Adolescent Pregnancy

Adolescent pregnancy in ninety nine percent of the cases is unwanted and is the major consequence of adolescent sexual activity, other than STDs. This issue has affected youth, families, educators, health care professionals, and government official. A study on the high school adolescents has concluded that forty eight percent of the males and forty five percent of the females are sexually active. One fourth of the high school students had sexual contact by fifteen years of age. The average age of boys is sixteen and a girl is seventeen, who have had intercourse. Ninety percent of adolescents, in the age range of fifteen to nineteen, say their pregnancy is unintended.

Seventy four percent of females above fourteen years and sixty percent of females below fifteen years have reported to have involuntary sex. Fifty percent of the adolescent pregnancies are within the time period of six months after the initial sexual intercourse. More than nine hundred thousand teenagers are reported to have become pregnant every year in the United States. Fifty one percent of the adolescent pregnancies result in live birth, thirty five percent result in induced abortion and fourteen percent result in stillbirths or miscarriages. Four out of ten adolescent females get pregnant, before they turn twenty, at least once. Twenty five percent of adolescent deliveries arent the mothers first child. When a teenager gives birth to her first child, she increases the risk of begetting another child. One third of the adolescent parents are themselves result of adolescent pregnancies.

There are many reasons why adolescents choose to become sexually active at an early stage in life. The reasons can be early pubertal development, poverty, sexual abuse in childhood, lack of parents attention, lack of career goals, family and cultural patterns of early sex, substance abuse, dropping out from school and poor school performance. Factors which discourage an adolescent to become sexually active are stable family environment, parental supervision, good family income, regular prayers, connectedness with parents and living with complete family and both the parents. The factors which are responsible for the consistent use of contraceptive among adolescents are academic success, anticipation for successful future, and involvement in a stable relationship.

There are many medical risks associated with adolescent pregnancies. Adolescents who are less than seventeen years are at a greater risk of developing medical complications, when compared to adult females. The risk is even more in teenagers below seventeen. The weight of the child, given birth by an adolescent, is very low in these pregnancies. It is usually below 2.5 kilogram. The rate of neonatal birth is also three times greater in adolescents, when compared to adults. Other problems caused by adolescent pregnancies are prematurity of the child, birth of underweight child, poor maternal weight gain, poor nutritional status, anemia, STDs and hypertension induced due to pregnancy.

Although there is an increase in the use of contraceptive methods by adolescents during their first sexual contact, only sixty three percent of the high school students have said to use condom while having sex previously. Adolescents, who use prescription contraceptives, delay their doctors visit until the time they become sexually active for over a year.

According to a research, youngsters who have participated in sex education programs which gave them knowledge about contraception methods, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases and youngsters who involved in discussions in order to get a clear picture, used contraceptives and condoms effectively without any increase in sexual activity. The Center for Disease Control & Prevention has said that the solution for unwanted adolescent pregnancies and STDs are barrier contraceptive use and abstinence.

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Acne in Adolescents

Acne is one of the most common problems in adolescent teens affecting nearly seventeen million people in the United States. Acne is nothing but a disorder involving sebaceous glands and hair follicles. Acne results from the clogging of sebaceous glands leading to the formation of pimples and cysts. The condition usually begins with the onset of puberty. Going by the facts, as teens attain puberty the androgens also called male sex hormones are produced in high number leading to sebaceous glands becoming over active which results in sebum being produced in high proportions.

Sebum, which is nothing but oil is produced by sebaceous glands which travel to the skin surface through hair follicles. But, skin cells block the follicles which results in oil also being blocked. When these hair follicles are blocked it results in the development of skin bacteria known as Propionibacterium Acnes within the follicles which in turn results in swelling of the skin called Acne. If the hair follicles are partially blocked it results in blackheads. If the follicles are completely blocked they result in whiteheads. But if these plugged follicles are not treated they ultimately burst causing the oil, bacteria and skin cells to spill all over the skin resulting in irritation and formation of pimples. Acne can be shallow as well as deep in various individuals depending on the nature of skin and amount of oil produced.

There can be various causes why Acne forms. Apart from rising hormone levels due to puberty it can also be attributed to certain other factors like intake of drugs which contain lithium, barbiturates and corticosteroids. Acne can also be caused due to excess grease and oil in the scalp, due to cooking oil and use of some cosmetics can actually alleviate the acne problem. Acne problem many times is inherited also. Acne problem is worsened if the pimples are squeezed or scrubbed too hard.

Acne can form at any place of the body but they most commonly form in the areas where there sebaceous glands are present in high proportions like face, chest, shoulders, neck and upper back. The symptoms may differ from person to person but commonly seen symptoms are: formation of blackheads, whiteheads, lesions filled with pus and which are very painful and lastly nodules. One may get confused sometimes as symptoms of acne may be like some other skin condition and it is always advised to consult a doctor in this scenario.

There are lots of treatments available today to treat acne. The primary goal of the treatment is to reduce scars and better appearance. There are various treatments and the doctor decides which specific treatment you need based on: the extent of acne problem, age, medical history, overall health, tolerance to specific medications and procedures, expectations and last but not the least what patients prefer.

Treatment of acne is classified into topical and systemic drug therapies which are given based on extent of severity. In some instances the combination of both the methods might be the way to go for acne treatment. Topical medication is nothing but creams, gels, lotions, solutions etc. prescribed to patients for acne treatment. Some of the examples of topical medication are: Benzoyl Peroxide which kills the Propionibacterium Acnes bacteria, antibiotics helps in stopping or slowing down the growth of the bacteria and also reduces inflammation, Tretinoin helps in stopping the formation of new acne lesions and Adapalene reduces formation of comedo.

