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Loving Someone With OCD

Have you seen a person who consumes a considerable amount of time in ensuring that she or he has really turned off the light? Or has spent hours in just securing the door lock before bedtime? Or perhaps, your loved one, who perpetually cooks the pizza in a microwave oven, making sure that it’s really well done? These could be signs that a person is suffering from OCD.

Latest advancement in medical research asserts that the problem lies in the sufferer’s impaired amygdala, the human brain’s center for basic emotions, including fear. Generally, the patient is aware of her or his behavior’s irrationality. The sufferer may or may not be aware that something is amiss, or that the irrationality is a disease in itself. The amygdala of the person suffering with OCD is believed to be misbehaving.
The question now is, what if this person is your girlfriend, wife, boyfriend or husband. This somewhat odd behavior surely sets the stage for strains in a relationship. Is it worth it? Does OCD and relationships really work?
Like the amygdala itself, the relationship of non-sufferer with a person suffering from OCD, is always on the verge of misfiring. The non-sufferer feels perpetually uncomfortable or awkward trying to understand a peculiar behavior on display.

The OCD sufferer may feel a great degree of desperation, knowing that their loved ones really have a hard time understanding them.

From this perspective, both the OCD and non-OCD persons suffer. Multiply a singular instance of this friction between those involved. The pressure is immense, with both the parties.

But, taken from a different perspective, living with person suffering from OCD can be blessing. A stable relationship with an OCD may be an opportunity to reflect on the things we consider important, things that we cherish. This relationship, will not only challenge our traditional concept of loving relationship, but will challenge us to understand the meaning of a committed relationship.

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Basilar Migraine – Not Just Another Migraine

Basilar migraine or basilar artery migraine as it is sometimes called, is one of those atypical headaches that can have frightening symptoms. This pain is unlike usual migraines. The pain is usually severe, throbbing at localized at the back of the head. It may be accompanied by severe vertigo (the sense that the room is spinning), difficulty walking and most commonly, visual disturbances.

Now what is meant by visual disturbances? Well, just about anything from blurry vision to blindness. This is caused by the fact that the basilar artery, where the problem is happening, is located in the back of the head. This artery feeds blood and oxygen to the back of the brain where the visual centers are located..if you have a problem in that area it definitely affects your vision.

Other common migraine headache symptoms may also occur such as nausea, vomiting and having the light and sounds bother you. Rarer symptoms are jerking movements of the eyes, ringing in the ears and loss of consciousness. Severe vertigo is quite common and can be disabling.

Why Is This Serious? A basilar migraine can increase the risk of stroke. Although a neurovascular condition like all other migraines, one of the problems is that aneurysms (an out-pouching of the artery) may occur in this area.

If caught, aneurysms are generally followed with more imaging such as a CT angiogram which gets a much better look at it. Surgery is recommended to “clip” it when it gets to a certain size. For cerebral aneurysms the limit is usually 10mm although some surgeons have told me they will do the procedure on a smaller one if the patient has neurological symptoms.

Testing For Basilar Migraine If you present to a doctor with the symptoms of basilar migraine, unfortunately since it mimics a stroke so closely, be prepared for a bit of a full work up to rule out stroke. This most probably will include an MRI or CT of the brain right away and possibly an MRA to look at the arteries of the brain. Again this would not only find a stroke but also find an aneurysm. A full examination including some testing for vertigo and hearing (if necessary) should be performed.

If the doctor is suspicious about possible seizures (they sometimes present with vertigo and headache) then an EEG is necessary. This is just a study to look at the electrical waves in the brain and involves wearing some scalp electrodes and getting your hair messed up!

Treatment Once a stroke has been ruled out, treatment is pretty straight forward. If the headache is disabling and occurs a couple of times a month, then you need to be on daily therapy for awhile, perhaps a few months to a year.

While many preventative medications for migraine are familiar to most headache sufferers, the drug of choice for this type of headache is verapamil taken once or twice a day. If you cannot take this medication, a beta-blocker such as Inderal is a good choice also.

If an attack does occur, most people can manage it well with a small dose of a pain killer. Many people also wonder why they cannot take their usual medications for migraine but unfortunately, all triptans such as Imitrex, are contra-indicated for this.

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Healthy Aging and your Workplace

More about your workplace and how it affects your health:
Some places that you work at can be dangerous to your health. They can cause you a lot of medical and mentally problems. We know you have to work, now days if you do not work your not going to get anywhere. We are not telling you to run off and quite your job but we want you to do your work safely. So talk a long look into your work environment to see if you are safe or not. Does your environment affect your health?

What are some of jobs that are bad for one to do?
Some of the jobs that are bad for your health are sawmills and other mills the reason for this is because of the small gains that you breath in your lungs. In sawmills, a person will breathe in the sawdust, which effects your respiratory system. Other types of mills a person will breathe in all the small gains like corn, or wheat, and what ever else they grain up. Breathing all this stuff can cause you to develop lung disease and/or lung cancer. Factories often cause bronchitis, allergies and so on.

People in the southern parts work in the coalmines. These people have it bad too for the same reason. When the person visits the doctor environment factors are considered, which doctors often find damage due to the chemicals in the atmosphere or environment?

Coalmines are filled with black Sid. Black Sid will causes diseases known as the black lung cancer. Once the disease is in your system, unless your doctor caught it at the first stage, usually a person is out of luck.

Jobs may include the ones where a person has to spray to kill the weeds and the bugs. Spray is used to terminate lime also. The crops require such sprays to grow healthy, yet a person breathing in these hard chemicals are at risk. The chemicals do not only kill what they are spraying, but it ends up killing the person slowly. These chemicals could cause lung cancer or lung disease. Alternatively, if you are one of the lucky ones that don’t get lung disease or cancer you just might various types of breathing problems.

What can I do to be safe while am at work?
When at work and you want to stay safe. You have options when it comes to workplace. You can play it smart and ask your supervisor if a mask is available. A caring supervisor will have one ready for you. If your supervisor does not offer you a mask, then you take it in your hands, go to your local drug store, and buy one for your own safety. In addition, make sure you wear the mask, it will help you in the end, since you will be better off than if you do not wear it.

What kind of mental problems can a job cause?
All jobs come with stress we have no control over. However, you can learn to control the stress that is put on you if you let stress control you that is bad for you. Stress will take control if you let it. We all have deadlines to meet as well as making sure we are doing our job the right way. Stress if out of control however can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, or even a stroke. Just remember you have all the control to handle the stress or to let it handle you. If you learn to handle stress and wear mask you will live a healthier life so play it safe.

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