Most Asked Questions Regarding Angular Stomatitis

By Bart Icles

People who have suffered Angular Stomatitis can attest how painful, embarrassing, and irritating this condition is to have in their lives. Although many countless people around the world continue to be afflicted by this non-contagious yet crippling condition, medical science has yet to find an effective deterrent and remedy for its debilitating symptoms. Angular Stomatitis today, remains and continues to be one of humankind's major health problems.

So what really is Angular Stomatitis? Angular Stomatitis is an inflammatory lesion that appears at the corners of the lips that is visibly marked with a red, crusty rash that may be tender and painful when moved or touched. Depending on the severity of the condition, there may be some bleeding involved and mild to severe feelings of discomfort - especially when disturbed by any lip movement. This is what the disease does to its sufferers' - limited use of one's mouth to eat, talk, smile, socialize, and a lot more little yet important activities. Angular Stomatitis can affect anyone from all ages, and both sexes.

What causes Angular Stomatitis to happen? Doctors, physicians, and medical experts have yet to find and pinpoint the exact cause for the condition. But some other sources have a strong conviction that deficiencies in the B vitamins and iron contribute to the causing the condition. This belief is does not sit well with other sources in the opposite side of the fence. Another cause thought to contribute to Angular Stomatitis occurring with older people is with their use of ill-fitting dentures; loss of teeth makes the person lose some important muscles used for chewing and other related mouth actions, thereby causing the jaw to become misaligned. The condition has even been linked to serious health conditions such as that of STD's and AID's.

The only most agreed specific cause points to a bacterial or fungal intrusion into the cracks, and infecting the exposed skin. Research is still ongoing whether or not the cracks happen first and are then infected, or the bacteria or fungi themselves cause the skin to crack.

How will one know if it's Angular Stomatitis or not? When cracks appear on the sides of your mouth and are painful to move, touch and bleed, then you now you have the condition; most of the time it is accompanied by red rashes and bumps surrounding the sores. In its early stages, there may be some dryness and itching on the lips, followed by cracking and the appearance of small traces of an oncoming rash. The end stage of a full-blown case of Angular Stomatitis is ugly with pus and more blood involved. If you don't act quickly you'll surely suffer from it.

About the Author:

For more information about angular stomatitis emedicine, visit www.angular-cheilitis-center.com. Click to learn more about angular stomatitis.

The Common Causes and Symptoms of dementia

By Esther Dacamay

Premature death of large quantities of brain cells is what characterizes Dementia. Dementia is a progressive and degenerative disease that causes the patient to experience memory loss and disorientation due to the loss of nerve cells in the brain. This disease will progress over many years. Seventy-five percent of todays elderly age 65 or older are estimated to experience symptoms of this debilitating disease. Generally, dementia will not present itself before the age of 60.

Although several theories exist, the actual cause of dementia is unknown. There is speculation that dementia could be a result of long-term exposure to aluminum and copper from foods, cookware, antacids, antiperspirants, etc. Furthermore, a deficiency of vitamin B12, zinc, potassium, selenium and boron was also found to exist in most dementia patients. Other etiological considerations include genetics, environmental and pharmaceutical toxins, autoimmune factors, brain injury/trauma, cholinergic nerve destruction due to excitatory amino acids, gluten sensitivity or allergy to wheat, hypothyroidism, elevated homocysteine levels and excess cortisol from adrenals, which destroy optimal brain functioning.

The most common symptoms of dementia include memory loss, inability for abstract thought, impaired judgment, cognitive decline and the inability to carry out everyday tasks. As progression of this disease continues, short term memory lapse becomes acute memory loss. In its later stages, loss of vitality, acute anxiety, apprehension and mood swings and ineffective body movements become prevalent. In addition, intellectual ability such as inability to find the correct words or figure out simple mathematical calculations can also occur. Generally, night time can escalate these symptoms with violent behavior, belligerence, incontinence and involuntary actions; however there are some who become more docile and withdrawn.

It is important to keep in mind that some prescription drugs can cause age-related symptoms such as described above. In addition, certain drugs can cause memory deficits or altered psychological behavior. Therefore, be sure to assess the patient thoroughly and carefully prepare nutritious meals that are high in vitamin B. It has been found that many older individuals suffer from malnutrition, which can cause a number of psychological symptoms ranging from depression to dementia. Consequently, it is vital that diet be assessed and that vitamin and mineral supplements are added to determine if nutritional depletion is the cause.

There are two broad categories for dementia, the subcortical dementias and the cortical dementias, depending upon which part of the brain is affected.

Parts of the brain beneath the cortex that are affected are considered subcortical. Typical forms of this type of dementia include Parkinsons disease, Huntington's disease, and AIDS dementia complex. In these cases, attention span and personality are affected as well as the slowing down of thought processing.

The outer layer of the brain or the cerebral cortex is responsible for language and memory. This is the area affected by cortical dementia. Patients who are afflicted with this disorder experience acute memory impairment as well as the inability to recall words or understand common language or aphasia. Common diseases of the cortical dementia include Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. However, there is the possibility of both areas of the brain being affected. In this case, it would be referred to as multi-infarct dementia.

About the Author:

A highly regarded editor and news reporter with more than 10 years of experience. Esther Dacanay is a featured writer on Clivir.com where she shares her knowledge about Dementia Cures and Dementia Custodial care on Clivir.com.

Anesthetic Requirements Can Be Reduced Through Hypnosis During Cancer Surgery

By Rita Goldman

Dr. Christina Liossi made an experiment for 80 children. These children aging between 6 and 16 were divided into groups. Some groups were treated by hypnosis and anesthetic by psychologists, they were also taught to self hypnotize themselves. While some of them were treated by anesthetic alone.The children were asked to rate their pain before they were being given any treatment, then afterward.

According to Dr Gruzelier, a doctor from Imperial College in London, when people are hypnotized some changes occur. The patients who undergone hypnosis was observed to have fewer symptoms associated as side effects of cancer treatment.

Breast cancer surgery patients have these side effects fairly often because of the invasive nature of the surgery. Dr Guy Montgomery recruited two hundred breast cancer sufferers to undergo either hypnosis or a consultation with a psychologist before surgery. The women who were hypnotized were also taught how to induce a hypnotic trance themselves. As a result of this, they required less anesthetic but crucially reported less post operative emotional distress, pain fatigue and nausea. Dr David Spiegel, from Stanford University School of Medicine, postulated that the treatment worked by altering the patients perceptions of pain by directing the attention of the mind elsewhere.

"The key concept is that this psychological procedure actually changes pain experience as much as many analgesic medications and far more than placebos."

More research and test should be done to be able to introduce this to the mainstream of cancer treatment. Dr Christina Liossi said that there is a possibility to prolong life expectancy for cancer patients by psychological factors. However, there should be clinical trials to support this.

You wont lose by trying. So if you will be facing surgery you can talk to your doctor and open the idea. It may help you to save more.

About the Author:

As isolated as you may feel right now, you are not alone. Cancer diagnosis is just the beginning of your story. Cancer survivors prove every day that this can be the beginning of a whole new positive chapter in your life. Join our unique community of cancer survivors to be right now and receive a FREE report on Cancer Survivor's tips.