5 million in U.S. go to alcohol

5 million in U.S. go to alcohol, drug self-help groups

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – About 5 million Americans attend meetings of self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous for alcohol and drug abusers, and nearly half of them reported remaining clean, a federal study released on Monday showed.

The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration examined the popularity of meetings like those run in many communities by AA and Narcotics Anonymous.

In these kinds of meetings, people speak to others who also are grappling with drug and alcohol abuse about their experiences and offer emotional support to one another as they try to beat their addiction.

The findings were based on a survey given to 135,672 people age 12 and older in 2006 and 2007, the agency said.

SAMHSA said 5 million people age 12 and older -- 2 percent of the U.S. population in that age group -- reported attending such a self-help group in the prior year because of alcohol or drugs. About two-thirds of them were male and 80 percent were over age 25.

Of those people, 45 percent reported abstaining from drugs and alcohol during the month before responding to the survey.

About a third of those who attended a self-help group also reported undergoing more formal treatment for addiction in the past year such as entering a formal rehabilitation facility.

Stephen Wing, the agency's associate administrator for alcohol policy, said about 22 million Americans meet the definition for substance abuse. Wing said the agency did not have data on whether attendance at these types of meetings was increasing over time.

"The data reinforces the fact that participation in self-help groups is associated with abstinence and recovery," Wing said.

Editing by Julie Steenhuysen, editing by Jackie Frank)
news.yahoo.com

Drug Effective for Temporary Sleep Disruptions

Drug Effective for Temporary Sleep Disruptions

TUESDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The experimental drug tasimelteon helps treat temporary insomnia caused by jet lag or night shifts, according to the results of two new clinical trials.


The phase II study included 39 people randomly assigned to receive either 10 milligrams, 20 mg, 50 mg or 100 mg of tasimelteon, or a placebo. They were monitored for seven nights -- three at baseline, three after a five-hour advance of sleep-wake schedule with treatment before sleep, and one night after treatment.


The phase III trial included 411 people who had transient insomnia induced in a sleep clinic by a five-hour advance of their sleep-wake cycle. They received either 20 mg, 50 mg, or 100 mg of tasimelteon, or a placebo, 30 minutes before bedtime.


The patients in the trials were monitored to determine their sleep efficiency (amount of actual sleep during their time in bed) and sleep latency (time it took them to fall asleep). Compared to placebo, tasimelteon (a melatonin analogue) improved sleep efficiency and reduced sleep latency, according to the researchers. They also found that patients taking tasimelteon showed an earlier shift in plasma melatonin rhythm.

news.yahoo.com

Virtual Hospital's

Your Link to Virtual Hospital's
Wealth of Patient Information

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Quality health information has been the hallmark of Virtual Hospital® and Virtual Children's Hospital® since the early 1990s when www.vh.org was among the first sites on the Internet.

For two decades, faculty and staff from the University of Iowa's Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospitals and Clinics have written the health care information that millions of Internet users have sought on the pages of Virtual Hospital (www.vh.org) and Virtual Children's Hospital (www.virtualchildrenshospital.org).

If you reached this page in search of one of the anatomy textbooks formerly published on Virtual Hospital, you may wish to visit Anatomy Atlases.

Patient information on a variety of topics from both of these websites is now available on the pages of UI Health Care.com via the links below. The health content, prepared and reviewed by health professionals, continues to serve the UI Health Care mission of educating patients and families about their health and informing them about the expert services available at UI Hospitals and Clinics for maintaining their health and well being.


http://www.uihealthcare.com

Obesity

Welcome to International Journal of Obesity

International Journal of Obesity provides a international, multi-disciplinary forum for the study of obesity. The journal publishes basic, clinical and applied studies and also features a quarterly pediatric highlight.

http://www.nature.com

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Being overweight increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Your doctor can tell you what you should weigh for your height.

To stay at a healthy weight, you need to balance the number of calories you eat with the number you burn off by your activities. You can get to your healthy weight and stay there by doing two things: eating right and being physically active.

http://www.hypertentioncontrol.com/

Hypertention

Hypertention


Blood pressure above 140/90 constitutes hypertension. Increase in diastolic pressure is more important in the definition of hypertension. As part of our increasing engagement in improving blood pressure measurement we are now undertaking active validation of new blood pressure devices for the measurement of blood pressure. Intracardiac left-to-right shunts (such as a ventricular or atrial septal defect, a hole in the wall between the two ventricles or atria) can cause too much blood flow through the lungs. Hypertension occurs when blood is forced through the arteries at an increased pressure.In patients with diabetes mellitus or kidney disease studies have shown that blood pressure over 130/80 mmHg should be considered a risk factor and warrants treatment. Accordingly, the diagnosis of high blood pressure in an individual is important so that efforts can be made to normalize the blood pressure and, thereby, prevent the complications.Whereas it was previously thought that diastolic blood pressure elevations were a more important risk factor than systolic elevations, it is now known that for individuals older than 50 years of age systolic hypertension represents a greater risk.

