Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Warning For Neuropathy Patients

Today's post from zedie.wordpress.com (see link below) is a very short one but is none the less important for that. Depending on the infection in your body from whatever cause, you may be prescribed antibiotics. Some of these antibiotics are called fluoroquinolones and are notorious for causing neuropathic symptoms. Very often it will be difficult to spot the name fluoroquinolone on the box because the brand and pharmaceutical names will be most prominent. If you already have neuropathy, it may be worth asking your doctor if the antibiotics he/she is prescribing belong to the fluoroquinolone family. If so, it may be worth changing them - there are plenty of alternatives. This short post talks about the American FDA requiring that drug companies place a neuropathy warning on fluoroquinolone packaging. This is of benefit to neuropathy sufferers but also patients who may be at risk of getting neuropathy.

Fluoroquinolone Labels Updated to Reflect Heightened Risk for Peripheral Neuropathy.
Author Zedie: US Virgin Islands August 16th 2013


The FDA is requiring that the labels of fluoroquinolone antibiotics warn of the drugs’ increased risk for peripheral neuropathy.

The risk has been observed with oral and injectable fluoroquinolones, but not topical agents. Patients could experience peripheral neuropathy any time during their treatment, and it could persist for months or years or be permanent.

Patients should contact their healthcare providers if they develop symptoms consistent with peripheral neuropathy in the arms and legs, including pain, burning, numbness, or weakness; change in sensation to touch, pain, or temperature; or change in the sense of body position.

Patients who develop these symptoms should stop taking the antibiotic and receive alternative therapies unless the benefit of the fluoroquinolone outweighs the risk.

Source: FDA MedWatch safety alert

http://zedie.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/fluoroquinolone-labels-updated-to-reflect-heightened-risk-for-peripheral-neuropathy/

Is Inflammation A Chief Cause Of Chronic Pain

Today's post from ufhealth.org (see link below) talks about the effect of inflammation on older pain patients and this includes people living with nerve damage. The link between neuropathy, auto-immune disease and inflammation is often hinted at but rarely confirmed, yet neuropathy is very often the result of inflammation and damage to the nervous system. This article talks about the fact that older people are more prone to and more often suffer from severe inflammation, leading to more and longer lasting pain. It suggests that anti-inflammatory drugs may be the answer but these are rarely on the list of recommended medications for neuropathy patients. It's a chicken and egg question: does the pain cause the inflammation, or the inflammation cause the pain? Inflammation is more often associated with tissue damage than nerve cells but inflammation in the nervous system most definitely can cause chronic pain (ask any shingles sufferer!) An interesting article requiring more research if you're interested. It may also be worthwhile asking your neurologist whether anti-inflammatory drugs such as diclofenac may be of benefit to you, although they do carry the potential for side-effects of their own.

Study shows pain causes older adults to develop more inflammation over a longer period of time 
Published: May 4, 2016 By: Morgan Sherburne 

When older relatives complain about their pains, show a little empathy, because new research suggests that as we age, we may all become more sensitive to pain. A small, preliminary University of Florida Health study has suggested for the first time that inflammation may occur more quickly and at a higher magnitude — and stays around longer — when older adults experience pain versus when younger adults experience pain.

This could mean that older adults could be at risk for developing chronic pain and may benefit from taking anti-inflammatories soon after an injury or procedure, according to the researchers.

Older adults often have a certain level of chronic inflammation in their bodies. But UF researchers found that when they induced pain in older adults, proteins associated with inflammation increased more than they did in younger participants and stayed in the bodies of older adults longer. The researchers also found that anti-inflammatory cytokines, proteins that soothe inflammation, peaked later for older adults than younger adults. Their results were published in a previous issue of Experimental Gerontology.

“Older people go through painful procedures more often, and we wanted to research whether this accumulation of painful procedures or more acute pain episodes that older people encounter is bad,” said Yenisel Cruz-Almeida, Ph.D., MSPH, an assistant professor in the UF College of Medicine’s department of aging and geriatric research who also is affiliated with the UF Institute on Aging. “If you have enough of those in a shorter period of time, does this predispose you to have chronic pain?”

