Blogs - WEGO Health

Sickle Cell Crises

People with sickle cell disease experience a build-up of red blood cells (due to their long, thin, sickle shape) that can block capillaries, disabling them from carrying oxygen to tissues (hypoxia) causing tissue cells to become damaged and die. This painful process is what's known as "Sickle Cell Crisis," which is also another name for sickle cell disease due to its frequency. It's Sickle Cell Crisis that makes living with Sickle Cell Disease so difficult for patients. In this blog post… Continue

Added by amanda on November 11, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Do Cancer Screenings Help or Hurt Us? What Have You Heard?

Every year, the American Cancer Society (ACS) releases a series of reports. One of these reports was released recently and is causing a slow, resounding buzz in the online cancer community. After reading the NYTimes article, "Cancer Society, in Shift, Has Concerns on Screens" I began to understand why the biggest piece… Continue

Added by amanda on October 22, 2009 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

Depression During Pregnancy

Yesterday a NYT article discussed a dilemma that affects both the pregnancy and mental health communities: should women take antidepressants while pregnant? Should women take drugs that could pose a risk to the developing fetus or struggle through the anguish and depression that could harm the baby in other ways? A few online sources I've seen say that at least 1 in 10 women suffer depre… Continue

Added by amanda on October 6, 2009 at 1:30pm — 2 Comments

Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD)

No doubt you've heard something about "internet addiction." To some, it might seem like a joke or exaggeration. But more and more people are turning to the Internet or other similar types of media in an excessive, life-altering manner. But the real question is - is IAD an addiction or more of a coping method to deal with other mental health problems? From wikipedia: "Internet addiction disorder (IAD), or,… Continue

Added by amanda on August 22, 2009 at 5:30pm — 3 Comments

Cognitive Behavior Therapy Basics - What Can CBT Do For You?

You may have seen references to CBT or Cognitive Behavior Therapy around our community, heard about it on television or online, or perhaps you've experienced it yourself. Every day it seems that CBT gets more and more attention as an effective psychotherapeutic approach that "aims to influence dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure." Since it has been proven effective in so many areas of the health community, I thought… Continue

Added by amanda on August 11, 2009 at 3:00pm — 6 Comments

Your medicine choices - suppositories

Medication can be formulated in many different ways: *pill *capsule *liquid *sublingual *drops *spray *lozenge *sucker *suppository *cream *gel *inhalent This post is going to talk frankly about suppositories and compounded suppositories. What is a suppository? A rectal suppository (or 'rectal rocket' some have dubbed them) is a special pill that is placed in the rectum to be absorbed instead of s… Continue

Added by Ellen S on June 24, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Customize your medicine - easy compounding pharmacy bulletpoints

How would you like to take your medicine as a tasty liquid or sucker, or a patch, capsule, cream or suppository? It's easy when you get your medicine at a compounding pharmacy. Compounding pharmacies customize medicines by hand. Compounding is as much an art as a science. Like the pharmacies of 75, 100 yrs ago or back into biblical times, they follow your prescription and use individual ingredients to: ** provide you with a customized dosage, or special formulation such as a loz… Continue

Added by Ellen S on June 19, 2009 at 9:00pm — No Comments

LDN- Low Dose Naltrexone for Fibromyalgia, Autoimmunity... and Migraine?

I've Tweeted about Low Dose Naltrexone, but I don't think I've written here about it yet. I wanted a very complete post - it's the perfectionist in me. That's not happened yet, but something else has: Research just released from Stanford School of Medicine shows that in a small preliminary study, LDN was found helpful for the pain of Fibromyalgia. This isn't new to those like me who have been fo… Continue

Added by Ellen S on April 23, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

New Migraine preventative Telcagepant hits road block

Telcagepant (formerly MP-974) is one of the drugs many Migraineurs and neurologists have been watching for some time, and I've written about here and here before. The GCRP blocker was in trial for use as a preventative as well as intermittent use as an acute (during a headache) treatment. Unfortunately, the trial using Telcagepant… Continue

Added by Ellen S on April 22, 2009 at 1:00pm — 2 Comments

NUCCA Chiropractic for Migraines

I have found the Nucca chiropractic helps my migraines. If my neck is in place, I dont' get migraines and the minute it's out, I get flashes, then a migraine. You can read some research on this type of chiropractic in an article here. Specialized Chiropractic Treatment Reduces High Blood Pressure http://www.he… Continue

Added by Natural Healing on March 29, 2009 at 1:58am — 2 Comments

The Effects of Religion on Medical Decisions and Treatment Options

The other day I read an extremely interesting article on cnn.com, “Religious patients more likely to get intensive life-prolonging care”. The article discusses the relationship between a patient’s religiousness and their treatment decisions. (It also brings up interesting issues of race & religion in accordance with treatment and race & Medicare – a topic I might discuss in another blog post because it interests me g… Continue

