Causes of Chest Pain

Causes of Chest Pain

Chest pain has many possible causes, all of which deserve medical attention. The causes of chest pain fall into two major categories cardiac and noncardiac causes.
Cardiac causes
Heart attack. A heart attack is a result of a blood clot that's blocking blood flow to your heart muscle.
Angina. Atherosclerotic plaques, containing cholesterol and other substances, can build up in the arteries that carry blood to your heart, narrowing them and temporarily restricting blood flow to your heart, especially during times of exertion. Restricted blood flow to your heart can cause recurrent episodes of chest pain — angina pectoris, or angina (pronounced an-JI-nuh or AN-juh-nuh).
Other cardiac causes. Other problems that can cause chest pain include inflammation of the sac surrounding your heart (pericarditis), a short-lived condition often related to a viral infection.
A rare, life-threatening condition called aortic dissection involves the main artery leading from your heart your aorta. If the inner layers of this blood vessel separate, forcing blood flow between them, the result is sudden and tearing chest and back pain. Aortic dissection can result from a sharp blow to your chest or develop as a complication of uncontrolled high blood pressure.
Coronary spasm, also known as Prinzmetal's angina, can cause varying degrees of chest discomfort. In coronary spasm, coronary arteries — arteries that supply blood to the heart — go into spasm, temporarily closing down blood flow to the heart. Spasm of the coronary arteries may occur spontaneously or be triggered by a stimulant, such as nicotine or caffeine. Coronary artery spasm, which tends to cause episodes of chest pain, can occur with activity or at rest. It may coexist with coronary artery disease — a buildup of plaques in the coronary arteries.
Other possible heart-related conditions that can cause chest pain are metabolic syndrome and endothelial dysfunction.
Noncardiac causes
Many conditions unrelated to your heart can cause chest pain. These include:
Heartburn. Stomach acid that washes up from your stomach into the tube (esophagus) that runs from your throat to your stomach can cause heartburn — a painful, burning sensation behind your breastbone (sternum).
Panic attack. If you experience periods of intense fear accompanied by chest pain, rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing (hyperventilation), profuse sweating and shortness of breath, you may be experiencing a panic attack — a form of anxiety.
Pleurisy. This sharp, localized chest pain that's made worse when you inhale or cough occurs when the membrane that lines your chest cavity and covers your lungs becomes inflamed. Pleurisy may result from a wide variety of underlying conditions, including pneumonia and, rarely, autoimmune conditions, such as lupus. An autoimmune disease is one in which your body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue.
Costochondritis. In this condition — also known as Tietze's syndrome — the cartilage of your rib cage, particularly the cartilage that joins your ribs to your breastbone, becomes inflamed. The result is chest pain when you push on your sternum or on the ribs near your sternum.
Pulmonary embolism. This cause of chest pain occurs when a blood clot becomes lodged in a lung (pulmonary) artery, blocking blood flow to lung tissue. It's rare for this life-threatening condition to occur without preceding risk factors, such as recent surgery or immobilization.
Other lung conditions. A collapsed lung (pneumothorax), high blood pressure in the arteries carrying blood to the lungs (pulmonary hypertension) and asthma also can produce chest pain.
Sore muscles. Chronic pain syndromes, such as fibromyalgia, can produce persistent muscle-related chest pain.
Injured ribs or pinched nerves. A bruised or broken rib, as well as a pinched nerve, can cause chest pain.
Swallowing disorders. Disorders of the esophagus, the tube that runs from your throat to your stomach, can make swallowing difficult and even painful. One type is esophageal spasm, a condition that affects a small group of people with chest pain. When people with this condition swallow, the muscles that normally move food down the esophagus are uncoordinated. This results in painful muscle spasms.
Another swallowing disorder that also affects a small group of people with chest pain is achalasia (ak-uh-LA-zhuh). In this condition, the valve in the lower esophagus doesn't open properly to allow food to enter your stomach. Instead, food backs up into the esophagus, causing pain.
Shingles. This infection of the nerves caused by the chickenpox virus can produce pain and a band of blisters from your back around to your chest wall.
Gallbladder or pancreas problems. Gallstones or inflammation of your gallbladder (cholecystitis) or pancreas can cause acute abdominal pain that radiates to your chest.
Cancer. Rarely, cancer involving the chest or cancer that has spread from another part of the body can cause chest pain.