When older adults have this kind of elevated inflammatory response, they’re more likely to have pain generated in the periphery of the body — their tissue and limbs outside of the spinal cord and brain, said the study’s senior author Joseph Riley, Ph.D., director of the pain clinical research unit in the UF Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence.

“If older adults are more likely to have these pain messages sent through the spinal cord to the brain, and the nervous system is being adapted to go through these changes, they may become more pain prone,” said Riley, also a professor in the UF College of Dentistry’s department of community dentistry and the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of clinical and health psychology.While the study does not establish whether accumulation of acute pain predisposes older adults to chronic pain, the researchers say their findings suggest this is a possibility, and it’s the first step in pain research to further understand the relationship between pain and aging. The researchers said the study’s sample size, though small, was more than adequate to demonstrate large differences between the older and younger adults they tested. The differences in inflammation within each group varied very little compared with the overall difference between the two groups, which suggests the populations they sampled were very different and there was little chance of sampling error, Riley said.

Cruz-Almeida and Riley studied eight healthy older adults, whose average age was 68, and nine healthy younger adults, whose average age was 21. None of the participants had illnesses such as diabetes or hypertension. During an initial visit, researchers induced pain in the participants in two ways, either using heat applied to the feet or a cold ice bath.

The first session determined how sensitive the participants were to pain. Determining a tolerable temperature allowed the researchers to recreate the same amount of pain for each participant in the subsequent sessions.

Participants rated their pain on a scale from 1 to 10. The researchers were aiming to induce pain to a Level 4 — a level that created the painful stimuli the researchers needed, but didn’t dissuade the participants from returning for the other visits required in the study.



With a thermode — a device that looks like a microphone with a copper tip — the UF researchers applied heat to the feet of participants in a study that tested the inflammatory response to pain of older adults versus younger adults.To study inflammation in the blood, the scientists inserted a catheter into each participant before inducing pain. That allowed them to collect the participant’s blood before the pain stimulus and then at three, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 90 minutes after the stimulus. These blood samples allowed the researchers to study inflammatory markers in the blood, finding that older adults had higher levels of inflammation when pain was induced than the younger adults.

Riley said activation of the immune system and increased inflammation are not necessarily harmful, but it’s important to understand how the length of time the immune system is activated affects the body.

“We think that the longer you have the immune system activated, having these elevated inflammatory cytokines, the more this activation can alter the homeostasis of the body. Usually an imbalance like that can be associated with autoimmune disorders, which also increase with age,” Cruz-Almeida said. “But the truth is we don’t know what the direct implications would be. We think low-grade inflammation is related to endocrine abnormalities such as diabetes and the development of heart problems. … We need to keep looking and doing future research.”

Riley said immediate implications of the research for patients could be to attack pain quickly with anti-inflammatory medication.

“Early treatment of an injury even with over-the-counter anti-inflammatories may be a good idea,” Riley said. “It’s those first few days of bombarding the central nervous system with pain signals that has a bigger effect (on the body).”
About the Author

Morgan Sherburne

Science writer for UF Health. Morgan writes about the research of faculty physicians in the College of Medicine. She joined the UF Health staff in 2014. A Michigan native, she...Read More

https://ufhealth.org/news/2016/study-shows-pain-causes-older-adults-develop-more-inflammation-over-longer-period-time

Pregnancy And Headaches

15 Weeks Pregnant Baby Bump

WebMD experts and contributors provide answers to your health questions..View the latest health news and explore articles on fitness,t, nutrition, parenting, relationships, medicine, diseases and healthy living at CNN Health..Medical news and health news headlines posted throughout the day, every day.TODAY Parents is the premiere destination for parenting news, advice community. Find the latest parenting trends and tips for your kids and family on TODAY.com..Learn about new USPSTF latent TB infection recommendation . Like CDC TB's new Facebook page. See newly released TB Treatment Guidelines. See the Take on Latent .Find a unique combination of doctors' and patients' views at onhealth.com - Owned and Operated by WebMD.Do you really need to eat twice as much food dirung your pregnancy? Of course not! In fact, maintaining a healthy, balancedt is of utmost importance while .

