Allergies - Antihistamines and Their Side Effects

In this article we're going to discuss the possible dangers and side effects of antihistamines and what people should be aware of when taking antihistamines to treat their allergies.  

 

For the most part, antihistamines are safe. Having said that, antihistamines can have side effects which, if the antihistamine is not properly administered, can be serious.  

 

The truth is, all medications have side effects. Some are mild, as in the case of an aspirin, unless you have stomach ulcers or aspirin sensitivity and others are more serious such as the side effects from chemotherapy, but for the most part, antihistamine side effects are fairly mild. The newest antihistamines are probably about the safest medications that there are. But there are differences between the various antihistamines and their side effects.  

 

The older antihistamines have the most serious side effects. Because technology wasn't where it is now, older antihistamines can make you very sleepy, even to the point of falling asleep behind the wheel of a car. The harsh truth is, antihistamines have the same effect on your brain as alcohol. If you've been keeping up with the latest news you'll notice that people seem to be driving around in a drug induced haze. This is becoming a very serious problem in itself as there are no laws against driving while under the influence of prescription medication. That is most likely going to change very soon. According to experts, there is no doubt in their mind that older antihistamines can cause traffic accidents.  

 

But that isn't where the effect of older antihistamines ends. They also affect learning and exam performance. Studies show that children with allergies who go to school after taking an antihistamine have poorer test scores than children who are not on antihistamines.  

 

Another problem with older antihistamines is that one of the side effects is that people who use them sometimes have difficulty in passing water, or have increased pressure in their eyes. These symptoms, however, are very rare.  

 

With the newer antihistamines, most, if not all of these side effects are a thing of the past. We have certainly come a long way. Therefore it is no longer necessary to use the older antihistamines. 

 

Many people ask, how do we know the newer antihistamines are better? Actually, there are studies that clinically show that they are. 

 

For starters, road safety studies were done. Two control groups were used. The one group was given older antihistamines and the other group was given the newer improved antihistamines. The results were staggering. The reaction time of the old antihistamine group was slower, their turning was more erratic, their attention was poor and in general they did not drive as skilfully. In some cases their driving was so bad and so dangerous that the test itself had to be stopped.  

 

Another study was done on children going to school. Two control groups were again set up. The group that was given the older antihistamines had much lower test scores, sometimes as much as 20 to 30 points lower. Many of the students couldn't even finish their exams.  

 

The only downside of the newer antihistamines, and for that matter any treatment of this sort for allergies, is that they are not a cure and over time a person can build up a resistance to a particular antihistamine where it no longer works. A new one then has to be given. The average length of time that a person can take a particular antihistamine before they have to move on to a new one is between 3 and 6 months.

Allergies - Antihistamines and How They Work

In this article we're going to discuss probably the most common form of treatment for allergy sufferers; the use of antihistamines, what they are and how they work in the body to rid people of their allergy symptoms.  

 

The first question most people ask about antihistamines is what they are. The reason is because when they see these little wonder pills advertised they are seeing the brand name and not what the pill actually is. The most popular brand names of antihistamines are Clarityn, Zyrtec, Allegra and Benadryl. There are plenty more though. The antihistamine industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry because of all the allergy sufferers but this still doesn't tell us what an antihistamine is.  

 

The best way to explain what an antihistamine is and what it does is to actually break the word down. Antihistamine is composed of two words, anti and histamine. Anti means to be against something or act against something. Which leaves us with what a histamine is. A histamine is something that your body produces in defence to an attack of allergens. It is these histamines that bring on the terrible symptoms of sneezing, itching, watery eyes, etc. that we suffer from when we are attacked by these allergens. Thus, an antihistamine is something that works against the histamines that our body produces.  

 

Your common antihistamine comes in a little pill. How it actually works is quite amazing. What these pills do is release a chemical in our body that is very similar to and looks like a histamine to our body. These look-alike histamines make our body think that we basically have enough of these and keep the receptors in our body from working against them.  In other words they stop the histamines in our body from working, thus relieving the symptoms.  

