Thursday, October 9, 2014

Health info at no cost my new series of informative articles and research

GOOD HEALTH TO YOU
Health info at no cost  my new series of informative articles and research
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Diabetes drug may delay prostate cancer progression
Among older men, prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer.
Type 2 diabetes is a common condition as well — and it’s not uncommon
for older men to have both diseases.
This information set the stage for a recent analysis of men who had
prostate cancer and diabetes and who frequently used a diabetes drug called
metformin (Glucophage, Glumetza, Fortamet). About half the men in the
study took metformin. Men taking metformin for their diabetes had a 24
percent lower chance of dying of prostate cancer in the first six months of
metformin use than did men taking other diabetes medications.
The research, published in the Journal of Clinic Oncology, was based on
past medical records. In addition to a significantly reduced risk of dying of
prostate cancer, men taking metformin for diabetes also experienced a 7
percent reduction in risk of death by any cause over two years, compared
with men who didn’t take the drug.
Mayo Clinic doctors say that this intriguing analysis suggests the possibility
that a relatively safe and inexpensive drug may be helpful in treating
prostate cancer. However, the link in this study is merely an association.
More robust research is necessary to determine true cause and effect. In addition,
other questions remain, such as whether metformin may be helpful
in those with prostate cancer who don’t have diabetes. It’s too early to recommend
metformin for anyone with prostate cancer, but for those with prostate
cancer and type 2 diabetes, metformin may be a treatment choice

Nerve damage — Injury to nerves
that sense stool in the rectum or that
control the anal sphincters can lead to
fecal incontinence. Damage may be
related to childbirth, a habit of straining
to pass stool, a spinal cord injury, a
stroke and even certain diseases —
such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis
— that may affect these nerves.
Chronic constipation — Ongoing
constipation can lead to a mass of hard,
dry stool in the rectum (impacted stool)
that’s too hard to pass. As a result,
muscles in the rectum and intestines
stretch, eventually weakening and allowing
watery stool from farther up to
leak out around the hard mass. Nerves
in the anus and rectum may become
less responsive to the presence of stool
when there’s chronic constipation.
Loss of storage capacity in the rectum
— Changes in the rectum wall that cause
the rectum to stiffen — such as may occur
from radiation treatment, rectal surgery
or inflammatory bowel disease —
reducing its capacity to hold stool
Treatments vary
Once fecal incontinence is diagnosed
and the likely cause is identified,
your doctor can discuss treatment options
that may be best suited to your
situation. It’s not unusual to use multiple
approaches to treat fecal incontinence.
Among the conservative options are:
Dietary changes — What you eat
and drink affects stool consistency and
how fast it passes through your digestive
system. If constipation is causing
fecal incontinence, your doctor may
recommend drinking plenty of fluids
and gradually increasing your intake of
fiber-rich foods. Getting adequate fiber
can help with diarrhea, too, as it bulks
up stool, making it less watery
Medications — Your doctor may
recommend anti-diarrheal drugs or
laxatives, depending on what’s causing
the incontinence. Sometimes, medications
you’re taking for other conditions
can contribute to fecal incontinence. If
that’s the case, your doctor can work
with you to make appropriate medication
changes to help reduce aggravation
of fecal incontinence. With this in mind,
it’s important that your doctor is aware
of all prescription and nonprescription
drugs and supplements you’re taking.
Biofeedback and pelvic floor exercises
— Restoring pelvic floor muscle
strength can improve anal sphincter
muscle control and awareness of the
need to have a bowel movement. Biofeedback
may be used to help you learn
how to properly squeeze and relax pelvic
floor muscles. During biofeedback,
a trained physiotherapist uses special
sensors to measure bodily functions
that help teach you what it feels like
when you actively squeeze and relax
your pelvic floor muscles
Sacral nerve stimulation
A relatively new treatment option
is electrical stimulation of the sacral
nerves. This option may be considered
if more-conservative measures
aren’t successful.
Your sacral nerves run from
your spinal cord to muscles in your
pelvis. These nerves regulate the
sensation and strength of your rectal
and anal sphincter muscles. The
device is implanted in the upper
buttock under the skin and delivers
continuous small electrical impulses
to the sacral nerves to help strengthen
muscles in the bowel.
Sacral nerve stimulation is much
less invasive than are other surgical
approaches, and it carries low risk
of serious complications. Although
long-term results are unknown at this
point, multicenter studies of sacral
nerve stimulation have reported
marked and sustained improvement

in bowel control

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