Arthritis : Treatments

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Treatments could include:
A term referring to a variety of conditions characterized by inflammation of one or more joints. Arthritis is commonly regarded as a disease of the elderly, but there are several varieties that primarily affect children, including juvenile rheumat...
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence
Treatment of arthritis depends on the particular cause, which joints are affected, severity, and how the condition affects your daily activities. Your age and occupation will also be taken into consideration when your doctor works with you to crea...
Source:ADAM
Date:July 27, 2007
Exercise is a lot more than an energy booster and a stress reliever. It also strengthens your heart muscle, lowers your blood pressure and blood cholesterol, and burns calories.
Source:StayWell
Here are a series of exercises you can do throughout your pregnancy.
Source:StayWell
Ask five different people why they hike, and you'll get five different answers. Some like the physical challenge. Other people may enjoy the whisper of a running stream, or a mountaintop view that seems to go on forever.
Source:StayWell
Debridement is the process of removing dead (necrotic) tissue or foreign material from and around a wound to expose healthy tissue. Purpose An open wound or ulcer can not be properly evaluated until the dead tissue or foreign matter is removed.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Surgery
Heat treatments are therapeutic applications of superficial or deep-heating agents to areas of the body. Purpose Thermal agents are used therapeutically to: decrease pain decrease muscle spasm decrease muscle tightness and increase flexibility prepare joints and muscles for exercise increase local blood flow to the area, thus promoting tissue healing Precautions Therapeutic heat treatments should not be used in individuals who have bleeding or recent hemorrhage, an acute inflammatory process, or local infection near the point of application.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
Heat treatments are applications of therapeutic thermal agents to specific body areas experiencing injury or dysfunction. Purpose The general purpose of a heat treatment is to increase the extensibility of soft tissues, remove toxins from cells, enhance blood flow, increase function of the tissue cells, encourage muscle relaxation, and help relieve pain .
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
If hip pain limits your ability to walk, work, or perform simple activities, you may want to talk to your doctor about a hip replacement.
Source:StayWell
Joint replacement is the surgical replacement of a joint with an artificial prosthesis. Purpose Great advances have been made in joint replacement since the first hip replacement was performed in the United States in 1969.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
Physical therapists provide services to restore function, improve mobility, relieve pain , and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities among those suffering from injuries, disabilities, or disease. Organized physical therapy began during World War I with 800 reconstruction aides.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
Physical therapists teach people recovering from surgery or with injuries, sprains or arthritis how to perform exercises that will help them gain strength and mobility and prevent recurring injury. Here are suggestions to help you get the most from physical therapy.
Source:StayWell
Chest physical therapy is the term for a group of treatments designed to improve respiratory efficiency, promote expansion of the lungs, strengthen respiratory muscles, and eliminate secretions from the respiratory system. Purpose The purpose of chest physical therapy, also called chest physiotherapy, is to help patients breathe more freely and to get more oxygen into the body.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health
The professional field consists of skilled health care providers who work under the direction or supervision of a physical therapist or physical therapists. Their role is to facilitate care and treatment of patients with injuries, diseases, or disabilities that involve mobility or other basic physical functioning.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
I was in a car accident four weeks ago. I have had physical therapy for the last three weeks and it seems to hurt more than it helps. I am still feeling pain and spasms. Can you suggest another option?
Source:StayWell
Detailed information on finding the right exercise program and the right preparation
Source:StayWell
Exercise is any activity requiring physical exertion done for the sake of health. Activities range from walking and yoga to lifting weights and martial arts .
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
Exercise plays an important role in weight control by increasing energy output...The combination of exercise and diet offers the most flexible and effective approach to weight control...Body composition is a better indicator of your condition than body weight...
Source:ADAM
Date:February 6, 2008
Detailed information on finding the right exercise program and the right preparation
Source:StayWell
Detailed information on children and exercise
Source:StayWell
Detailed information on teenagers and children and exercise, including the benefits of exercise
Source:StayWell
Stretching is an easy thing you can do to improve your health, yet it's often the most neglected part of people's fitness regimens. Stretching can reduce your injury risk and help you become more limber, regardless of your age and physical condition.
Source:StayWell
You know it's important to stay active but still find yourself falling back on old habits. What can you do? Planning for exercise isn't hard if you make it a priority.
Source:StayWell
Methodical and repetitive physical activity benefiting a person ' s health. Traditionally, exercise has been a concern of adults, the reasoning being that children are naturally active and do not need any structured program of physical activity.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence
The best reason for you to exercise as an older adult is to improve your quality of life and help you maintain your independence.
Source:StayWell
Exercise is physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive for the purpose of conditioning the body. Exercise consists of cardiovascular conditioning, strength and resistance training, and flexibility.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health
Several studies support the idea that adding activity that burns calories to your daily routine can help improve your health, maintain your mobility as you age, and prolong your life.
Source:StayWell
Moderate exercise, once thought to be inferior to more strenuous aerobic exercise, is now understood to confer similar health benefits, primarily reduced risk of heart disease and other illnesses, along with added life expectancy.
Source:StayWell
Exercise is physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive for the purpose of conditioning any part of the body. Exercise is utilized to improve health, maintain fitness and is important as a means of physical rehabilitation .