 

What most people don't know is that this is not the only function of histamines. They also play a very important role in the brain, keeping us attentive, alert and awake.  So, if we stopped all of the histamines in the body from working we would basically fall asleep. This can be especially dangerous when driving a car or operating heavy machinery and in fact, this is exactly what happens when we take old antihistamines.  So if you have any of these laying around in your home, please get rid of them and do not take them. Those expiration dates on antihistamines are there for a reason. 

 

The good news is, newer forms of antihistamines have a much better effect on your allergies with less effect on your brain. How this is accomplished is actually very simple. Some medicines barely make it into the brain from the blood. This is actually not a good thing with antibiotics for brain infections. But when research workers figured this out they started to make antihistamines that also had the same properties as antibiotics, thus making it so that very little of the drug makes its way to the brain. If you read most antihistamine labels today it will say right on it, "non drowsy".

 

In our next article in this series we'll discuss the safety concerns of antihistamines.

Allergies - Allergy Shots

In this article we're going to discuss a common form of battling allergies with the use of allergy shots and how allergy shots work to build up a person's immunity to outside allergens.

 

A growing number of people who suffer from allergies and not finding the relief that they want from antihistamines are turning towards allergy shots to hopefully put an end to their dreaded sneezing, wheezing, itching and misery.  

 

So exactly what are allergy shots? Allergy shots actually contain a very small amount of whatever it is that you're allergic to. If you have multiple allergies, such as a combination of indoor and outdoor allergies, then two shots are actually given. One for the outdoor allergies and one for the indoor allergies.  

 

How do allergy shots work? Well, in theory it's actually very simple. Allergy shots help your body fight the allergen that is bothering you. When you get shots of the allergen itself your body makes antibodies to the allergen. These antibodies help block the effects of the allergen itself. Your symptoms become less severe because the antibodies block the way your body reacts to the allergens. After taking enough of these shots over a long period of time you might start to get relief from your symptoms. This relief should last for a very long time.  

 

Many kinds of allergies can be battled with allergy shots. They work very well with allergies to pollen, or what is commonly called hay fever. They also work for eye allergies, bee sting allergies, and even some drug allergies. In many people, allergy shots can greatly improve asthma symptoms. Most people will get allergy shots after they have exhausted every other option.  

 

Unfortunately, not everyone can get allergy shots. If you have severe asthma or a heart problem you should not get allergy shots. Also, if you take a beta blocker for a heart condition you shouldn't take allergy shots. Children under five years of age should also not get allergy shots. Also, you shouldn't start allergy shots if you are pregnant.   

 

If you decide, along with your doctor, to get allergy shots, he will first have to give you an allergy test to determine what allergies you have. This test in effect is actual treatment as some of each allergen has to be injected into you in order to do the test.  After the results are in, a vaccine can be made which can then be given on a weekly or biweekly basis or for whatever interval the doctor thinks is necessary.  

 

Once you start taking your shots you will at first have to take them every week or every other week. After about 6 months most people can go on what is called maintenance and get shots once each month. This usually continues for about 3 to 5 years until eventually most people no longer need to take shots because their immunity has been built up enough to the allergens.  

 

Allergy shots are normally not harmful but some people do have reactions to them.  If you should have a severe reaction the doctor will usually keep you in his office for about 20 minutes each time you get your shot so that if you have a reaction he can give you something to counteract it.

 

Alcoholism Treatment Options

Learn about 9 different treatment options available for alcoholics.

 

1.    Medications

 

The classical use of medications for alcoholism is to encourage abstinence. Antabuse (also known as disulfiram), for instance, prevents the elimination of chemicals which cause severe discomfort when alcohol is ingested, effectively preventing the alcoholic from drinking in significant amounts while they take the medicine. Heavy drinking while on Antabuse can result in severe illness and death.

 

Naltrexone has also been used because it helps curb cravings for alcohol while the person is on it. Both of these, however, have been demonstrated to cause a rebound effect when the user stops taking them. These do allow a person to overcome psychological addictions to alcohol, but they do not treat the neurochemical addiction.

 

In more recent studies it has been demonstrated that the use of naltrexone while the alcoholic continues to drink can result in extinction of the neurochemical addiction. Referred to as the "Sinclair Method", this technique is used with good results some US states and in Finland but has failed to penetrate much of the world because of the long-standing bias against any treatment that doesn't involve detoxification and abstinence. 

