caused significant problems in the functioning of those affected more often than did arthritis, hypertension, chronic lung disease, and diabetes, and in some ways as often as coronary artery disease.

• Depression can increase the risks for developing coronary artery disease, HIV, asthma, and many other medical illnesses. Furthermore, it can increase the morbidity (illness/negative health effects) and mortality (death) from these and many other medical conditions.

• Depression can coexist with virtually every other mental health illness, aggravating the status of those who suffer the combination of both depression and the other mental illness.

• Depression in the elderly tends to be chronic, has a low rate of recovery, and is often undertreated. This is of particular concern given that elderly men, particularly elderly white men have the highest suicide rate.

5. Depression is usually first identified in a primary-care setting, not in a mental health practitioner's office. Moreover, it often assumes various disguises, which causes depression to be frequently underdiagnosed.

6. In spite of clear research evidence and clinical guidelines regarding therapy, depression is often undertreated. Hopefully, this situation can change for the better.

7. For full recovery from a mood disorder, regardless of whether there is a precipitating factor or it seems to come out of the blue, treatment with medication and/or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) (see discussion below) and psychotherapy are necessary.

PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS

Depression can strike anyone. Often a case of the “blues” can lead to depression. There are various types of depression, elderly depression, post partum depression, situation depression, and depression caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. 

The symptoms of depression include new sleeping habits, new eating habits, a sense of hopelessness, disillusionment, pessimism, worthlessness, changes in behavior, changes in mood patterns, or a sullen and withdrawn attitude. The patient needs to express 5 or more of these symptoms for at least two weeks to be considered to have major depressive disorder, but having any two symptoms for a week or more may be a sign of mild to moderate depression. Severe depression can lead to irrational thoughts and behavior, including thoughts of hurting oneself or suicide. 

Depression can be brought on by a multitude of causes. A chemical imbalance in the brain is responsible for less than 25% of depression. Situational depression, depression caused by the death of a loved one, an unhealthy living environment, a loss, a change, or other variable factors. Depression can be brought on by some medications. The long term use of pain relieving narcotics such as morphine can lead to severe depression as can the long term use of other medications. Hormonal changes, particularly those after giving birth, can bring on post partum depression. Heredity may play a factor in depression, but it is not necessarily a determining factor.

There are few risk factors for depression, as anyone can experience depression if the circumstances are right. Women are more likely to be depressed than men, and depression can sometimes run in families. People who come from disruptive or abusive homes or have experienced abuse in their past are more likely to become depressed. People who have experienced a severe depression once are more likely to experience it again. 

Untreated depression can lead to serious consequences, such as the loss of a job, illness, the loss of family, and in some cases self inflicted death. Even treated depression can lead to self inflicted wounds and in the worst case scenario, death. Depression is serious and needs to be remedied as early as possible. Post partum depression can lead to the mother harming herself or her baby. 

SCIATICA

If the sciatic nerve gets trapped or inflamed anywhere along this route, you may feel pain. This is called sciatica. There are several ways that a low back injury may press on the sciatic nerve and cause sciatica. Two common reasons are a herniated disk and spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal).
Sciatica can also result from a sudden injury. For example, if a buttocks muscle is injured from running too hard or lifting too many weights, it may swell or tighten and put pressure on the sciatic nerve causing pain.
Sciatica causes pain anywhere along the route that the sciatic nerve travels (your buttocks, the back of your thigh, the back of your calf, and even your foot). The sensation may be only a slight tingling or dull ache or it may be severe enough to decrease your ability to move. Sciatica almost always affects one leg or the other. Sometimes, however, you may have symptoms in both legs.

 Sciatica occurs when there is pressure or damage to the sciatic nerve. This nerve starts in the spine and runs down the back of each leg. This nerve controls the muscles of the back of the knee and lower leg and provides sensation to the back of the thigh, part of the lower leg, and the sole of the foot.

Common causes of sciatica include:

• Piriformis syndrome (a pain disorder involving the narrow piriformis muscle in the buttocks)
• Slipped disk
• Degenerative disk disease
• Spinal stenosis
• Pelvic injury or fracture
• Tumors

Sciatica pain can vary widely. It may feel like a mild tingling, dull ache, or a burning sensation. In some cases, the pain is severe enough to make a person unable to move.
The pain most often occurs on one side. Some people have sharp pain in one part of the leg or hip and numbness in other parts. The sensations may also be felt on the back of the calf or on the sole of the foot. The affected leg may feel weak.

The pain often starts slowly. Sciatica pain may get worse:

• After standing or sitting
• At night
• When sneezing, coughing, or laughing
• When bending backwards or walking more than a few yards, especially if caused by spinal stenosis

HERNIATED DISC

Herniated disks are most common in the lumbar spine -- the part of your backbone between the bottom of your ribs and your hips. Disks are like soft cushions between the bones of the spine. The disks in the spine let you move your backbone.

When a disk between two bones in the spine presses on the nerves around the backbone, it's called a herniated disk. The word "herniate" (say: her-nee-ate) means to bulge or to stick out. Sometimes this is called a ruptured or slipped disk.

How does a disk become herniated?

As you grow older, your disks become flatter -- less cushiony. If a disk becomes too weak, the outer part may tear. The inside part of the disk pushes through the tear and presses on the nerves beside it. The drawing to the right shows how a disk looks when it gets pushed through the tear and presses on a nerve. Herniated disks are most common in people in their 30s and 40s.

What are the signs of a herniated disk?

When part of a disk presses on a nerve, it can cause pain in the back and the legs. The location of the pain depends on which disk is weak. How bad the pain is depends on how much of the disk is pressing on the nerve. In most people with herniated disks, the pain spreads over the buttocks and goes down the back of one thigh and into the calf. This is known as sciatica because the pain travels along the path of the sciatic nerve. Some people have pain in both legs. In some people, the legs or feet feel numb or tingly.

The pain from a herniated disk is usually worse when you're active and gets better when you're resting. Coughing, sneezing, sitting, driving and bending forward may make the pain worse. The pain gets worse because these movements put more pressure on the nerve.

People with painful herniated disks often try to change positions to reduce the pain. You may have found that holding yourself up with your hands while you are sitting helps the pain. Shifting your weight to one side may also help. Don’t Ignore your pain