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
Exercise is physical activity that is undertaken in order to improve one ' s health. Physicians, physical therapists, and researchers have found that exercise plays an important role in the maintenance of brain, nerve, and muscle function in the human body.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders
Exercise is physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive for the purpose of conditioning any part of the body or to improve performance in a specific task. Exercise is utilized to improve health, maintain fitness, and is important as a means of physical rehabilitation.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
The Surgeon General of the United States defines exercise as physical activity that involves planned, structured, and repetitive bodily movements in order to improve or maintain physical fitness. As an element of health, exercise involves both strength training of the muscles and cardiovascular fitness, with stretching activities for flexibility.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Surgery
More than 28 percent of Americans are completely sedentary (they engage in no physical activity), with an additional 60 percent being inadequately active (engaging in less than 30 minutes of activity per day). For those who strive to achieve and maintain a high quality of health, it must be recognized that physical activity is vital to optimal health.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Well Being
Researchers aren't sure why, but exercise can lower overall levels of inflammation in the body.
Source:StayWell
Regular exercise may prevent a recurrence of breast or colorectal cancer, or may decrease the risk of dying from the disease. But the reasons for the benefits are unclear.
Source:StayWell
This report helps guide you through starting and maintaining an exercise program that suits your abilities and lifestyle. You'll find answers to your questions on how much and what kind of physical activity you need, and advice on fitness products.
Source:StayWell
Motherhood is one of the few roles in life that never lets up. It can be physically and emotionally draining. But if you take care of yourself, you will be better able to cope.
Source:StayWell
Although aerobic workouts like walking or running are important, they can’t take the place of strength training when it comes to building and preserving muscle.
Source:StayWell
No matter what your activity -- even standing or sitting with good posture -- you use your core muscles.
Source:StayWell
The not-so-secret secret to weight loss is to burn more calories than you eat. This can be done safely and effectively by eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly.
Source:StayWell
With over 50 percent of the population of the United States and other industrialized countries being either overweight or obese , a great number of people want to lose weight. However, weight loss is not easy- and not often successful.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Well Being
To successfully lose weight, you must carry out a plan to balance your caloric intake with exercise. Ideally, dieting should be done by eating a nutritionally balanced, low-calorie diet and increasing physical activity.
Source:ADAM
Date:August 8, 2007
Stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Try to keep salad greens, apples, oranges, onions, and other produce your family likes on hand.
Source:StayWell
If you've tried a dozen diets but the pounds always sneak back, you may be able to lose them for good by making strength-training an integral part of your weight-loss program.
Source:StayWell
Out of the millions Americans who are overweight and go on a diet each year, many regain all or a part of the weight they lose within five years.
Source:StayWell
The Atkins diet is a high-protein, high-fat, very low-carbohydrate regimen. It emphasizes meat, cheese, and eggs, while discouraging foods such as bread, pasta, fruit, and sugar.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The Diamond diet, popularly known as the Fit for Life Program, is a way of eating designed to be employed as a health lifestyle. Developed by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, it is a set of dietary principles intended to serve as a blueprint for habits that can easily become routine, allowing individuals to take control of their health.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
Fiber is the material that gives plants texture and support. Dietary fiber is found in many plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and whole grains.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The Kelley-Gonzalez diet consists of large amounts of raw fruits, juices, raw and steamed vegetables, cereals, and nuts. When combined with massive quantities of dietary supplements and freeze-dried pancreatic enzymes, together with a " detoxification " process involving coffee enemas, it is said to slow the growth of cancer tumors.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
A macrobiotic diet is part of a philosophy of life that incorporates the ancient Oriental concept or theory of yin and yang. The diet itself consists mainly of brown rice, other whole grains, and vegetables.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The McDougall diet provides the structure of a low-fat, starch-based diet to promote a broad range of such health benefits as weight loss and the reversal of such serious health conditions as heart disease , without the use of drugs. Origins The McDougall diet began as a challenge to Dr.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The Mediterranean diet is based upon the eating patterns of traditional cultures in the Mediterranean region. Several noted nutritionists and research projects have concluded that this diet is one of the most healthful in the world in terms of preventing such illnesses as heart disease and cancer , and increasing life expectancy.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The natural hygiene diet is a system of healthy living whereby moral, physical, and environmental pollution is strictly avoided, and natural healthy food is chosen in preference over processed food. The principle is to provide everything the body needs to be healthy, and to avoid anything that may hinder health and well being.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The Ornish diet was developed by Dean Ornish, M.D.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The Paleolithic, or caveman, diet is a reversion to the foods eaten by humans prior to the advents of civilization, agriculture, and technology. Before those developments, the human diet during the Stone Age is thought to have consisted largely of lean red meat and vegetation.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The Pritikin diet is a low-fat regimen that promotes eating whole grains, vegetables, and fruit over animal protein, eggs, processed grains, and sugar. Origins Nathan Pritikin developed the diet in the 1970s.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The South Beach diet is a three-phase, carbohydrate-restrictive diet. It emphasizes foods that are low on the glycemic index (GI) and low in saturated fat, such as lean meats, vegetables, cheeses, nuts, and eggs.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The Wigmore diet is named for its creator, Ann Wigmore. She devised a nutritional system called the Living Foods Program, based on a combination of wheatgrass juice, live sprouts, and fresh raw foods.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
The Zone Diet program is a food management system that claims to promote optimal metabolic efficiency in the body by balancing the hormones insulin and glucagon. Insulin is responsible for converting, in the blood, incoming nutrients into cells.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
Weight loss is a reduction in body mass characterized by a loss of adipose tissue (body fat) and skeletal muscle. Unintentional weight loss is the most common symptom of cancer and often a side effect of cancer treatments.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer
The Atkins diet is a high-protein, high-fat, and very low-carbohydrate regimen. It emphasizes meat, cheese, and eggs, while discouraging foods such as bread, pasta, fruit, and sugar.
Source:Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
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