Strain from use or abuse accounts for 80% of back ailments.  Most vulnerable is the lowest, or lumbar, part of the spine, which bears the greatest pressure when bending and lifting.  Five to ten percent of back problems involve the discs between the vertebrae.  Most common is the protrusion (or herniation) of the soft center of a disc through the casing so that it presses on spinal nerves.  Another 10% of of back problems involve structural defects, which may be the result of injuries, tumors, arthritis, congenital malformations, osteoporosis (the weakening of the bones), or scoliosis (side-to-side curving of the spine).  Sometimes a sore back back is a symptom of diseases of other organs, such as the kidneys, gallbladder, or stomach.  A physical exam and various test, including electrodiagnostic studies, X rays, CT scans, and MRI’s (magnetic resonance imaging), may be necessary to pinpoint the problem.

Bed rest, supplemented by moist heat or other muscle relaxants, and anti-inflammatory drugs, eases most backaches.  However, the days when doctors advised two weeks of bed rest for back aches are gone.  After two to three days, most back patients are urged to get up, start walking, and resume light activity.

Back specialists tailor treatment programs to an individual’s needs.  Different forms of physical therapy include specific exercises, massage, heat, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation, and often works to relieve pain and speed recovery.  Some people successfully use chiropractic, acupuncture, hypnosis, biofeedback, or relaxation techniques to cope with back pain.  Regardless of treatment, more then 85% of back-injury patients well within two weeks.  Fewer then 2% eventually require surgery to repair a herniated disc.

Life is about living in a human body, thinking with a human mind, responding to a world of ideas and experiences with a human spirit.  You are the owner of an incredible machine, the most complex and sophisticated on earth.  The human body is remarkably robust, resilient, and superbly equipped to deal with the challenges of daily living.  Even processes, we sometimes think of as malfunctions – a cough, a runny nose, diarrhea – can be indications of the body’s capacity to heal itself.  Many times emotional energy can get blocked and manifest itself in physical illness.  Health and Wellness begins in the heart.

This week we will be exploring the controversial topic of euthanasia.

Everyone at Medical Supplies Expanded is overjoyed because they are making money on each unit sold plus they are collecting 100 percent of their sales on a timely basis.  There appears to be unlimited growth potential for increasing sales and profits at Medical Supplies Expanded.  This is an ideal situation, and it doesn’t always occur this way.  That is why it is important to have a good health care accountant to assess the financial needs of any health care organization.

After Childbirth – Massage is tremendously beneficial after childbirth.  In parts of the East is the tradition for a new mother to be cosseted and pampered, and every day for 40 days the local midwife massages her whole body, giving a particularly deep massage to the abdomen.  A mother in Borneo told me how comforting it was to receive a massage after childbirth….”It felt as though my whole insides were being pushed back into place.”  After a month her stomach was flat, she had no aches and she felt energetic and lively again.

How civilized these traditions seem compared with our won way of life.  Every new mother would benefit from a regular massage.  It eases the strain of caring for a new baby, and helps relieve the aches from picking up and carrying, reduces nervousness and stress, and above all ensures at least an hour of complete relaxation.  This can benefit the rest of your family too, because after the massage the mother will be filled with a sense of well-being.  In fact, one of the reasons that I first became interested in massage was because my mother was always in such a wonderful mood after having a massage.  Be sure to ask your doctor how soon you can start massaging your abdomen.  This area may be rather tender right after child birth so massage with great care.  Avoid any movements that are painful and be sure not to massage the scar area after a cesarian.

Prenatal depression is now recognized as having a negative effect on pregnancy and birth outcomes, so if you suspect that you may be depressed, consult your midwife or doctor.  He or she may refer you to seek support through your community health department, church or hospital plan.  Hospitals and clinics often have classes for expectant mothers who feel they may be at risk for depression and postpartum depression.

There is a link between not putting on enough weight in pregnancy and low birth weight babies.  If you gain too much weight, you are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, backaches, varicose veins, fatigue, shortness of breath and to have a large baby.  The recommended weight gain in pregnancy depends on your pre-pregnancy weight.  If your BMI was less then 19.8 you should aim for a gain of between 28-40 pounds.  If your BMI was between 19.8-26 you should aim for 25-35 pounds and anything above 26 you should aim for 15-25 pounds.

The complexity of today’s health care system has brought with it a need for all managers and executives to have a solid understanding of accounting.  It is known that knowledge of accounting is beneficial regardless of a person’s primary focus within the health care system.

By eight weeks, the four chambers of of the heart have formed and it can be seen beating on an ultrasound.  At this stage the baby can be called a “fetus”.  The baby, now called a fetus, loses its tail and limbs and starts the process of forming a body.

By 12 weeks, the end of the first tri-mester, your baby is fully formed; facial features are developing and the major organs are beginning to function.  The second tri-mester, from weeks 13-27 weeks, is a period of rapid growth as a baby grows from 2 in (6cm) each month.  This is when a baby starts to move and can swallow and hear sounds outside the womb.

By 24 weeks, most body systems are formed and, except for the lungs, the major organs are all working.  By the third tri-mester a baby is now much more in proportion.  A greasy protective substance called vernix covers the skin.  By the third tri-mester, at 28 weeks, a baby has put on considerable weight and and if born can possibly survive outside the womb with the proper medical care.  During the last tri-mester, a baby becomes much more active and and is likely to have some sort of sleeping and waking routine.  The baby may also start to fill out and resemble a newborn as fat deposits are laid down.  The organs continue to mature and the body systems are becoming more and more complex.  The brain and nervous system develop rapidly and the brain will still continue to develop in a baby after birth.

By 36 weeks, the liver and kidneys are fully developed and the liver is starting to process waste products.  The digestive system has formed and the intestines are filled with meconium, a dark green substance made of waste products.  The lungs are among the last organs to fully develop, but by only 40 weeks these are fully functioning and a baby starts to practice small breaths.

In the past many employers under defined-benefit plans either set aside no funds or failed to set aside enough to cover their future pension obligations.  They simply paid the obligations as they come due, often out of the company’s current operating capital.  This practice not only represented poor financial management, but on occasion left retired employees short of their rightful pension benefits.  To help assure that employees received what was promised them.  Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in 1974, which requires employers to fund their plans at specified minimum levels and provides other safeguards designed to protect employees.  This was one area of study that is covered when studying how to become a CPA.  As a health care worker, your defined benefit plan should be clear and serve the purpose of protecting and covering allied health professionals such as; sonographers.

One benign male breast clinical situation that can be confused with breast cancer is called gynecomastia .  Usually, adult men present with a tender subareolar breast mass, and it may be unilateral or bilateral.  On mammography, there is breast tissue in the subareolar zone that may rarely contain classifications.  The need for biopsy will be determined by a combination of symptoms, physical findings, and mammographic or ultrasonographic findings.  There is probably no correlation between gynecomastia and carcinoma.  Male breast carcinoma are similar in appearance to female breast carcinomas.  They most commonly present as irregular or ill-defined solid masses.  Pathologically, invasive lobular carcinomas are rarer in men than in women due to less developed lobular structures in men.

Listed are some common causes of male Gynecomastia:

1) common in the neonatal male

2) common in pubertal males

3) Adult men

a. Any underlying disease causing hormone imbalance such as liver of the cirrhosis

b. Drugs (digitalis, steroids)

c. Androgen deficiency as in aging.