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Articles from John Laurusonis | Selfgrowth.com
- Anxiety and Counseling - by Submitted on Nov 04, 2010 from John LaurusonisAnxiety is a medical and psychological condition or feeling very hyper or overwhelmed in different situations. It may have shortness of breath, increased heart rate, sweating, increased respirations, shaking, and even very rarely emotional blackouts. It may result in forms of panic, tension, ...
Views: 742(1 vote) - Anxiety and Related Disorders - by Submitted on Nov 04, 2010 from John LaurusonisIf you’re sitting in a tornado shelter feeling apprehension about a tornado warning on the radio, then you probably have a normal fear response to your circumstances. If you’re sitting in there on a clear day, trembling, sweating and feeling doomed, then you probably have an anxiety disorder. ...
Views: 870(1 vote) - Arthritis Osteoarthritis and Gout: The Top Three - by Submitted on Nov 04, 2010 from John LaurusonisArthritis Osteoarthritis and Gout: The Top Three There are many forms of arthritis. Arthritis means inflammation of a joint. It can be due to trauma with damage to the cartilage and bleeding into the joint. It can be due to infection, with disseminated bacteria or a puncture wound into the ...
Views: 1365(2 votes) - Autism - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2010 from John LaurusonisLet’s say, for purposes of illustration, that I am a primary care practitioner seeing a three year old boy for the first time. He evidently has been seen elsewhere for colds and minor illnesses but I do not have access to his well baby check-ups, if he has had them at all. I notice that the ...
Views: 1502(2 votes) - Auto Accident - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisAuto Accidents Motor vehicular accidents are a leading cause of death and non-fatal trauma in the United States. Although statistics have improved with safer cars, more diverse law enforcement and better roads, annual deaths in the US still exceed 41,000. There are over 1,700,000 crashes a ...
Views: 714(1 vote) - Breast Feeding - by Submitted on Nov 09, 2010 from John LaurusonisBreast Feeding Breastfeeding is considered by many experts to be the final phase of pregnancy. The mother is continuing to supply everything the infant needs to grow and develop. However, in this process the infant is learning the physical dimension of feeling and sensation, and is beginning to ...
Views: 909(1 vote) - Chest Infections, Asthma & Allergy - by Submitted on Nov 09, 2010 from John LaurusonisChest Infections, Asthma & Allergy Bronchitis is an infection/inflammation that can be caused by viral, bacterial, mycoplasmic, rickettsiae, parasitic or allergic reaction in origin. This affects the big, main air transportation tube systems of the lung all the way to the smallest tubal at ...
Views: 2308(1 vote) - Chlamydia and Sexually Transmitted Infections - by Submitted on Nov 09, 2010 from John LaurusonisChlamydia and Sexually Transmitted Infections All physicians want every sexually active patient to know and understand that one of the most prevalent Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) is Chlamydia. It occurs in about an estimated 4 million patients per year. The second most common is ...
Views: 750(1 vote) - Common Eye Problems in Primary Care - by Submitted on Nov 07, 2010 from John LaurusonisCommon Eye Problems in Primary Care Almost every day that goes bi in Primary Care, one or more eye problems present for care. These may range all the way from simple and easily remedied to emergent, needing quick referral to an eye specialist. The purpose of this article is to present a ...
Views: 2714(1 vote) - Conjunctivitis Pink Eye and Eye Infections - by Submitted on Nov 09, 2010 from John LaurusonisConjunctivitis is an inflammation, redness, edema, swelling, hypervascularization, discharge, or infection of the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is the clear, very thin protective membrane that covers the white sclera of the eye and the inside of the eyelids. The conjunctiva can easily become ...
Views: 1364(1 vote) - Contact Dermatitis - by Submitted on Nov 09, 2010 from John LaurusonisLet’s suppose that you were laid off in your construction job due to the decrease in housing starts. Other than the obvious change in income, you notice an interesting phenomenon: that rash on your hands and feet gradually goes away. You’re wearing jogging shoes instead of your favorite work ...
Views: 1454(1 vote) - Cough - by Submitted on Nov 09, 2010 from John LaurusonisA cough may be a good thing or a bad thing. Mostly, it's a good thing. It alerts your nervous system, both consciously and subconsciously, that some problem is in the respiratory airways that shouldn't be there. This is not the case where someone has a psychogenic problem where they cough when ...