Blood Cancer Treatment

Blood Cancer Treatment

Treating Leukemia, or blood cancer, requires a specialist, like Dr. Delong Liu, M.D. PhD, at Westchester Oncology and Hematology Group.
Coming from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Mt. Sinai Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where Dr. Liu developed broad expertise in the management of leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia, and bone marrow transplantation. Dr. Liu is an attending physician at Westchester Medical Center and Chief of Hematology at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center.
Dr. Liu's extensive research experience has made him a pioneer in a novel mini-transplant chemotherapy regimen designed to decrease side effects. Dr. Liu has extensive experience as principal investigator for a variety of clinical trials in leukemia, bone marrow transplantation, and alloimmunotherapy for renal cell cancer and selected solid tumors. In addition, he is in the forefront in the development in groundbreaking laboratory techniques to study blood stem cells, dendritic cells and lymphocytes.
Westchester Oncology and Hematology Group (WOHG) is a completely board-certified medical center. WOHG has been treating cancer patients for 25 years at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, which is New York Medical College's university hospital. Most of WOHG's clients are outpatients, which is why all of three of its offices are located near other medical services, so you won't have the hassle of driving all over town to get laboratory tests, medical consultations, and other diagnostics. In addition, their offices are relaxed and comfortable, with soothing waiting areas, expansive examination rooms, laboratory facilities, and specialized treatment suites for your therapy.
Don't wait to get the treatment you deserve. If you or a loved one need treatment for blood cancer, give Westchester Oncology and Hematology a call, today.

Blood Cancers

Blood Cancers Overview

The major forms of blood cancer are lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma. These cancers are formed either in the bone marrow or the lymphatic tissues of the body. They affect the way your body makes blood and provides immunity from other diseases.
Overall survival rates for people with blood cancer have doubled in the past 30 years because of more effective radiation and chemotherapy treatments. In 1960, only 4% of children diagnosed with childhood leukemia survived. Today, 79% are expected to live if they receive the best treatment available. Still, leukemia is the leading cause of death by disease in children.
Adults are more likely than children to get blood cancer, since the risk increases with age. It is estimated that about 138,000 Americans will be diagnosed in 2008 with one of the blood cancers, and about 53,000 will die of the disease. Lymphomas account for approximately 54% of new cases, leukemia about 30%, and myeloma about 14%. Less common forms of blood cancers account for about 2% of cases.
The actual causes of blood cancer are still unknown. Scientists are trying to identify when and why the body starts producing abnormal cells and how those cells begin invading the body's blood system. As these questions are answered, the information is used to improve prevention and treatment options.
The Blood and Lymphatic Systems
The three types of blood cancers all involve an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells within the blood and bone marrow. To understand what happens in blood cancer, it helps to know a little about the blood and lymphatic systems.
Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to all organs of the body, helps in healing and fights viruses, bacteria and other foreign material in the body. Blood is composed of:
* Plasma, the watery, yellowish fluid in which the blood cells are suspended and move through veins and arteries of the body
* Red blood cells, which contain hemoglobin, a body protein that carries oxygen to body tissues
* Platelets, the smallest cells that are responsible for clotting
* White blood cells (leukocytes), which protect the body from disease and infection
There are five main types of white blood cells, including lymphocytes. Lymphomas arise from lymphocytes, which are made in the lymph tissue, including the lymph glands, spleen, thymus, tonsils and bone marrow. Lymphocytes make up about 25% of all white blood cells. The number of lymphocytes circulating in the blood varies and can go either up or down when the body is fighting infection.
Lymph nodes are found along the lymphatic system, a network of thin tubes, similar to blood vessels, which branch into all parts of the body. The major external node clusters occur in the neck, armpit and groin. Lymph nodes become enlarged when you have a disease or infection. For instance, the lymph nodes in your neck may become swollen when you have a Strep throat or viral infection of your throat. Swollen lymph nodes are common and most often are not a sign of a serious problem. When lymph node swelling persists without any signs of infection, this could be caused by a more serious medical condition, such as lymphoma.
Leukemia may not result in swollen lymph nodes. Multiple myeloma almost never causes lymph node swelling unless there is also an infection present.
Leukemia and multiple myeloma starts in the bone marrow. Leukemia most commonly arises from abnormal lymphocytes or neutrophils. Myeloma originates from a cell line called plasma cells, which are formed in bone marrow.
Responses to treatment and survival rates for each of these cancers also vary greatly.
The risk of developing blood cancers generally increases with age. Males are more susceptible than females. Because its exact cause hasn't been discovered, there are no specific recommendations to prevent blood cancer, but you can follow general guidelines. Exposure to excessive radiation and hazardous chemicals should be limited. Studies show that benzene (found in unleaded gasoline), asbestos and pesticides may increase the risk of some blood cancers. When coming in close physical contact with benzene or other hazardous chemicals, take precautions by wearing protective clothing and gloves.
Advances in Treatments
The cure rate for leukemias and lymphomas today is remarkable considering that the prognosis of most blood cancers 30 years ago was dreadful. Chemotherapy is usually the cornerstone of treatment. Radiation therapy is used for localized disease or to shrink tumor bulk that is compressing a vital body structure. Bone marrow transplants are being done with increasing frequency across the country. Newer treatments, such as biological therapies, are discovered at an exciting pace, and many are already used routinely in combination with other therapies.
Bone marrow transplants. Used more frequently to treat lymphoma and leukemia, this procedure gives very high doses of chemotherapy or irradiation, which kills the cancer cells, but also healthy cells in the bone marrow. The patient is then given an infusion of stem cells from the bone marrow or peripheral blood. Bone marrow transplant has tremendous risks, including death, and tends to be more successful in younger patients and when the disease is in an early stage. Since bone marrow transplant for blood cancers is a specialized procedure, a transplant candidate should look for a hospital that has extensive experience treating his or her specific type of cancer and that performs bone marrow transplants regularly.
Biological therapy. Biological therapy uses special immune system cells and proteins to stimulate the body's immune system to kill cancer cells. Biological agents such as interferons, interleukins, monoclonal antibodies, tumor-necrosis factors and colony-stimulating factors are natural substances found in the body that help alter the way the immune system reacts to cancer. Researchers now are able to create reproductions of some of these biological agents in laboratories. These reproductions imitate the natural immune agents and are used to augment the anti-tumor immune response of the patient.