http://www.health-disease.org

Vitamins For Feritility Treatment

Vitamins For Feritility Treatment, Benefits & Side Effects
Below are suggested resources for Vitamins For Feritility information which include Vitamins For Feritility treatment, health benefits & side effects with Vitamins For Feritility. Many of the sources come from our Encyclopedia of Natural Health and include products and relevant topics. The best Vitamins For Feritility products are reviewed below

http://www.seacoastvitamins.com

Fertility Treatments

Fertility Treatments

Ovulation Induction
Intrauterine Insemination
IVF
ICSI
Embryo freezing
MESA / TESA
Blastocyst culture

Ovulation Induction
Some women do not ovulate (produce an egg) regularly or sometimes not at all. Normally a woman produces an egg a month in the middle of the menstrual cycle.

Where there is difficulty in producing an egg regularly, medication can be given to induce (hence the term induction) a woman to produce an egg. The problem with most of these treatments is that more than one egg can be produced as a result. This can result in multiple pregnancies, a situation the newspapers may like but can be dangerous to the mother as well as babies.

Occasionally, hyperstimulation may occur. This is a high risk situation and should be prevented. To ensure safety as well as to ensure that a response occurs, ovulation induction should be monitored by ultrasound scan. This checks on the number and size of follicles.

Common medications used are clomiphene citrate (Clomid), tamoxifen, human menopausal gonadotrophins, and purified follicular stimulating hormones (FSH).

Clomid is the simplest and is used as first line treatment. The usual starting dose is 50 mg. daily for 5 daysn from day 2 to 6 of a menstrual cycle. Some regimes call for a day 5 start, ending on day 9.

http://www.gynae.com.sg

Infertility

Infertility

Infertility is a major problem today. As recently as 1980 only an estimated 10 to 15 % of couples were affected. Now most surveys put the percentage of couples remaining childless involuntarily at above 20% in developing countries.

Infertility is defined as inability to conceive after a year of regular unprotected intercourse. Most couples are advised to seek help after trying for a year but some with more complex or pre-existing problems are advised to do so earlier.

Fortunately, medical advances have come up with answers to most infertility problems. If you have time the sites below (at end of page) are recommended as they give commendable advice. Only mainstream and credible sites are recommended to save you poring thru too much frivolous information.


http://www.gynae.com.sg

Pengukur kadar ASAM URAT

Pengukur kadar ASAM URAT
Ringan, mudah penggunaannya, mudah dibawa-bawa, cepat, akurat.

ASAM URAT.
Kadar asam urat darah yang tinggi dapat menyebabkan pegal-pegal, linu-linu, nyeri sendi, kaku-kaku, rematik asam urat, sampai pada penyakit jantung dan tekanan darah tinggi.

Monitorlah kadar asam urat anda dan keluarga secara teratur karena resikonya sangat menyengsarakan.

Ketakutan Asam Urat.
Pegal-pegal dan rematik belum tentu akibat asam urat tinggi.
Hanya sebagian kecil saja dari rematik dan pegal-pegal itu akibat asam urat.
Banyak orang normal (orang sehat) terlalu takut asam urat atau mengira dirinya sakit asam urat, sehingga tidak makan daging, jeroan, emping, kacang-kacangan dan bahkan sayur-sayuran.

Sebenarnya tidak perlu demikian, diet yang sangat ketat padahal tidak diperlukan (karena sebenarnya kadar asam uratnya normal) selain sangat menyiksa, juga beresiko gangguan kesehatan karena faktor gizi, dari kulit kering sampai kelumpuhan, dari sariawan sampai kanker usus besar.

Anda tidak perlu seperti itu, monitor saja kadar asam urat anda, sehingga anda tahu kapan anda bisa makan makanan2 yang anda sukai itu dan kapan anda harus menguranginya. Daging perlu, sayuran perlu, kacang-kacangan perlu, emping .....sedap, jeroan ............. nikmaaat (kalau anda tidak menderita penyakit jantung, tekanan darah tinggi dan .... asam urat tinggi).

http://www.sumber-alkes.com