Views: 1056(1 vote) - Earache and ear Infections - by Submitted on Feb 21, 2011 from John LaurusonisEarache and ear Infections Love is a many splendored thing. An earache however is not. On the human misery scale, ear pain probably ranks right up there with a severe toothache, a beesting, or a severeg migraine. Earaches can have many causes and are usually defined by whether they are on, or ...
Views: 1191(1 vote) - Flu Part 1 - by Submitted on Nov 07, 2010 from John LaurusonisFlu (part1) The 2009-2010 flu seasons was supposed to be "routine." Usually, patients take their seasonal flu shot. Those people who had flu symptoms normally go to the doctor's office for an exam and testing. It is usually easy to spot the flu patients. Among the usual nasal congestion and ...
Views: 1332(2 votes) - Flu part 2 - by Submitted on Nov 07, 2010 from John LaurusonisFlu (Part 2) There is one other very important Flu group: Kids. Their immune systems just have matured and acquired the antibody response that healthy adults have. In shear numbers, children get the Flu 2 to 3 more times than adults. That is why we are hearing tragic stories about otherwise ...
Views: 761(1 vote) - Foot Problems - by Submitted on Nov 10, 2010 from John LaurusonisIt’s easy to take your feet for granted. Day after day they perform without a hitch until that one day when something is just not right. Sit in a busy podiatrist’s office one day and watch the people hobble in on crutches canes, splints and bandages, and you’ll quickly get the drift of this ...
Views: 975(1 vote) - Gastric Problems and Abdominal Aches and Pains - by Submitted on Nov 10, 2010 from John LaurusonisThere are basically two kinds of human colons: happy colons and unhappy colons. When it’s happy, all five feet of it, it is the terminal end of the digestive tract and functions to remove water and salts from the foods digested above it, and it is the structure which forms regular evacuations of ...
Views: 934(1 vote) - HEART ATTACK: MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION - by Submitted on Jan 26, 2011 from John LaurusonisHEART ATTACK: MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION No one wants to think about heart attack. It’s the boogey man that causes more deaths worldwide than any other medical condition. In the U.S. alone there are 1.2 million heart attacks every year: somewhere around 25% to 30% end in fatality. Around 20% of ...
Views: 1025(1 vote) - Hemorrhoids: Painless Rectal Bleeding - by Submitted on Nov 12, 2010 from John LaurusonisHemorrhoids are varicose type veins of the anal area. They are much like a surgical glove squeezed in the fingers to create a big bulge. These bulges filled with blood coagulate and form clots. This stretching of the blood vessel causes pain, and the clot maintains stretching of the vein causing ...
Views: 4132(1 vote) - Kidney Stones - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2010 from John LaurusonisUnfortunately, kidney stones are a fact of life. One out of ten Americans will experience a kidney stone sometime during their lives. They seem to occur with greater frequency in the Southern United States, hence the name, "The Stone Belt." Although a great number of tiny stones are probably ...
Views: 1005(1 vote) - Light and Lasers - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2010 from John LaurusonisEnergy and mass are two primary states in the universe. One is matter and the other is energy which does possess minimal mass. Energy usually has a specific frequency which is how wide the wave, which is the width which is the wavelength. Amplitude of how high or low the peak and trough of the ...
Views: 858(1 vote) - Loss of Health Insurance - by Submitted on Nov 14, 2010 from John LaurusonisThe current economic situation of job loss, occupational insecurity, and the hardships of unemployment continue to be a topic of discussion in our community, within the healthcare industry, and in governmental policy making organizations. The job loss numbers for 2008 were 2.6 million jobs, and ...
Views: 798(1 vote) - Loss of health insurance - by Submitted on Nov 18, 2010 from John LaurusonisLoss of health insurance The current economic situation of job loss, occupational insecurity, and the hardships of unemployment continue to be a topic of discussion in our community, within the healthcare industry, and in governmental policy making organizations. The job loss numbers for 2008 ...
Views: 713(1 vote) - Low Back Pain - by Submitted on Nov 18, 2010 from John LaurusonisLower Back Pain In a busy primary clinical practice, at least one patient a day comes in with a backache. It is one of the most common human ailments. Most of the problems are with the lower back; and no wonder. The lower back is the "foundation" on which most of the other muscle movements base ...
