Monday, 10 February 2014

11 February, 2014

Pain management: Early signs of appendicitis

Appendicitis occurs when there is a rupture in the appendix, which can be very painful and may require surgery. 

The early signs of appendicitis are
 pain in the lower abdomen, but there are other symptoms that also occur during appendicitis. Watch out for these symptoms and visit a doctor immediately if you experience them.

Belly button pain
The earliest sign of appendicitis is pain or discomfort in the belly button area of the abdomen. This pain then gradually moves to the lower abdomen.

Excruciating increase in pain
It begins with some amount of pain, which gradually becomes very severe and excruciating. This could happen within a few hours. The pain is very intense and will prevent a person from functioning normally.

Fever
Appendicitis is usually accompanied by low-grade fever along with stomach pain. Also, as the situation worsens, the fever rises.

Nausea and vomiting
Another symptom of an appendix rupture is nausea followed byvomiting. This may appear as an ordinary stomach bug, but if the situation continues for more than 12 hours, you must visit your doctor immediately.

Diarrhea
In many cases, abdominal pain is followed by mild diarrhea and in some cases mucus. Visit your doctor quickly to treat this condition.

Bloating and gas
Bloating and gas may not seem like severe symptoms but when they are accompanied with excruciating pain in the lower abdomen, consult your doctor immediately.

Abdominal tenderness
To check if you may be suffering from an appendicitis attack, apply some pressure on the lower right abdomen and release it. If you experience pain (rebound tenderness), then this is a symptom of a ruptured appendix.

11.02.2014



Why cancer risk increases with age

A new study has suggested that the accumulation of age-associated changes in a biochemical process that helps control genes may be responsible for some of the increased risk of cancer seen in older people. 

Researchers suspect that DNA methylation, or the binding of chemical tags, called methyl groups, onto DNA, may be involved. Methyl groups activate or silence genes, by affecting interactions between DNA and the cell's protein-making machinery.
 Zongli Xu, Ph.D., and Jack Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of NIH, identified DNA methylation sites across the human genome that changed with age.

They demonstrated that a subset of those sites- the ones that become increasingly methylated with advancing age- are also disproportionately methylated in a variety of human cancers. "You can think of methylation as dust settling on an unused switch, which then prevents the cell from turning on certain genes," Taylor said. "If a cell can no longer turn on critical developmental programs, it might be easier for it to become a cancer cell." Xu and Taylor made the discovery using blood samples from participants in the Sister Study, a nationwide research effort to find the environmental and genetic causes of
 breast cancer and other diseases.

Taylor said that DNA methylation appears to be part of the normal
 aging process and occurs in genes involved in cell development. Cancer cells often have altered DNA methylation, but the researchers were surprised to find that 70-90 percent of the sites associated with age showed significantly increased methylation in all seven cancer types. Taylor suggested that age-related methylation may disable the expression of certain genes, making it easier for cells to transition to cancer. The study was published in the journal Carcinogenesis.


11.02.2014








Take care of your thoughts when you are alone, take care of your words when you are with people



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