Health and Fitness Talk ? Hashimoto's disease

by Kimberly Allen R.N.

Hashimoto?s Disease also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis is a?autoimmune disease?effecting the thyroid gland.? The thyroid gland sits in the front of the throat just below the ?adams apple.? ?It is responsible for the production of the hormones that regulate the metabolic processes in our bodies including temperature, heart rate and metabolism.

Hashimoto?s disease is the most common cause of hypothyroidism.? When hypothyroidism occurs the thyroid gland becomes enlarged, known as a goiter, and there is a gradual loss of function.

Hashimoto?s disease tends to run in families and is most commonly diagnosed in middle-aged women.? However, it can affect younger ages as well ? as I learned first hand. When I was 8 years old, my teacher, who also happened to be the principle of the little school I attended, came walking up my driveway one Sunday after church.? I was sitting outside under a tree resting when I saw her and I distinctly remember the sick feeling I had when she asked if my mother was home.? Wanting to lie, but knowing better I told her where my mother was.? Approximately 10 to 15 minutes later she left smiling and saying good-bye.? Within minutes my mother called me into the house. Wondering what I had done I headed for the door.? When I got inside, shaking on the inside, my mother started looking at my neck and feeling the area around my adams apple.? Then she looked at me and said she?d call the doctor in the morning.? I still had no idea what was going on, but Monday afternoon I was at the pediatricians office and from there was admitted to the hospital.? At that time no one had ever heard of an 8 year old having Hashimoto?s disease.

The symptoms of Hashimoto?s disease vary from patient to patient and can go unnoticed especially if the disease progresses slowly.? Some of the more noticeable symptoms, like the ones my teacher noticed, are the appearance of an enlarged thyroid gland, known as a goiter.? It can be enlarged to the point where you can?t see the adams apple and the neck can be red in appearance.? Chronic fatigue and decreased cognitive function, feeling cold even when it?s warm and facial swelling are also common.

Today, Hashimoto?s disease can be treated with thyroid replacements such as levothyroxine (synthroid).? In the mid 1960?s treatment was not as easy.? For one thing, the medications available today were not available then and those that were available had not been used on an 8 year old, according to my pediatrician.? At that time, the focus of treatment was on iodine and iodine replacement so my pediatrician told my parents they needed to get me to eat as much iodized salt as they could.? To this day I can?t eat meals without salt.

Left untreated Hashimoto?s disease can lead to other complications including muscle weakness and failure including heart failure.? It can also disrupt growth in children and adolescents, especially girls,require close monitoring as the thyroid gland controls the hormones that regulate the reproductive system causing the menstrual cycle to be irregular.? I had been told by my Drs that it was very unlikely that I would be able to have children.? Fortunately with the improved medications available i was able to have children.? With early detection and treatment you can lead a normal life, though you will always have to have your thyroid function monitored for any needed adjustments in medication.

Kimberly Allen is a registered nurse with an AND in nursing. She has worked in ACF, LCF and psychiatric facilities, although she spent most of her career as a home health expert. She is now a regular contributor to HealthAndFitnessTalk.com, dispensing advice and knowledge about medical issues and questions. You can reach her with any comments or questions at mussatti3@gmail.com.

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Healthy Living? Blog Archive ? Rewards of Yoga ? E-Commerce Style

As we enter a new millennium, more and more people are seeking lifestyle changes that foster mental and spiritual well-being as well as physical fitness. As a result of this trend, the ancient discipline of yoga is currently undergoing a widespread renaissance. We are dedicated to bringing the benefits of yoga to the widest possible audience through the Internet.

With this statement, wailanayoga.com launched its grand opening on the World Wide Web.

People are more aware than ever of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness, says Wai Lana. regular exercise has been linked to a reduction in the risk of heart disease, strokes, and cancer. Although it is common knowledge that exercise helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints, reduces blood pressure, and promotes psychological well-being, there is increasing consensus among health and fitness experts that physical activity doesn?t need to be strenuous to be effective. Yoga offers the perfect combination of strength and flexibility.