 

2.    Rationing

 

Rationing or other attempts to control use are increasingly ineffective as pathological attachment to the drug develops. Use often continues despite serious adverse health, personal, legal, work-related, and financial consequences. 

 

3.    Detoxification

 

Detoxification  programs run by medical institutions often involve stays for a number of weeks in specialized hospital wards, where drugs may be used to avoid withdrawal symptoms. In severe cases, detoxification may lead to death. To that point, even a simple "de-tox" can involve seizures, if not properly monitored.

 

4.    Post Detox Therapy

 

After detoxification, various forms of group therapy or psychotherapy are recommended to deal with underlying psychological issues leading to alcohol dependence. It is also used to provide the recovering addict with relapse prevention skills. 

 

Aversion therapies may be supported by drugs like Disulfiram, which causes a strong and prompt sensitivity reaction whenever alcohol is consumed. Naltrexone or Acamprosate may improve compliance with abstinence planning by treating the physical aspects of cravings to drink. The standard pharmacopoeia of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and other psychotropic drugs treat underlying mood disorders, neuroses, and psychoses associated with alcoholic symptoms.

 

5.    Group Counselling

 

In the mid-1930s, the mutual-help group-counselling approach to treatment began and has become very popular. Alcoholics Anonymous is the best-known example of this movement. Various branches are available for family members of the alcoholic or commonly referred to as the co-dependents. Other groups include LifeRing Secular Recovery and SMART Recovery.

 

6.    Prevention

 

Some programs attempt to help problem drinkers before they become dependents. These programs focus on harm-reduction and reducing alcohol intake as opposed to cold-turkey approaches. One such program is called Moderation Management.

 

7.    Nutritional Therapy

 

Another treatment program is based on nutritional therapy. Many alcohol dependents have insulin resistance syndrome, a metabolic disorder where the body's difficulty in processing sugars causes an unsteady supply to the blood stream. While the disorder can be treated by a hypoglycaemic diet, this can affect behaviour and emotions, side-effects often seen among alcohol dependents in treatment. The metabolic aspects of such dependence are often overlooked, resulting in poor results.

 

8.    Return to Normal Drinking

 

Although it has long been argued that alcoholic dependents cannot learn to drink in moderation, research by the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) indicates a small percentage of individuals in the US whose dependence began more than one year earlier are now drinking in moderation. In contrast, a high percentage who undergo naltrexone use-reduction therapy are capable of normal drinking habits. Use of Naltrexone involves taking the medication an hour before any drinking occurs in order to maintain this.

 

9.    Societal Impact

 

Today, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are major public health problems in North America, costing the region's inhabitants, by some estimates, as much as US$170 billion annually. Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence sometimes cause death, particularly through liver, pancreatic, or kidney disease, internal bleeding, brain deterioration, alcohol poisoning, and suicide. Heavy alcohol consumption by a pregnant mother can also lead to foetal alcohol syndrome, an incurable and damaging condition.

 

Additionally, alcohol abuse and dependence are major contributing factors for head injuries, motor vehicle accidents, violence and assaults, neurological, and other medical problems.

 

Alcohol addiction is a treatable disease. If you are an alcoholic or are a family member of an alcoholic, contact your physician for the most current treatments available.

Alcoholism - Disease Or Not?

Alcoholism can be given a lot of definitions and all of them stress the fact that there is a terrible disease that involves addiction to spirits. Apart from the physical dependence on alcohol, there are other psychological, genetic and social factors that may play a role in the development of alcoholism. Many social, economic and public health problems are determined by this very serious disease. 

 

When alcoholism is concerned, symptoms include craving for alcohol, incapacity to have control over the use of alcohol, a greater tolerance to its effects, and withdrawal symptoms during the periods of abstinence. One should as well know that many alcoholics deny having a problem. In many cases intervention is necessary in order to persuade them to start treatment. Treatment in cases of alcoholism usually includes detoxification, counselling and psychotherapy, as well as treatment of associated medical problems, and different programmes for recovery and support.

