Psoriasis Treatment

Posted by healthtips 3 July, 2009 (0) Comment

Psoriasis is a little known disorder that can greatly affect the lives of people suffering from it. Although far from being life threatening, psoriasis can have more of an affect on the quality of life of the person. Effective treatment depends on how affected the person with psoriasis is.

Common Treatment
The main characteristic symptom of psoriasis is the sudden growth of red, scaly and inflamed patches of skin anywhere on the body. Treating this abnormal skin growth is the primary treatment for the disease. But there are other features of the disease that may also affect a person psychologically.

The most common treatment for psoriasis is the application of topical ointments and creams that can help minimize the spread of the unsightly scaly skin patches associated with the disease. Topical applications usually become effective during the initial phases of psoriasis. The skin growth usually reacts positively to ointments and creams and may disappear after some time.

Secondary Treatment
There are times when recurring psoriasis starts to build a specific resistance to previous treatments after a while. When the topical treatment no longer provides the desired results, doctors venture into secondary forms of treatment. This type of treatment usually involves exposing the skin to ultraviolet radiation. This form of treatment is more commonly known as phototherapy.

After awhile, even phototherapy fails to provide the desired effect. This is when doctors resort to using the systemic treatment approach. This type of treatment involves the use of certain medications usually taken internally by pill or by injections. There are times when antibiotics are employed as treatment for psoriasis growths. But this is only used when the psoriasis outbreak is a direct cause of a bacterial infection, such as when a person is suffering from a strep throat infection. Some infections caused by the Streptococcus bacteria can also lead to an outbreak of psoriasis in some people.

Rotation Treatment
Because psoriasis can become resistant to treatments over time, many doctors usually offer the various treatment options in rotation. This is done in order to avoid certain people from developing a resistance to the treatments that will make the disease harder to treat over time. Most doctors do not rely mainly on a single treatment but rather make use of a combination of different treatments for psoriasis.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy
People who suffer from psoriasis not only suffer from the physical effects of the disease. Some people may also be greatly affected by the disease psychologically. Some of the scaly skin patches associated with psoriasis can grow to become unsightly. It can easily make some people feel embarrassed about their condition and may start to feel insecure about themselves. Cognitive behavior therapy is usually employed along with the traditional treatments of the disease as a means to help people cope up with the psychological stress as well as the disability usually brought about by psoriasis.

Effective treatments for psoriasis usually depend on the diagnosis of the doctors. There is no single treatment that can work effectively for all people suffering from psoriasis. As there can be different triggers and causes of the disorder, doctors might need to evaluate and assess each case before providing the best means of treatment.

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The start of an eating disorder

Posted by healthtips 2 July, 2009 (0) Comment

It is actually not hard to imagine how eating disorders have become such a trend in the country and perhaps in the whole world. The model-thin phenomenon is actually the result of a multitude of factors and it is actually not right to just pinpoint it to just one source. Ultimately, even if it is the kind of image that the fashion world and Hollywood have been showing for the past decades, it is still the choice of the person to follow it or not. Also, families have important roles to play in this regard and have actually contributed much to this problem whether they like it or not. Here are some of the things that may have contributed to the rise in the cases of eating disorders in recent years.

The focus on looks

With rising stars in Hollywood all beautiful and sexy but have few and sometimes even non-existent talent, it is not hard to conclude just how much important appearances are when you want to earn the kind of money that they earn and reach the status that they are enjoying. When you see great singers like Jennifer Hudson— who is not your usual model-thin Hollywood star but has the most powerful voice imaginable— not as successful as for instance Britney Spears with her studio-generated voice, you can’t help but think that looks is actually more important than talent.

School bullies

Teenage life is hard enough to deal with without having to deal with bullies who want to always bring you down. These people mask their insecurities by bullying people to think less of themselves and question their worth as individuals. There are a lot of school bullies in school nowadays and most of them are not ordinary stereotypes of big burly boys. Most school bullies in fact are model-thin girls who are beautiful on the outside but wicked in the inside.

Lack of family support

Most of the people who eventually develop eating disorders come from families that are either dysfunctional or lacking in emotional support. Young people are easily impressed with ideas and because they still do not know what is right from wrong, they need the support of their parents as they search for their identities. It is however sad that because of economic conditions, most parents are busy with their work and are not there often enough to watch over their kids and provide the emotional support that they need. 

Tags: eating disorder

Categories : eating disorders Tags : ,