Yoga?s roots date back around 5,000 years when it was established as a form of meditation. The word ?yoga? in Sanskrit means ?union? ? practicing yoga ultimately brings one back in touch with the state of union, or oneness, that exists at the core of every being, she added.

Wai Lana has been practicing and teaching yoga for over 25 years. Her television series, Wai Lana Yoga, is aired in the U.S. on PBS nationwide, as well as in over a dozen countries on five continents. She has produced and hosted nearly 200 half-hour television shows of yoga instruction. Wai Lana has also authored several books on yoga, recorded yoga music in a variety of styles, and released an award-winning series of yoga home videos.

The web site, wailana.com, features yoga asanas (exercises), yoga music, a guided meditation, vegetarian recipes, information on Wai Lana?s television series, video and CD sales, and Wai Lana?s personal life story.

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Sleepwalking more prevalent among U.S. adults than previously suspected, researcher says

ScienceDaily (May 14, 2012) ? What goes bump in the night? In many U.S. households: people. That's according to new Stanford University School of Medicine research, which found that about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults -- or upward of 8.4 million -- are prone to sleepwalking. The work also showed an association between nocturnal wanderings and certain psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety.

The study, the researchers noted, "underscores the fact that sleepwalking is much more prevalent in adults than previously appreciated."

Maurice Ohayon, MD, DSc, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is the lead author of the paper, which appeared in the May 15 issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Sleepwalking is a disorder "of arousal from non-REM sleep." While wandering around at night can be harmless and is often played for laughs -- anyone remember the Simpsons episode where Homer began wandering around and doing silly things in his sleep? -- sleepwalking can have serious consequences. Episodes can result in injuries to the wanderer or others and lead to impaired psychosocial functioning.

It is thought that medication use and certain psychological and psychiatric conditions can trigger sleepwalking, but the exact causes are unknown. Also unclear to experts in the field is the prevalence.

"Apart from a study we did 10 years ago in the European general population, where we reported a prevalence of 2 percent of sleepwalking," the researchers wrote in their paper, "there are nearly no data regarding the prevalence of nocturnal wanderings in the adult general population. In the United States, the only prevalence rate was published 30 years ago."

For this study, the first to use a large, representative sample of the U.S. general population to demonstrate the number of sleepwalkers, the researchers also aimed to evaluate the importance of medication use and mental disorders associated with sleepwalking. Ohayon and his colleagues secured a sample of 19,136 individuals from 15 states and then used phone surveys to gather information on participants' mental health, medical history and medication use.

Participants were asked specific questions related to sleepwalking, including frequency of episodes during sleep, duration of the sleep disorder and any inappropriate or potentially dangerous behaviors during sleep. Those who didn't report any episodes in the last year were asked if they had sleepwalked during their childhood. Participants were also queried about whether there was a family history of sleepwalking and whether they had other parasomnia symptoms, such as sleep terrors and violent behaviors during sleep.

The researchers determined that as many as 3.6 percent of the sample reported at least one episode of sleepwalking in the previous year, with 1 percent saying they had two or more episodes in a month. Because of the number of respondents who reported having episodes during childhood or adolescence, lifetime prevalence of sleepwalking was found to be 29.2 percent.

The study also showed that people with depression were 3.5 times more likely to sleepwalk than those without, and people with alcohol abuse/dependence or obsessive-compulsive disorder were also significantly more likely to have sleepwalking episodes. In addition, individuals taking SSRI antidepressants were three times more likely to sleepwalk twice a month or more than those who didn't.

"There is no doubt an association between nocturnal wanderings and certain conditions, but we don't know the direction of the causality," said Ohayon. "Are the medical conditions provoking sleepwalking, or is it vice versa? Or perhaps it's the treatment that is responsible."

Although more research is needed, the work could help raise awareness of this association among primary care physicians. "We're not expecting them to diagnose sleepwalking, but they might detect symptoms that could be indices of sleepwalking," said Ohayon.

