January 31st, 2009

Before we answer this question we need to understand what is ovarian cyst and how are they formed. Ovarian cysts are a collection of fluid within the normally solid ovary. Although ovarian cysts are an extremely common gynecological problem, however because of the fear of ovarian cancer, cysts become a cause of concern among women. Still it is imperative to know that vast majority of ovarian cysts are not cancerous or cancer.
Though they may cause a slight discomfort like pain in the lower abdomen on either side depending on the position of cyst, the good news is that usually cysts do not need a surgery. They will disappear on their own without any treatment. At the same time one need to remember that there are some benign cysts which will require treatment as they do not go away on their own. And these benign cysts in very rare cases can prove to be cancerous.
Coming back to the question whether an ovarian cyst requires a surgery or not – the need for surgery will be dependent on the type of cyst diagnosed by your gynecologist. There are two types of cysts and they are benign cysts – those which go away on their own and cancerous – those which require immediate surgery to prevent further problems.
This difference of whether the cyst is benign or cancerous is very important to your health and well being. This difference will decide whether you need a surgery to remove your cyst or it will dissolve on its own in the blood stream. Cancerous cysts should be removed as soon as possible. This said there are some benign cysts like endometriomas and dermoid cysts which do not go away on their own and require treatment.
Apart from this there are no chances of benign cysts to turn into cancerous. So if you have a benign cyst then you don’t have to worry about it turning cancerous. Hence two months wait for the cyst to disappear is not risky. So when is surgery needed to remove an ovarian cyst and what are the alternative methods to remove the cyst?
Surgery is only considered necessary when the cysts appear to be cancerous in sonogram, if it is causing severe pain, or if it continues to grow and does not disappear in about eight weeks. Usually a benign cyst should go away in eight weeks but if it has not then a surgery is needed to remove it.
According to the various studies conducted in the field cysts that don’t decrease in size and persist for more than eight weeks have an increased likelihood of being abnormal. Abnormal does not mean cancer but an abnormal growth of cells within the ovary which if not removed can cause discomfort or even destroy the ovary. And in very rare cases these cysts may be cancerous hence early detection and removal becomes fairly compulsory.
This said the treatment of ovarian cyst is largely dependent on the type of cyst present and the symptoms you have. In addition to the fact that whether you are pre-menopausal or post menopausal, if you are pre-menopausal and if your cyst is not bothering you at all then the best option is waiting for it to dissolve within four to ten weeks. And in case you have bothersome symptoms or if there is a slight hint of cyst being cancerous it should be removed immediately.
Even then one should remember that the vast majority of ovarian cysts are benign, the presence of an ovarian cyst is a usually a non-worrisome occurrence in women.
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Tags: Alternative Methods, Blood Stream, Endometriomas, Gynecologist, Health, Ovarian Cyst, Ovarian Cysts, Types Of Cysts
January 30th, 2009

A large number of people all over the world today are living with high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Some of these people know that they have hypertension, but many others do not. Too many people simply do not realize that they have hypertension because there are often no symptoms to indicate a problem. Hypertension symptoms are too easily overlooked.
Since hypertension symptoms are so easy to mistake and difficult to identify, it may be better to start by identifying risk factors for hypertension. There are quite a few risk factors that increase the likelihood that an individual will develop hypertension. Unfortunately, even when none of these factors are present and individual may still develop hypertension.
There are many possible factors for hypertension and they affect people from all different walks of life. The first factor is age; men over 45 and women over 54 are at a higher risk for developing hypertension. The second factor is ethnicity; African Americans and Native Americans are at a higher risk for hypertension. The third major factor is smoking; smokers have a much higher risk of developing hypertension. One of the most dangerous factors of them all is obesity; people who are overweight have a very high likelihood of developing hypertension. If any of these factors are present, it is a good idea to discuss hypertension with your doctor.
One of the biggest reasons that risk factors are so important is that the symptoms of hypertension normally do not manifest in an obvious way. Most people who have undiagnosed hypertension experience no symptoms at all until the problem is serious. With serious hypertension an individual may experience dizziness, nose bleed, or headache. Even these symptoms are so mild that most people would not be alarmed by them. This is one main reason why hypertension can be so dangerous.
It is an excellent idea to evaluate your factors for hypertension and talk to your doctor if you have any suspicion that you may have hypertension. It is important to be mindful of this health issue because if you do have it, there will be no obvious signs or symptoms. Hypertension symptoms can be difficult to identify and are quite often not obvious.
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Tags: African Americans, Dizziness, High Blood Pressure, Likelihood, Living With High Blood Pressure, Many People, People All Over The World, Smokers
January 29th, 2009

With several different news corporations offering exposes on expired medicine on the shelves of pharmacies, many people are questioning whether or not expired medication is dangerous. There are two distinct sides of this debate, and it is important to look at the possible dangers and understand the truth regarding expired medication.
First, it is important to know that medications did not originally carry an expiration date. It was not until 1979 that the U.S. government began to require that a date should be stamped on the medicine. Additionally, this date was not meant as a time line for when the drug suddenly became dangerous. In actuality, the date is only meant to serve as a guarantee that the medicine is at full potency before the expiration.
Thus, many medical authorities and pharmaceutical companies argue that the medicine that is past its expiration date is not inherently dangerous. The only issue is that it may not be full-strength, which may require you to take more of it in order for it to be fully effective. If anything, taking slightly less than a full dosage is better for you if you accidentally take too much. With this, though, comes the danger that people may take too much expired medicine to make up for its supposedly decreased effects.
However, people who decry expired drugs have one major case that they can use as precedent in pointing to the dangers. In the early 1960s, people who took expired tetracycline developed renal tubular damage. This was supposedly caused by a chemical change that happened to the active ingredient in the tetracycline. To help prevent kidney damage, you should store tetracycline at room temperature and in dry conditions.
Of course, always following the storage recommendations for medications can help extend the potency of your medicine, as well as prevent any dangerous chemical changes that can happen even before the expiration date if the drug is improperly stored. For instance, the expiration date does not matter much if you store a medicine in a room-temperature cabinet rather than the refrigerator, which may be the directions from the pharmacy.
Keeping track of medication expiration dates at your house is your responsibility, but pharmacies should always supply you with safe, unexpired medicine. If you have ever suffered from pharmacy errors such as expired medication, wrong drugs, or unsafe dosage, you should talk to a medical malpractice attorney about your options.
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