 

Alcoholism involves physical and psychological addiction to the alcohol, and it often gets to a chronic, progressive form. There are situations in which it can become fatal, when alcohol consumption begins to interfere with your health, your social life or your occupational functioning. Alcoholics often continue to consume alcohol in huge quantities despite the multiple negative consequences of the disease. Nowadays, alcoholism is the most serious form of alcohol abuse. Alcoholism can be also defined in terms like "having a problem with drinking". If one has a problem with drinking, that can result in health or social problems (drunk driving, for instance), but that doesn’t make one yet dependent on alcohol and it doesn’t mean one has fully lost control over using spirits - as in the case of alcoholism.

Alcoholism - What Should I Know About It?

What is alcoholism? 

 

Alcoholism is a disease that affects the part of the brain that controls your feelings, the way you make decisions, and the way you act. People with alcoholism cannot control how much they drink. What causes alcoholism? 

 

Nobody knows what causes alcoholism. People with parents who have alcoholism have a greater chance of getting the disease. Alcoholism may be related to the things we learn when we are growing up. Alcoholism is not caused by a lack of will power or moral values. 

 

How can I tell if I have alcoholism? 

 

It is not easy to tell if you have alcoholism. You might drink socially at first, but over time the drinking can get out of control. Your family, friends, or doctor might notice it before you do. You might drink to help yourself go to sleep or deal with stress and anxiety. Over time, you need to drink more to feel the same way. As the drinking gets worse, you may have some of the following: 

 

• Stomach ulcers 
• Liver disease 
• Mood problems, such as depression and irritability 
• Trouble sleeping 
• Problems with family and friends 
• Problems at work

 

You might have alcoholism if you have tried to quit drinking but were not able to stop. Alcoholism can make you do things you wouldn't do if you were sober. Some of these things can hurt other people, even the people you love. 

 

Where can I get help for alcoholism? 

 

Your doctor can help you find the right treatment program. You also can check with your health insurance company. Some insurance plans cover alcohol treatment only at certain places. 

 

If you have been a heavy drinker for a long time, do not stop drinking suddenly. This can lead to serious withdrawal symptoms. What is withdrawal? 

 

When you stop drinking, your body might find it hard with no alcohol. You might have some uncomfortable feelings. That is called withdrawal. You might feel anxious and confused or have trouble sleeping. If you get "the shakes" when you don't drink, or if you feel like you need to have a drink early in the day, you might need to take medicine when you stop drinking to help with the withdrawal. This is called detoxification (say: dee-tox-uh-fuh-kay-shun, or "detox," for short). 

 

How can my doctor tell if I need detoxification? 

 

Your doctor will ask you questions to see if you need to take medicine to stop drinking. It is important to be honest with your doctor about how much you drink and the kinds of drugs you take. 

 

Can detoxification be done at home? 

 

Yes, but only with close supervision from your doctor. You will need to have another person at home to help you take your medicine. If you have serious withdrawal symptoms or other medical problems, you might have to go to a hospital for detoxification. Tell your doctor if you had a seizure or got delirious when you tried to stop drinking before. 

 

What happens after detoxification? 

 

Detoxification is not enough to treat alcoholism. You should have counselling before and after detoxification. Counselling will help keep you from drinking again. 

 

What about Alcoholics Anonymous? 

 

Alcoholics Anonymous, or "A.A.," is a free support group for people with alcoholism. The people in A.A. help each other stay sober. Most communities have A.A. meetings, and most alcohol treatment programs tell their patients to go to these meetings. 

 

Where can I get more information? 

 

Your doctor!

 

This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.

Alcohol Rehab - The 12-Step Program

The twelve-step program is the term used for the procedure of the patients` recovering from various addictions and compulsions, such as alcohol and drug dependency. The main base for this recovery system and strategy is sharing the experience with the other patients and acknowledging their condition, in order to make the actual therapy possible...

 

The first step of the program refers to the addition of the alcohol dependency and acceptance of the fact that the patient is powerless to alcohol, which leads to significant and unwanted life changes. After admitting the problem, the patients deal with admitting that they can recover from the unwanted condition and leave healthy lives again, due to a power “greater than themselves”. The third step of the program concentrates upon this “greater power”, which is associated with God; the patients accept that God can lead their lives and behaviour, by guiding their wills in the right direction. 