Among the researchers' other findings:

• The duration of sleepwalking was mostly chronic, with just over 80 percent of those who have sleepwalked reporting they've done so for more than five years.
• Sleepwalking was not associated with gender and seemed to decrease with age.
• Nearly one-third of individuals with nocturnal wandering had a family history of the disorder.
• People using over-the-counter sleeping pills had a higher likelihood of reporting sleepwalking episodes at least two times per month. (Indeed, a sleeping pill was the trigger for Homer Simpson's middle-of-the-night shenanigans.)

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford University Medical Center. The original article was written by Michelle L. Brandt.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. M. M. Ohayon, M. W. Mahowald, Y. Dauvilliers, A. D. Krystal, D. Leger. Prevalence and comorbidity of nocturnal wandering in the US adult general population. Neurology, 2012; 78 (20): 1583 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182563be5

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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What the Hell Is Under This TV Reporter's Dress? [Video]

In the heat of discussing the super hot Facebook IPO, these Bloomberg TV reporters suffer some technical difficulties. What the hell is that thing under reporter Sara Eisen's dress? Skip 22 seconds in and help us solve the mystery. More »

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Usher Keeps It Smooth On 'Saturday Night Live'

Plus Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake and others make special cameos in the show's 100th Digital Short segment.
By James Dinh

Usher on "Saturday Night Live"
Photo: NBC

Exactly one month before his new album, Looking 4 Myself, hits shelves, the wheels of Usher's promotional wagon gained momentum when the entertainer provided America with a set of contrasting performances and chuckles during this weekend's "Saturday Night Live" episode, which was hosted by "SNL" alum Will Ferrell.

Rocking simple black jeans, a jacket and tee, and a faux hawk, Ursh looked vibrant and energetic as he performed his brand-new single "Scream." Unlike previous expertly choreographed numbers for his dance tunes, the sunglass-donning singer showed off minimal, but nonetheless slick, moves, while his band and two backup singers filled his Studio 8 back stage.

"We at it again, 'SNL,' and this time we going to make you scream," he told the crowd at the start of the energetic cut.

His second performance was for the Diplo-produced cut "Climax," during which the singer showed off his sensual and smooth side. Clearing the area of his accompanying singers, Usher made his smooth falsetto the forefront of the number. It was a simple, authentic rendition of the hit song that was essential proof of his multi-faceted vocal talents.

In addition to his set of performances, the ATL singer appeared alongside Ferrell in the "2012 Funkytown Debate" skit, in which he played a character named Galactic Fantastic. Dressed in some sparkling duds and an oversized afro, the R&B entertainer played a wacky sidekick who brought in his singing voice to support Farrell's side of the grooving song debate.

Usher got even more airtime when he was joined by Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Michael Bolton, Will Ferrell and Natalie Portman, who all made cameos in the episode's special 100th Digital Short. Paying tribute to some of the most popular Shorts like "Di-- in a Box" and "Shy Ronnie," Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and the Biebs most fittingly put on a big-time celebration with accompanying jingle. It was an all-star affair and brought back some major giggles — especially when JT and Portman reprised their original Short roles.

To add to the night's surprises, Liam Neeson popped up during a "Weekend Update" segment for the Nicolas Cage parody "Get in the Cage." Neeson's upcoming summer flick "Battleship" was the main topic of conversation, with Samberg, as Cage, asking his usual "How am I not in that movie?!" Samberg went on to babble jealous nonsense about Neeson's other flicks in his spot-on Cage impersonation.

Like last week's musical guest Rihanna, Mr. Raymond's gig on the late-night sketch show marks his third appearance. And it's one of the many stops that the singer will make to promote his upcoming project. He's set to kick off the "Today" show's summer concert series on Friday, perform at the Billboard Music Awards on May 20 and head overseas for Capital FM's Summertime Ball 2012 in London in early June.