15 Weeks Pregnant Baby Bump

Good Posture During Pregnancy

Medical news and health news headlines posted throughout the day, every day.TODAY Parents is the premiere destination for parenting news, advice community. Find the latest parenting trends and tips for your kids and family on TODAY.com.. Do you really need to eat twice as much food dirung your pregnancy? Of course not! In fact, maintaining a healthy, balancedt is of utmost importance .Find a unique combination of doctors' and patients' views at onhealth.com - Owned and Operated by WebMD.WebMD experts and contributors provide answers to your health questions..View the latest health news and explore articles on fitness,t, nutrition, parenting, relationships, medicine, diseases and healthy living at CNN Health..Learn about new USPSTF latent TB infection recommendation . Like CDC TB's new Facebook page. See newly released TB Treatment Guidelines. See the Take on .

HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES FOR LIVER SPOTS

Liver spots are flat, brown or black spots that can appear on areas of the skin that are exposed to the sun. They have nothing to do with the liver or liver function

Liver spots are changes in skin color that occur in older skin. The coloring may be due to aging, exposure to the sun or other sources of ultraviolet light, or causes that are not known.

Liver spots are very common after age 40. They occur most often on areas that have had the greatest sun exposure, such as the -Backs of the hands,Face,Forearms,Forehead,Shoulders

Liver spots appear as a patch  or area of skin color change that is:-Flat Light brown to black, Painless

HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES

CURARE 30- Spots of yellow brown color

LYCOPODIUM 200- Spots on the face and especially on the abdomen

MEZEREUM 30- This is indicated when the color of the spots is dark brown , blue or black. Spots may be on the chest and arms

NATRUM HYPOSULPH. Q- Use for liverspots- locally and internally. 5 drops in water thrice daily

PLUMBUM MET 30- Liver spots during the period of menopause. They disappear after menopause

HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR MOLLUSCUM CONTAGIOSUM

Molluscum contagiosum  is a relatively common viral infection of the skin that results in round, firm, painless bumps ranging in size from a pinhead to a pencil eraser. If the bumps are scratched or injured, the infection can spread to surrounding skin.

Though most common in children, molluscum contagiosum can affect adults as well — particularly those with weakened immune systems. In adults with an otherwise normal immune system, molluscum contagiosum involving the genitals is considered a sexually transmitted infection.

Molluscum contagiosum spreads through direct person-to-person contact and through contact with contaminated objects. The bumps associated with molluscum contagiosum usually disappear within a year without treatment but doctor-assisted removal is also an option.

Causes-The virus that causes molluscum contagiosum spreads easily through:

·         Direct skin-to-skin contact

·         Contact with contaminated objects, such as toys, towels and faucet handles

·         Sexual contact with an affected partner

Scratching or rubbing the bumps spreads the virus to nearby skin

Symptoms--Signs and symptoms of molluscum contagiosum include bumps on the skin that:

·         Are raised, round and flesh colored

·         Are small — typically under about 1/4 inch (smaller than 6 millimeters) in diameter

·         Characteristically have a small indentation (umbilication) or dot at the top near the center

·         Can become red and inflamed

·         May be itchy

·         Can be easily removed by scratching or rubbing, which can spread the virus to adjacent skin

·         Usually appear on the face, neck, armpits, arms and tops of the hands in children

·         May be seen on the genitals, lower abdomen and inner upper thighs in adults if the infection was sexually transmitted

Risk factors--More widespread molluscum contagiosum  infections may occur in people with weakened immune systems and in children who have atopic dermatitis.

Complications--The bumps and the skin around them may become red and inflamed. This is thought to be an immune response to the infection. If scratched, these bumps can become infected. If lesions appear on the eyelids, pinkeye (conjunctivitis) can develop.

HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES.  

Homoeopathic medicines are very effective for curing molluscum contagiosm. From my experience the following three medicines are very effective for this condition. These medicines act as a specific for molluscum contagiosm.

