Kidney disease and general immunity

 First you need to know what the kidneys do. They:

-regulate blood pressure through the renin angiotensin aldosterone system 
-regulate phosphorus, potassium, chloride, sodium and calcium in the blood
-clean your blood by filtering waste products.
-stimulate red blood cell production
-control water balance

The kidney is a complex organ that works in synergy with the heart and vascular system, urinary system, the skeletal system and many other body systems. The kidneys go far beyond filtering waste from the blood. The kidneys also work in conjunction with your general immune system. When your kidneys are in a compromised state they are unable to function the way they are designed. Hence, your overall health is effected. Including your skin.

Kidney failure is a progressive process. Once it starts, there is no stopping it. Upon diagnosis your physician will discuss with you options to delay the progression. Nutrition plays a big role.

Those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are most at risk for skin cancer. Reasons not limited to:  Medication related. Some medications cause skin sensitivity to the sun thereby increasing sun burn risk. Vitamin D is activated in the kidney. Those with kidney failure are unable to convert vitamin D to its active form which make getting vitamin D through their diet a challenge. CKD decreases the "sun vitamin" Vitamin D. Since sun exposure stimulates Vitamin D production, talk with your physician about getting the right amount of daily sun exposure.

With the immune system compromised, there is an increased risk of infection. CKD causes chronic systemic inflammation. The presence of inflammatory cells alone cause a wide variety of health problems. CKD contributes to patient mortality and morbidity.

It is critical you see your physician regularly and follow his/her advice. If you choose to seek alternative therapies do due diligence and learn all you can before starting any holistic treatment
regimen. As always you want to discuss this with your doctor.

Good health,

Trisha M. Pacenti RN,BSN
www.nurseinsagent.com

Arthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. It causes deterioration of the joint cartilage and formation of reactive new bone at the margins of the joint i.e. osteophytes.  This chronic degeneration of cartilage breakdown mostly affects fingers, knees and hips. Herberden and Bouchard's nodes are typically seen in the distal and proximal finger joints.

Initially the nodes may be red, swollen and painful. Eventually they become painless but are associated with limited joint mobility. The earliest symptoms occurs in middle age and progresses with advancing age. Depending on the site and severity of joint involvement, disability can range from minor limitation to near immobility.

Signs and Symptoms:

Contractures: loss of muscle function at the joint
Deep, aching joint pain
Gait abnormalities: when hips or knees are affected
Joint instability, swelling, tender and warm
Limited and painful joint movement
Predisposing event such as traumatic injury
Joint stiffness

What you can do to treat and slow progression of osteoarthritis.

The human body is meant to move. You must perform as much self-care as your limitations will allow. Not moving the joints around will quickly lead to contractures. Contractures are irreversible unless you have surgery. You must identify techniques which allow you to perform as much activities as you can in addition to promoting adequate rest. Massages, laser therapy and purposeful exercise are ways to reduce muscle spasms and atrophy to the joints.

If you suffer from knee or hip arthritis and are overweight, weight reduction needs to be at the top of your list. Your knees and hips take all the pounding of walking. Additionally your knees and hips take the full force applied while standing. If you don't lose the excess weight, any treatment plan your on will not be successful and your discomfort levels will continue.

Take prescribed medication as directed by your physician. The usual medicinal treatments are
NSAIDs, narcotics, and/or O-T-C  medication such as Cosamin DS will aid in decreasing joint pain and inflammation.

As always, please discuss with your physician before adding any O-T-C medication to your daily regimen.

Good health,

Trisha M. Pacenti RN,BSN
http://www.nurseinsagent.com/

Smokers beware

Don't worry, this is not another why smoking is bad lecture. Smoking is a choice. You can smoke until your blood vessels and respiratory system sclerose.

This article is about a recent smoking cessation ad I saw claiming laser treatments will help you stop smoking. The laser used is Cold Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT for short). The claim is utilizing laser light beams instead of needles in an acupuncture-like treatment to stimulate cellular activity and block messages i.e. smoke cravings.

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese therapy using fine needles inserted through the skin at specific points in the body. Acupuncture is used with the aim of reducing the withdrawal symptoms people experience when they try to quit smoking.

Unfortunately, the existing evidence does not support the effectiveness of either of these treatments.
There is no consistent, science based evidence that acupuncture, acupressure, laser therapy or electrostimulation are effective for smoking cessation.

St George’s Hospital Medical School in London, UK, conducted a  mini-evaluation of a local laser therapy clinic claiming to help people quit smoking. The above techniques including laser treatments were proven ineffective for long term benefits. The short term benefit was a decrease in cravings but no smoking cessation. The desire to smoke remained.

What was learned at the end of the study was those wanting to quite smoking should re-direct their finances on more useful resources that demonstrated proven tract records of long term success such as counseling by a trained clinician and or FDA regulated smoking cessation products.