Added by amanda on March 27, 2009 at 2:30pm — 1 Comment

Say "Know" to Drugs

Too many times, my doctors have looked at the records and decided that they need to start from the beginning. Use the same medication(s) as the previous “healthcare professional”. Being a fairly intelligent man, having done YEARS of my own first hand research, I have had more experience with… Continue

Added by Andy on February 16, 2009 at 3:57pm — 1 Comment

Oral Tezampanel for Migraine and chronic pain - update 2/11/09

New information is out on a totally new drug currently in trials, and so far it's looking good. In a double blind, placebo controlled trial of 20 people, the drug dubbed NGX426, (an oral form of Tezampanel) was well tolerated in healthy males and females who were dosed once daily over five days. Hope is that someday it will be approved and found useful for several conditions including chronic pain... especially Migraine. Earlier studies indicated that the injection or IV versions of the drug s… Continue

Added by Ellen S on February 11, 2009 at 1:00pm — 5 Comments

Will a hysterectomy cure my Migraines?

Did you know there is a way to "try out" a complete hysterectomy (removal of ovaries and uterus) before committing permanently to this irreversible procedure? Patients often assume that their menstrual Migraines will go away if they stop menstruating. Some doctors will even encourage their Migraineurs to try a hysterectomy. Patients have that belief reinforced when they become pregnant and their Migraines lessen or stop altogether. Many go on birth control pills and see a reduction in their Mig… Continue

Added by Ellen S on January 31, 2009 at 8:30am — 2 Comments

Migraine medicine - AZ-104 is new on the horizon

A medicine previously aimed at agitation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, has been re-dosed and targeted at Migraine sufferers. Making the drug somewhat unique and interesting, is the inhaled delivery. Most (but not all) Migraine medicines are taken by injection or orally. The drug appears to work rapidly in situations where the headache phase has already begun. Alexza's AZ-104 (Loxapine) Phase 2a Trial of 168 patients appears successful. The drug showed significant pain relief with 2 sep… Continue

Added by Ellen S on January 23, 2009 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

Migraine treatment and the Gartner Hype Cycle

A trip to your doctor and a try at a new Migraine treatment has an ebb and a flow. After reflecting on my treatment experiences with a number of other health issues, I've come to believe that this ebb and flow is not limited just to Migraine treatment strategies. It took me a while to recognize it as a normal part of treatment course, but after speaking with my doctors and other patients, it seemed obvious. Recognizing this ebb and flow as normal, helped me and my expectations when trying a new… Continue

Added by Ellen S on January 20, 2009 at 10:24am — No Comments

CoQ10- surprising ways it works as a Migraine preventative

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10 aka Ubiquinone) and Ubiquinol (CoQH-10 or CoQH2-10) supplementation has been the topic of increasing conversation within Migraine communities. The reasons probably vary, but its ease of acquisition and use, cost, as well as its reputation as a natural supplement with fewer side-effects than standard Migraine preventives, seems to be driving the interest. CoQ10 is available in small amounts when you eat food such as beef and chicken, fish, organ meats and whole grains, but is… Continue

Added by Ellen S on January 15, 2009 at 12:00am — 9 Comments

The role of glutamate in Migraine - a study

Glutamate is an amino acid family. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and as such are vital to our survival. As an excitory neurotransmitter and a key molecule of cellular metabolism, glutamate is a chemical part of our bodies that is naturally synthesized within us, but too much of a good thing is not a good thing. When talking about Migraine, glutamate has not been significantly studied yet, although its role is acknowledged as crucial. Glutamate blocking medication trials are cur… Continue

Added by Ellen S on January 4, 2009 at 12:00am — 4 Comments

Tezempanel- targeting Migraine in a totally new way

What do you do the day your doctor shrugs his shoulders and says "I'm sorry, I don't have anything else to offer you"? If you're like me you might begin by scouring the news - any kind of news - for something new that has the potential to help. In the race to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, each step forward is new reason to hope as well as celebrate. A while back, I found some additional information on a new, extremely promising medication that I presented to you initially back in Ju… Continue

Added by Ellen S on December 12, 2008 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Mycobacterium Avium Complex - Lady Windemere Disease - Hot Tub Lung

Mycobacterium Avium Complex (MAC Lady Windemere Disease or Hot Tub Lung) is a little-known and rare disease in which specific common bacteria take advantage of (usually) immuno-compromised hosts. That is to say, the opportunistic bacteria - which are present in the air and soil, generally infecting birds and deer - are usually fought off by our capable immune systems. But those whose immune systems are depressed (low) have trouble fighting… Continue

Added by Ellen S on November 3, 2008 at 10:00am — 11 Comments

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All Blog Posts Tagged 'treatment' (22)