Female Bladder Problems

Female Bladder Problems

You need to do some research to find out what you need to know. Having a female bladder problem can be embarrassing. However, it doesn't have to stop you from living a full life. Information is power when it comes to any kind of problem.
What is a bladder problem? This is when you have sudden urge to go to the bathroom and you are leaking urine and having frequent urination urges. These are all forms of what is known as a urinary incontinence. What this means is that you have a lack of bladder control. There are many things that can cause this. However, the most common cause is a gradual weakening of the pelvic nerves. There are a couple of different kinds of incontinence.
Stress incontinence is when there is a weakening of the pelvic floor, which will result in pressure (or stress) on a bladder that was fully functional before. You can be laughing, sneezing, coughing and the next thing you know your underwear is wet. This happens with greater regularity in women after menopause.
Urge incontinence or overactive bladder also known as OAB is a sudden, uncontrollable need to go to the bathroom. It doesn't matter how long ago it was that you last went. It could have been just 15 minutes ago. It is caused by the uncontrolled contractions of the bladder muscle also known as the detrusor. This occurs when the communication between the bladder and the brain is not right. This type of bladder problem happens because of inflammation of the bladder lining, infection, and injury, natural atrophy (this happens as you get older) and other reasons.
Sometimes you can have a combination of the two above bladder problem types, which is then considered to be a mixed incontinence.
Overflow incontinence is when you can't get rid of all of the urine that is in your bladder due to a muscle tone that is weak or there is some type of blockage. The symptoms for this can include dribbling, urgency, hesitancy, straining, a weak urine stream or low urine production even though you feel like your bladder is full. This problem is more common in men but it can happen in women.
The first step you will need to take when you have some type of bladder problem is to seek the advice of your physician. If your problem stems from a bladder infection then he will prescribe an antibiotic.
Bladder infections will rarely go away on its own and can lead to more serious problems with the urethra, bladder, and the kidneys. Your physician will also need to rule out any more serious problems prior to starting any type of home remedy.
The Kegel exercises is a good way to strength the pelvic muscles to help with female bladder problem. Read my article on Adult Bladder Control Problem to get a detail description on the Kegel exercise.
Always consult your doctor before using this information.
This Article is nutritional in nature and is not to be construed as medical advice.