 

After the first steps that admit the problem and the power to change it, the patients are asked to make a morel introspection of themselves, in order to discover their needs and expectations regarding their problem. Admitting their mistakes to themselves, to God, to their family and friends represents the step that follows and which is the base of a process that accepts that patients are capable, as humans, to commit wrongs. This process, which is expressed in the steps from 5 to 9, includes asking for help from the “greater power” in order to remove the shortcomings, but also, it implies listing the persons that were affected in the past by the patient’s wrong means and asking them for understanding and forgiveness. Making direct amends to relatives and acquaintances is represented in step number 9 and it is the base for the further conduct, as patients are thought to continue observing their inner self and promptly admit their mistakes. 

 

The last 2 steps of the Alcoholics Anonymous program refer to improving the contact that the patients established with God and constantly praying and asking for knowledge to entirely overcome their condition. Step 12 basically refers to the accomplishment of a spiritual awakening, as a result of the recovery steps and accepting and willing to teach other alcoholic patients to discover and overcome their problem. The ending result of the twelve-step program in alcohol rehab is sharing the experience, believes and behaviour means with the others, in order to prevent further collapses and live a healthy life. Full body detox treatments are the most sought after toxin removing remedies that help people rebalance their bodies, achieving a very good health condition. Lots of doctors are recommending to their patients to follow a full body detox treatment in order to get healthier and of course, to ease the healing treatments they must take for recovering from different diseases. A general cleansing diet is recommended to be done from time to time even for people who don't seem to suffer from any chronic or profound maladies because the effect of a full body detox may prevent the development of many diseases and also it increases the body's immune system.

Alcohol and Cancer: Understanding the Connection

Research has shown that risks for cancer increase among men who have two alcoholic drinks a day and women who have one alcoholic drink per day. While everyone has been widely aware of the fact that smoking cigarettes greatly increase your risk of contracting cancer, there has been very little publicity of the fact that alcohol can act as a similar carcinogen.

 

By its very nature and design, the consumption of alcohol damages cells in your body. This damage can easily promote cell division, stimulate enzymes which cause the activation of other carcinogens and destroy certain nutrients that act as natural preventatives to cancer.

 

Most of the research indicates that a strong link exists between alcohol and cancers of the oesophagus, pharynx and mouth. There is a suggested, those less strongly proven, link between cancers of the liver, breast and colon.

 

According to the American Cancer Society, oral cancers are six times more common in alcohol users than in non-alcoholic users.

 

Obviously, all of this evidence points to the conclusion that you should avoid alcohol so you can lower your chances of contracting these types of cancer.

 

For most people the question then comes down to a simple decision: are the benefits of drinking alcohol larger than the potential deficits of cancer? As long as the mythology continues that there is no cure for cancer, the question should be fairly simple to answer. Very few people would happily enjoy a few nights out with friends drinking for months or years of painful cancer.

 

Put plainly, our bodies are designed to heal themselves. Our immune system was created to keep our bodies healthy. However, like any other worker, our immune system cannot do its work if we don’t give it the necessary tools.

 

One of the effects of alcohol, which isn’t one of the reasons most folks drink it, is that it reduces the ability of your immune system to do its job. So, people who regularly drink alcohol are regularly inhibiting the ability of their immune system to do its job.

 

Our cells are constantly dividing and there are a large number of ways the cell can become malignant. In reality, we probably develop malignant cells on a daily basis.  However, once they become known to our immune system as a threat, they are destroyed.

 

It’s only when our immune system somehow misses the indications that a cell is becoming a problem that we term it cancer.

 

There is no dispute about the fact that doing anything which will inhibit our immune system increases our chances for becoming ill. It’s significantly odd, then, that we all continue going about our lives while continually doing things that inhibit our immune systems.

 

In the end, we all need to evaluate the actions we take and the decisions we make with an eye towards the potential rewards versus the potential risks. Alcohol diminishes the immune system and a diminished immune system greatly elevates our chances of developing cancer. Next time you start to drink alcohol, stop and ask your immune system if it really wants to get drunk.

AIDS/HIV Information

AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome it causes a destruction of the immune system. It is the most advanced stage of the HIV virus (HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus). AIDS is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the presence of a positive HIV antibody test and one or more of the illnesses known as opportunistic infections. 