Mick Jagger will perform double duty as host and musical guest on next week's "Saturday Night Live" season finale.

What did you think of Usher's "SNL" performances? Sound off below.

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How a solar flare could send us back to the Stone Age

A powerful enough solar flare could knock out our power grids, disrupt our GPS satellites, and bring the global economy to a halt, warns a British scientists.

A stream of highly charged particles from the sun is headed straight toward Earth, threatening to plunge cities around the world into darkness and bring the global economy screeching to a halt.

Skip to next paragraph

This isn't the premise of the latest doomsday thriller. Massive solar storms have happened before ? and another one is likely to occur soon, according to Mike Hapgood, a space weather scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford, England.

Much of the planet's electronic equipment, as well as orbiting satellites, have been built to withstand these periodic geomagnetic storms. But the world is still not prepared for a truly damaging solar storm, Hapgood argues in a recent commentary published in the journal Nature.

Hapgood talked with the Los Angeles Times about the potential effects of such a storm and how the world should prepare for it.

Q: What exactly is a solar storm?

A: I find that's hard to answer. The term "solar storm" has crept into our usage, but nobody has defined what it means. Whether a "solar storm" is happening on the sun or is referring to the effect on the Earth depends on who's talking.

I prefer "space weather," because it focuses our attention on the phenomena in space that travel from the sun to the Earth.

Q: People often talk about solar flares and solar storms in the same breath. What's the difference?

A: Solar flares mainly emit X-rays ? we also get radio waves from these things, and white light in the brightest of flares. They all travel at the same speed as light, so it takes eight minutes to arrive. There are some effects from flares, such as radio interference from the radio bursts.

But that's a pretty small-beer thing. The big thing is the geomagnetic storms (on Earth) that affect the power grid, and that's caused by the coronal mass ejections (from the sun).

Coronal mass ejections are caused when the magnetic field in the sun's atmosphere gets disrupted and then the plasma, the sun's hot ionized gas, erupts and send charged particles into space. Think of it like a hurricane ? is it headed toward us or not headed toward us? If we're lucky, it misses us.

Q: How are solar flares and coronal mass ejections related?

A: There's an association between flares and coronal mass ejections, but it's a relationship we don't quite understand scientifically. Sometimes the CME launches before the flare occurs, and vice versa.

Q: What happens when those particles reach Earth?

A: There can be a whole range of effects. The classic one everyone quotes is the effect on the power grid. A big geomagnetic storm can essentially put extra electric currents into the grid. If it gets bad enough, you can have a complete failure of the power grid ? it happened in Quebec back in 1989. If you've got that, then you've just got to get it back on again. But you could also damage the transformers, which would make it much harder to get the electric power back.

Q: How else could people be affected?

A: You get big disturbances in the Earth's upper atmosphere ? what we call the ionosphere ? and that could be very disruptive to things like GPS (the network of global positioning system satellites). Given the extent we use GPS in everyday life (including for cellphone networks, shipping safety and financial transaction records), that's a big issue.

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Lady Gaga: NOT Engaged to Taylor Kinney (or Anyone Else For That Matter)

Relax, 24 million monsters. It's just a joke.

Despite a picture posted to photographer friend Terry Richardson's blog with the caption "showing off her new engagement ring," Lady Gaga is single.

One can see how confusion might arise, but rest assured, our girl is really not engaged to recent ex Taylor Kinney or anyone else for that matter.

Richardson, whose job is apparently to produce viral content like Lindsay Lohan pics or the Kate Upton "Cat Daddy" video, posted the photo on Sunday.

The two have been collaborating on a new book of Lady Gaga photos, which is how this image - of her showing off a massive diamond ring - came to be.

Gaga and Kinney (The Vampire Diaries, Chicago Fire) had been dating for the better part of a year, but reportedly broke up for good a few weeks back.

Friday, Richardson also posted a photo of Gaga wearing nothing but black tape on one of her nipples. Check it out in our gallery of Lady Gaga pics!

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