CAUSTICUM 1000—Causticum is one of the top remedies for mollcuscum contagiosum. It is considered to be  an almost specific remedy for this condition. It is large, sometimes bleed easily.

CALCAREA CARB 200-Calcarea carb is another top remedy for molluscum contagiosum.It is found mainly on face and hands. The skin is unhealthy and readily ulcerating. Calcarea carb is suitable to fat, flabby persons who sweat profusely, especially head at night. There is a peculiar craving for eggs and undigestabile things like chalk. Calcarea carb persons get cold very easily.

NITRIC ACID 30-Nitric acid is very effective medicine for molluscum contagiosum. They are large, sometimes bleed on washing. Nitric acid is prescribed when splinter like pain is present.

How Do Nerves Work Vid

Today's post is an excellent Youtube animated video description of how nerves work produced by Elliot Krane and Frans Palomares from Ted-Ed. It gives you a visual version of parts of the posts of the last three days and where you may find written information difficult to retain, this video may make it easier. Definitely worth five minutes of your time and a full version can be seen by following the link.




About This Video

At any moment, there is an electrical storm coursing through your body. Discover how chemical reactions create an electric current that drives our responses to everything from hot pans to a mother’s caress.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-nerves-work

BUMBLEBEES MAKE FALSE MEMORIES TOO

It's well known that our human memory can fail us. People can be forgetful, and they can sometimes also "remember" things incorrectly, with devastating consequences in the classroom, courtroom, and other areas of life. Now, researchers show for the first time in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on February 26 that bumblebees can be unreliable witnesses too.

The new study is the first to explore false memories in any non-human animals, the researchers say. They now suspect that the phenomenon may be widespread in the animal kingdom.

"We discovered that the memory traces for two stimuli can merge, such that features acquired in distinct bouts of training are combined in the animal's mind," says Lars Chittka of Queen Mary University of London. As a result, "stimuli that have actually never been viewed before, but are a combination of the features presented in training, are chosen during memory recall."

Bumblebees are rather clever animals, which explains why Chittka has been studying learning and memory in the insects for the last 20 years. The bees can remember the patterns, colors, and scents of various kinds of flowers. They can also navigate to those flowers and back home again over long distances.

Most times when people have studied memory in animals, errors in performance have been taken to mean that the animals failed to learn the task or perhaps learned it and then forgot. But Chittka and his colleague Kathryn Hunt wondered: What if animals can experience a more interesting type of memory failure?

To find out, Chittka and Hunt first trained bumblebees to expect a reward when visiting a solid yellow artificial flower followed by one with black-and-white rings or vice versa. During subsequent tests, bees were given a choice between three types of flowers. Two were the yellow and the black-and-white types they'd seen before. The third type of flower had yellow-and-white rings, representing a mixed-up version of the other two. Minutes after the training, the bees showed a clear preference for the flower that most recently rewarded them. Their short-term memory for the flowers was good.

One or three days later, however, something very different happened when the bumblebees' memory was put to the test. At first, the bees showed the same preference displayed in the earlier tests, but as the day wore on, they appeared to grow confused. Half of the time, they began selecting the flower with yellow rings, even though they'd never actually seen that one in training before.

Chittka and Hunt say that the insects' observed merging of long-term memories is similar to the memory conjunction errors humans sometimes make. They don't think those false memories in either bumblebees or humans are simply "bugs in the system," but rather are side effects of an adaptive memory system that is working rather well. In fact, Chittka's team recently found that people who are particularly good at learning rules to classify objects are also especially prone to these false memory illusions.

"There is no question that the ability to extract patterns and commonalities between different events in our environment [is] adaptive," Chittka says. "Indeed, the ability to memorize the overarching principles of a number of different events might help us respond in new situations. But these abilities might come at the expense of remembering every detail correctly."

In bees, with their limited brain capacity, the pressure to "economize" by storing overarching features of a class of objects rather than each individual object might be even more intense. Chittka's lab is now using radar tracking to follow bees and their choices of flowers over a lifetime.

"We are fascinated to learn how lifetime experiences accumulate and are integrated in making day-to-day foraging decisions," he says.