 

The HIV virus, type 1 or 2 is widely known to be the cause of AIDS. HIV breaks down and attacks your T cells so your body is unable to defend itself against different infections. The HIV virus also attacks your peripheral nervous system, this causes nerve and muscle pain, especially in the feet, legs, and hands.

 

HIV is spread through direct contact with semen or blood of an individual that is infected. This can be transferred in many ways the most common is unprotected sexual intercourse. Other means of infection are infected blood transfusions, mother to infant (at time of birth, or through breast milk), sharing needles with an infected person, and rarely a healthcare worker that gets pricked with an infected needle.

 

Often people who are infected with HIV have few symptoms and in some cases there are none. Other times, symptoms of HIV are confused with other illnesses such as the flu. This may be severe, with swollen glands in the neck and armpits, tiredness, fever and night sweats. This is where as much as 9 out of 10 of the infected individuals will develop AIDS. At this point the person may feel completely healthy and not even know that he/she has the virus. 

 

The next stage begins when the immune system starts to break down and the virus becomes more aggressive in damaging white cells. Several glands in the neck and armpits may swell and stay swollen for an extended period of time without any explanation. As this disease progresses boils or warts may spread over the body. They may also feel tremendously tired, night sweats, high fevers, chronic diarrhoea, and they may lose a considerable amount of their body weight. Most cases have shown thrush as a symptom as well. At this point the person is in the final stages of HIV--AIDS. Severe chest infections with high fever are common and survival rate is above 70% but decrease with each recurrence. 

 

A person is diagnosed with AIDS when he/she has one or more positive HIV screening and the presence of an AIDS defining condition.  Some of the common conditions include but are not limited to: Meningitis, Encephalitis, Dementia, Pneumonia, Kaposi sarcoma, and Lymphoma. There is also a blood test called an Immune Profile that can be done. This test is used to measure the loss of immunity and help decide on the best treatment. There is a test that is rarely used due to its high cost, it is known as a Viral Load: This test detects the virus itself, and also measures the amount of HIV in the blood. It shows how quickly the HIV infection is likely to advance. A high viral load suggests that the person may progress rapidly to AIDS. 

 

Although there is no cure for AIDS there are medical treatments that aide in prolonging, and maintaining the best quality of life possible. These include two nucleoside inhibitors, lamivudine and zidovudine. Actual treatment plans will vary with each patient, along with the physical aspect of this disease. The psychological side has to be addressed in order for a treatment plan to be effective.

 

The easiest way to escape contracting this disease is to avoid the risk factors that you are in control of. Such as: unprotected sex, not sharing  a needle, and if you are in the healthcare field be sure to use all precautions necessary to avoid an accidental prick from a possible infected needle (remember that in this diseases early stages it is common for the person not to even know they are infected). Today AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death among all adults aged 25 to 44 in the United States. Among African-Americans in the 25 to 44 age group, AIDS is the leading cause of death for men and the second leading cause of death for women.  Our society needs to become aware that by not protecting ourselves we are killing ourselves and that this has to stop.

AIDS Education: Health Problems Associated With HIV Infection

AIDS: is now a commonly-used term for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and also for HIV/AIDS; WHO uses the term to denote the entire health problem associate with HIV infection.

 

American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR): was co-founded in 1985 by Dr. Mathilde Krim and by Dr. Michael Gottlieb. It remains an influential advocate for HIV/AIDS research and programs.

 

Anal Sex: Sexual intercourse when the penis is inserted in the anus. Often used as a birth control measure by young adults.

 

Antibiotic: A substance that kills or inhibits the growth of organisms. Once considered a magic bullet, antibiotics are now commonly used to combat disease and infection. Indications are growing that many human viruses and bacteria are becoming resistant to current antibiotics.

 

Antibody: Members of a class of proteins known as immunoglobins. Antibodies may tag, destroy and neutralize bacteria, viruses or other harmful toxins. Antibodies attack infected cells, making them vulnerable to attack by other elements of the immune system.

 

Antigen: A foreign protein that causes an immune response (the production of antibodies to fight antigens). Common examples of antigens are the bacteria and viruses that cause human disease. The antibody is formed in response to a particular antigen unique to that antigen, reacting with no other. 

 

For Detailed info about AIDS education: http://treatments-4-incurable-diseases.us/healthtalk/?p=76