Bladder Control Problems

Bladder Control Problems

People who have bladder control problems have trouble stopping the flow of urine from the bladder. They are said to have urinary incontinence. Incontinence is uncontrollable leaking of urine from the bladder. Although urinary incontinence is a common problem, it is never normal.
Incontinence is both a health problem and a social problem.
* Most people with incontinence suffer social embarrassment. Many become depressed and limit their activities away from home, often becoming socially isolated and lonely.
* Physical conditions linked to incontinence include infection, skin irritations and infections, falls, fractures, and sleep disturbances.
* Many people with incontinence are too embarrassed to talk to their health care provider about it. They "cope" or "just learn to live with it." This is changing gradually as people realize that help is available.
* Approximately 15-30% of elderly people who live at home are affected by urinary incontinence. Another 40% of elderly persons who live in nursing homes are affected. Incontinence is a major reason for people going into nursing homes. However, it is not an inevitable consequence of aging.
Here is a brief description of the urinary system and the process of urination (micturition):
* The urinary system is composed of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra.
* The kidneys filter water and waste from the blood. They excrete urine, which passes via the ureters to the bladder. The bladder stores urine until you urinate.
* The kidneys typically excrete about 1 to 1-1/2 quarts (1000-1500 mL) of urine in 24 hours.
* The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ. The bladder wall includes a smooth muscle known as the detrusor muscle. The bladder's size, shape, position, and relation to other organs vary with age and the amount of urine stored.
* The urethra is a narrow tube connecting the bladder with the opening when the urine comes out of the body. Surrounding the urethra are sphincter muscles, which partly control release of urine from the bladder and from the body.
* Although the bladder is able to hold about 600 mL of urine, the urge to urinate develops once the bladder contains 300 mL. As the bladder starts to stretch, nerves in the bladder and surrounding area send messages to the brain, via the spinal cord, telling it that the bladder is filling. The brain sends back the urge to urinate.
* Although you normally make the choice when to urinate, once you decide to do so the nervous system takes over and the process becomes automatic. The detrusor contracts and the sphincters relax to allow urine to flow. When the bladder is empty, the sphincters contract and the detrusor relaxes.
* You can stop or hold off urination by contracting (squeezing) the external sphincter, which causes relaxation of the detrusor. Urine is stored, and the urge to urinate is temporarily stopped.
* As you continue to produce urine, however, the messages to and from the brain get more urgent, and the urge to urinate becomes even stronger.
Urinary incontinence is believed to affect at least 13 million people in the United States.
* That number may even be higher, and it is expected to increase sharply with the aging of the baby boomers.
* Incontinence affects both sexes and all ages but is most common in older people.
* Incontinence is much more common in women than in men. Most men with incontinence are older and suffer from some type of prostate disease.
The good news about urinary incontinence is that it is treatable. A great majority of people with bladder control problems can be helped by treatments that are available now. If incontinence cannot be cured, it can at least be controlled.

Causes of Lower Back Pain

Causes of Lower Back Pain

Most low back pain is triggered by some combination of overuse, muscle strain, and injury to the muscles, ligaments, and discs that support the spine. Many experts believe that over time muscle strain can lead to an overall imbalance in the spinal structure. This leads to a constant tension on the muscles, ligaments, bones, and discs, making the back more prone to injury or reinjury.
The causes of pain in the low back, or lumbosacral region, tend to add on to one another. For example, after straining muscles, you are likely to walk or move in different ways to avoid pain or to use muscles that aren't sore. That can cause you to strain other muscles that don't usually move that way.
The most common causes of low back pain are:
* Injury or overuse of muscles, ligaments, facet joints, and the sacroiliac joints.
* Pressure on nerve roots in the spinal canal. Nerve root compression can be caused by:
o A herniated disc, often brought on by repeated vibration or motion (as during machine use or sport activity, or when lifting improperly), or by a sudden heavy strain or increased pressure to the lower back.
o Osteoarthritis (joint degeneration), which typically develops with age. When osteoarthritis affects the small facet joints in the spine, it can lead to back pain. Osteoarthritis in other joints, such as the hips, can cause you to limp or to change the way you walk. This can also lead to back pain.
o Spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis, vertebra defects that can allow a vertebra to slide over another when aggravated by certain activities.
o Spinal stenosis, or narrowing of the spinal canal, which typically develops with age.
o Fractures of the vertebrae caused by significant force, such as from an auto or bicycle accident, a direct blow to the spine, or compressing the spine by falling onto the buttocks or head.
o Spinal deformities, including curvature problems such as severe scoliosis or kyphosis.
* Compression fractures. Compression fractures are more common among postmenopausal women with osteoporosis, or in men or women after long-term corticosteroid use. In a person with osteoporosis, even a small amount of force put on the spine, as from a sneeze, may cause a compression fracture.
Less common spinal conditions that can cause low back pain include:
* Ankylosing spondylitis, which is a form of joint inflammation (arthritis) that most often affects the spine.
* Bacterial infection. Bacteria are usually carried to the spine through the bloodstream from an infection somewhere else in the body or from IV drug use. But bacteria can enter the spine directly during surgery or injection treatments, or as the result of injury. Back pain may be the result of an infection in the bone (osteomyelitis), in the spinal discs, or in the spinal cord.
* Spinal tumors, or growths that develop on the bones and ligaments of the spine, on the spinal cord, or on nerve roots.
* Paget's disease, which causes abnormal bone growth most often affecting the pelvis, spine, skull, chest, and legs.
* Scheuermann's disease, in which one or more of the bones of the spine (vertebrae) develop wedge-shaped deformities. This causes curvature of the spine (rounding of the back, or kyphosis), most commonly in the chest region.
Other medical conditions that can cause pain that may be similar to low back pain include:
* Pelvic inflammatory disease.
* Aortic aneurysm.
* Peptic ulcers.
* Gallbladder disease.
* Pancreatitis.
* Urinary disorders such as kidney stones or urinary tract infections.
* Prostate disease.
Your state of mind also has an effect on your level of pain and whether it becomes long-lasting (chronic). People who are depressed, under stress, unhappy in their work, or seeking money for an injury are more likely to have chronic back pain.