Systemic drug therapies involve prescription of systemic antibiotics primarily for the treatment of acne problem which is moderate to severe in nature. The examples of antibiotics prescribed are Doxycycline, erythromycin and tetracycline. In some cases an oral drug called Isotretinoin is prescribed for teenagers with severe acne problem which shrinks down the sebaceous glands that produce oil. The results are pretty good and almost ninety percent of the adolescents have success with this oral drug. But the drug has some serious side-affects and thus it is very important that one consults a doctor before use.

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Keeping people with Alzheimer’s busy

Alzheimer’s disease is considered the 7th leading cause of death in the United States in 2004. The death toll continues to rise every year. The disease is the third most costly in the U.S. Heart disease and cancer are the first and second most costly respectively. It is recorded that there 24 million people with dementia worldwide, the figure will more than double by 2040.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that is irreversible with no known cause or cure. The disease affects two major types of abilities. Alzheimer’s affects the very simple everyday activities such as dressing, eating, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, and even walking. One needs to be assisted in order to accomplish such tasks.

The other ability affected by the disease are the performance of more complex tasks like managing finances, driving a car, preparing and cooking meals and working in a job. It is normal for people with the disease to experience problems with complex tasks first which later on move to the more simple everyday jobs as the disease progresses.

Treatment is vital for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Treating a patient requires the conglomeration of the expertise of a family doctor and various medical specialists like psychiatrists or neurologists, psychologists, therapists, nurses, social workers, and counselors. Because the disease affects not only the patient but the whole family as well.

It is very important that family members work closely with the doctors in administering the treatment. The family should be informed of activities that are dangerous for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Some of these activities include driving or cooking.

Treating dementia related symptoms of Alzheimer’s vary. But such treatments can only be effective if the dementia is caused by factors like medications, alcohol, delirium, tumors, depression, head injury and infections. There are, however, some treatments that are being used to “cure” the well being of a person afflicted with the disease.

Activities like playing music, personal interactions, playing videotapes of family members, walking and light exercise and pet therapy have been found to be successful in helping people develop friendship, mutual support and spiritual connectedness with the people around them.

However, one should remember that such activities can be beneficial to one but could be detrimental to another patient. The best activity for a person with Alzheimer’s varies. Former hobbies or points of interest of a person could also be used to help people with the disease and their families to cope.

One could assist the person to engage in activities like supervised gardening, singing, cooking, painting and drawing as long as routine is established. It is very important to engage in these activities on a regular basis for this could help the person establish a sense of stability.

Some therapies combine various activities and have proved to be fairly successful and garnered some favorable results. Such programs combine music, exercise, crafts and relaxation which obtained the best results.

Some even add various structured sessions like meditations, sensory awareness and guided imagery in their attempts to calm and pacify the already unstable behaviors of patients with Alzheimer’s.

Aside from daily physical exercise and social activities, some of the things that you also need to consider in treating a patient are proper nutrition and health maintenance; daily activities that will give the feelings of accomplishment for the individual; keeping the patient out of harm’s way; and knowing the physical and emotional limitations of the patient, the care giver team and the family.

What Exactly is Alzheimers?

As uncommon as the name of the disease sounds, its prevalence and incidence rates are not. In fact, almost four million people in the United States are affected by this problem. All can be affected, men or women, across all social status and economic position in life.

Alzheimers is a progressive and degenerative problem under the umbrella of diseases called dementia. It is characterized by disorientation and impaired memory. It is apparently caused by an attack in the brain, affecting ones memory, thinking skills and judgment. Most patients will experience a change in language ability, in the way they use their mental processes and of course their behavior.

While anybody can be affected by this problem, only those that are older than age 65 experience the lagging in their thinking skills. Still, there are some who gets Alzheimers even when they are just 30 years old but these cases are very rare and can only account for a small percentage of the total number of cases. One out of 10 people over the age 65 has Alzheimers and nearly half of these patients are over 85 years old. In a national survey conducted in the United States, almost 19 million Americans have one family member who suffers from this dreaded problem.

In addition to old age, family history of dementia can also predispose someone to the disease. This is because Alzheimers is said to be caused by a problem in the genetic mutations. Still, when you study the cases, Alzheimers is commonly the result of a host of other factors besides genes. In fact, environmental factors such as hobbies and mental pursuits are things that can help prevent the onset of the problem.

What is difficult with Alzheimers is the fact that its symptoms are basically the same with ordinary signs of old age. At the beginning, there will be some memory loss. The person with Alzheimers will also experience confusion and disorientation even with things that they are used to doing. The trick is to make sure that one can recognize what a normal memory loss is against something of Alzheimers caliber.

Often, there will be a gradual memory loss. They will find it hard to read or to write or to think clearly. After which they will experience a decline in the ability to perform tasks that are already automatic and routinary. Believe it or not, in cases that are already in the terminal stage, the patient may even forget how to brush their teeth or how to use a spoon and fork, something that is really pretty basic with a lot of people.

This is one example of the difference of Alzheimers from ordinary memory loss. Forgetfulness will not affect tasks that are routinary. There will also be difficulty in learning new things and in memorizing things. Some patients may even forget the language that they are speaking with while others will no longer recognize their family. Personality will change in terms of the way they communicate with other people and the way they behave.

There is actually no change in personality per se but because of the problems in their memory, they may appear aloof and suspicious perhaps because they cannot recognize the people that they know before. Some may even become extremely fearful and passive for the simple fact that they cannot remember you. As the disease worsens, the patient will then become so incapable of taking care of themselves that they will require help even in eating and in sleeping.