Views: 661(1 vote) - Lymph Nodes: Big or Swollen? - by Submitted on Nov 18, 2010 from John LaurusonisLymph Nodes: Big or Swollen? I’ll bet when you go into see your doctor for all or part of a physical examination, you wonder why he probes and presses around your neck, under your arms, maybe around your elbow, in the left-sided spleen area, perhaps in the groin or behind the knee. He is ...
Views: 4713(1 vote) - Melasma the Mask of Pregnancy - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisMelasma the Mask of Pregnancy Melasma is called a facial dyschromia, that is, a disorder of facial pigmentation that accompanies about seventy per cent of all pregnancies. It usually starts after the third month of pregnancy, and most commonly affects the centrofacial area which includes the ...
Views: 907(1 vote) - Menopause - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisMenopause Menopause is the normal process of the ovary ceasing to produce eggs for reproduction. As a consequence, in the absence of developing egg follicles where estrogen was previously produced, the female body attempts to adapt to the decreasing levels of estrogen. Sometimes this can be a ...
Views: 716(1 vote) - Miscarriage of Pregnancy - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisMiscarriage of Pregnancy With all things considered, the birth of a normal, healthy baby is quite the miracle. Most people aren’t aware that estimates of miscarriage range between 20% and 50% of all pregnancies. Some are inevitably so early that the mother never knew she was pregnant or had ...
Views: 807(1 vote) - Moles - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisMoles There are parts of skin cells within the skin called melanocytes. The melanocytes normally produce pigment and are evenly spread throughout the skin. They are stimulated by the sun light to grow and expand. Sometimes they grow together in clumps surrounded by normal skin. This clump of ...
Views: 1010(1 vote) - MRSA - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisMRSA Staphylococcus aureus: This bacterium, often called Staph, is one of the most common causes of skin infections. It is a double sphere shaped bacteria. Staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections. It is differentiated by a coagulation test. They place the bacteria in a test ...
Views: 922(1 vote) - Natural Childbirth - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisNatural childbirth I keep a copy of the obstetric bill for my birth and mother’s four day stay in the hospital. It was $63.29. Of course it was 1947, but still. The average hospital birth these days with a discharge in twenty-four hours is $8,000 to $10,000. Childbirth is the biggest source of ...
Views: 750(1 vote) - Nausea and Vomiting - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisNausea and Vomiting I don’t think anyone of normal intelligence and human experience needs a long dissertation on the experience of nausea and vomiting. Nausea is the anticipatory sensation that one is going to vomit. Vomiting itself is the reflex mechanism by which the stomach upwardly expels ...
Views: 851(1 vote) - Pancreatitis: How Serious is it? - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisPancreatitis: How Serious is it? The pancreas, like many other of our organs, doesn’t come to mind much when it is humming along doing its job. The problem is that when something starts to misfire in the pancreas, pandemonium commences to result in the rest of the body. For instance, various ...
Views: 1172(1 vote) - Pap Smear - by Submitted on Nov 22, 2010 from John LaurusonisPap smear: Saving Lives Since 1943 The Pap smear is a screening tests for cervical, vaginal and endocervical cancer. To be more specific, a physician looks in and up the vaginal canal with a clear vaginal speculum, opening the vaginal canal to see the vagina and cervix. The cervix, ...
Views: 730(1 vote) - Psoriasis: Is it Just Dry Skin or Something Else - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisPsoriasis: Is it Just Dry Skin or Something Else Psoriasis is generally an inherited skin condition by genetic testing there is a HLA-B27 or B28 gene that people with psoriasis posses. Psoriasis is often noted in children as white scaly patches on the knees, elbows, or scalp, but virtually ...
Views: 1420(1 vote) - Restylane And Skin Fillers - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisRestylane And Skin Fillers Restylane is a gel volume filler using dextrose and a non-animal based hyluronic acid. Restylane is designed to correct skin imperfections as wrinkles and lines. It enhances lip volume, a little or a lot. It is used to pump up, fill, and restore fullness to pits, ...
Views: 1543(1 vote) - Reyes syndrome - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisReyes syndrome Being stricken with Reye's syndrome is basically like being struck by lightning. It does not happen very often, but when it does, the consequences can be disastrous. For example, you would not send your child or teenager out to play on the beach with an aluminum baseball bat ...