The internet is flooded with LLLT for smoking cessation. This does not mean the short descriptions your reading of LLLT for smoking cessation is science based truth. Do due diligence and don't allow yourself to get caught up in costly alternative ways to quit smoking.

LLLT may be effective in conjunction with, in addition to, along with other smoking cessation therapies.

There is no hard evidence, no FDA approved smoking cessation laser, no FDA scientific study to back up laser treatments alone help people quit smoking. Lack of evidence and methodological problems means no firm conclusions may be drawn. These interventions alone are likely to be less effective than proven evidence-based interventions.

If you decide to try LLLT for smoking cessation, here a few starter questions to keep in mind:

How many people has the individual treated for smoking cessation? Average cost, how many treatments, length of treatments? Cost of follow-up treatments? What other treatment modalities are used in conjunction with LLLT?  What is your long term success rate - more than 1 year smoking cessation success rate? Short term success rate?

Good health,

Trisha M. Pacenti RN,BSN
www.nurseinsagent.com

Why life insurance is a must have

Some information is worth repeating.

So, why have life insurance? 

Reason #1
To pay bills. Most importantly, mortgage. This alone is a pertinent reason to have life insurance. This major bill will be paid off and not left to your survivors to deal with. Have no mortgage? A life policy is still a solid investment to pass on to your survivors tax free. The proceeds may be used how ever the situation calls for.

Reason #2
Young, fit and healthy? This is the best time to buy life insurance. Your premium will be affordable and if you take out a policy that allows you to keep the same premium until the age of 65, you will have considerable savings... the earlier you start, the better. When you develop health issues later on in life, it doesn't matter, because you already have the policy in force. Forward thinking!

Reason #3
Are you married? Do you have a domestic partner? If you parish and leave no/not enough money behind to help cover bills and death related expenses, the potential of personal bankruptcy looms over the survivors. Do you want to put those financially dependent on you though added financial stress on top of the emotional turmoil caused by your death?

Reason #4
Peace of mind. If you develop a terminal illness, your life insurance will pay out a lump sum upon confirmation of a terminal diagnosis from your treating physician. You will have the money to help get your affairs in order.

Having life insurance in force ensures there is a financial plan in place for those left behind. The premiums of life insurance are small and affordable to anyone's budget. Remember, it is important for you to discuss options with your agent and decide on a type of policy:  universal or term that fits your individual needs.

Be pro-active and discuss your wishes with the beneficiary(s). He/she needs to know what your last wishes are and where your life policies are kept. This is not a taboo subject nor is it a subject to be ignored or taken lightly.

Think ahead because the inevitable will be here if your ready or not.

Good health,

Trisha M. Pacenti RN,BSN
www.nurseinsagent.com

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."
                   
                  -----Charles Dickens 

Live your life to give. By helping your self your helping others.

HIPAA

HIPAA~ Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This act establishes privacy and security standards to protect a patient's health care information. HIPAA was passed by Congress in 1996. The act includes rules covering administrative simplification by making health care delivery more efficient. Portability of medical coverage for preexisting conditions was a key provision of the act as was defining the underwriting process for group medical coverage. Another key area was standardizing the electronic transmission of billing and claims information.

HIPAA privacy regulations require that access to patient information be limited to only those authorized and that only information necessary for a task be available to them. Personal health information must be protected and kept confidential. HIPAA provides for uniformity of rules and regulations on consumer control over health information, ensuring patients understand their privacy rights, ensuring patient's rights to access their medical records and request amendments in response to information they perceive as inaccurate. Failure to comply with HIPAA can result in civil and criminal penalties.

HIPAA now provides for universal access by a patient to review and copy his/her own medical record. So, the next time you go to your physician's office and your given several papers to fill out and sign, one of the papers is the HIPAA form. If your like the many, many people who have never fully read through the HIPAA form and only signed, now you know and have been fully informed.

Invest in you health,

Trisha M. Pacenti RN, BSN
www.nurseinsagent.com

Polypharmacy

 Polypharmacy is when a patient uses several medications from several classes of medications than is clinically warranted. These drugs can be over-the-counter and prescribed by a physician. Patients who have more than one doctor and use more than one pharmacy are at risk of overusing multiple drugs.

Additionally, individuals who "take matters in their own hands", take a mixture of over-the-counter medications that are not FDA approved for the claims the drug manufacturers are making. The dangers of  polypharmacy are drug to drug adverse reaction and you may be creating a health issue that wasn't there prior to use of all these drugs.

If you are seeing multiple physicians write down a list of your current medications and bring this list with you to all doctor appointments so he may be informed as to what you are taking. If you want to self-prescribe, notify the person who has medical training and has earned the credentials MD or DO after his name as to the cocktail of over-the-counter medications you are thinking about taking for whichever ailment you self-diagnosed.

Be drug responsible. Here is something for you to ponder: Medicine is the art of entertainment while nature takes its course.

Good health,
Trisha M. Pacenti RN, BSN
www.nurseinsagent.com