Views: 1622(1 vote) - Rosacea - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisRosacea Rosacea is a chronic skin inflammation that primarily affects the central face. It occurs in about fourteen million American adults, with a preponderance of them being of northern European descent (hence, the nickname: “the Celt’s curse”). It causes a rash that occurs primarily on the ...
Views: 862(2 votes) - Shingles - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisShingles Shingles, or Herpes Zoster as it is sometimes called, is a painful reactivation of the Chickenpox virus. These outbreaks usually appears as a local rash to one specific area of the body, what doctors call a dermatome distribution. It usually does not cross the midline of the body (i.e. ...
Views: 3607(2 votes) - Sinusitis and Allergies - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisSinusitis and Allergies Nasal congestion is an inflammation or infection of the inside of the nose and nasal passageways. The infection can be bacterial such as part of a sinus infection. It could be viral such as a cold or an allergic reaction with inflammation and nasal congestion. The ...
Views: 935(1 vote) - Sinusitis, Rhinitis and Allergies - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisSinusitis, Rhinitis and Allergies Rhinitis is an inflammation or infection of the nose. The infection can be bacterial such as a sinus infection, or viral such as a cold or an allergic reaction with inflammation. The nasal passageway is like a main hallway in which air is constantly ...
Views: 1334(1 vote) - Skin Rejuvination - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisSkin resurfacing Precise Computerized Erbium laser skin resurfacing is a very exact procedure. It is designed to precisely remove superficial and moderately deep and deep lines, imperfections, scars, pigments and wrinkles on the face, neck and virtually all parts of the body. The laser is ...
Views: 1010(2 votes) - Splinters - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2010 from John LaurusonisSplinters A splinter is a small, firm foreign body embedded in the skin or soft tissue. The most common type of splinter is wooden, either as an irregular fragment, or perhaps a thorn or a fragment of a toothpick. Other types of splinters could include various metals, glass, fiber glass, ...
Views: 2638(1 vote) - The Dangers of Dehydration - by Submitted on Nov 09, 2010 from John LaurusonisThe Dangers of Dehydration Most adults understand the concept of dehydration. It is the state where the body puts out or loses more water than it takes in. A lot of common sense advice stems from this understanding: “drink plenty of fluids if you are going to be working in the sun” or “Rest ...
Views: 2012(1 vote) - Therapy of Trauma - by Submitted on Jan 19, 2011 from John LaurusonisTherapy of Trauma The elevation of a traumatized area is the most important initial treatment of an injury. It should be elevated as soon as possible twelve to sixteen inches above the level of the heart to decrease bleeding and capillary pressure. This is critical the first three to seven days ...
Views: 960(1 vote) - Trauma - by Submitted on Jan 19, 2011 from John LaurusonisTrauma The elevation of a traumatized area is one of the most important initial treatments of an injury. It should be elevated as soon as possible twelve to sixteen inches above the level of the heart to decrease bleeding and capillary pressure. This is critical the first three to seven days ...
Views: 781(1 vote) - Traumatic Injuries - by Submitted on Jan 19, 2011 from John LaurusonisTraumatic Injuries Traumatic injuries cause damage to tissues. The incidental rupturing of ancillary and primary blood vessels supplying these tissues causes internal bleeding at the site of injury. The blood supplies normally bring nutrients and oxygen to the tissues and remove waste ...
Views: 771(1 vote) - Urinary Tract Infection and Bladder Infections - by Submitted on Jan 21, 2011 from John LaurusonisUrinary Tract Infection Bladder Infection Urinary tract or bladder infections (UTI) develop in the lower urinary tract area which includes the urinary bladder itself. Bladder infections are often caused by bacteria, rickettsiae, mycoplasma, and sometimes by a virus. Most common are the ...
Views: 1958(2 votes) - Varicose Veins - by Submitted on Jan 21, 2011 from John LaurusonisVeins Veins can be so ugly and unsightly, so confusing that they seen to have a mind of their own. Veins often do what they want to do in response to genetics, hormones, trauma, disease, pressure, and pregnancy. Varicose veins are the larger rubbery, knotty, huge convoluting vessels on ...
Views: 1164(1 vote) - Yeast Infection - by Submitted on Jan 25, 2011 from John LaurusonisYeast Infection Yeast infections can occur almost anywhere in an immune- compromised person (such as one with H.I.V.): in the throat and esophagus, in the bloodstream, etc. In a person with a normal immune system, when we say “yeast infection”, we are usually referring to a yeast growth in the ...
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