The other day I read about multiple sclerosis. They describe this disease as incurable. Fact is that MS had been unknown until about the middle of the nineteenth century. Around that time, the French neurologist Charcot discovered the symptoms first. Interestingly enough this disease has been diagnosed always more often since then and this development is unstopped. Today MS belongs to the fastest growing neurological diseases.

Of course, that causes questions to come up.

1. How come that the symptoms where rare at that time and even unknown before?

2. What had changed in those days?

3. What can one do about it?

Let’s talk about the third question. Information available on the web gives over and over the same answer to it: nothing, except giving some medicine. However, these medicines appear to do nothing else but to relieve patients from their pain and even that only to limited extent.

Another question: What causes the symptoms at all? The answer is that medical science has no answer to it until today. There are many assumptions. The latest among them is that something destroys the myelin sheath surrounding the axon of neurons. Good to know, but what does it help? Nothing at all.

Then I stumbled over a website on MS treatment of the health and nutrition expert G. Joel Ullisperger, M.S. He says that the German physician Dr. Joseph Evers healed about 12.000 MS patients between 1940 and 1975. That is exciting and sounds compelling, doesn’t it?

Now some critics could say, prove would be missing. If Doctor Evers would have been a medical doctor with a simple practice, I could feel inclined to agree. However, Evers had a clinic where he exclusively treated MS patients and he was famous nationwide for his success. This doctor got even people out of their wheelchair.

So what did he actually do to help so many people? He changed their diet. Among others, he eliminated all industrially produced food. Of course, there are a lot more elements to consider and to change than just such food, says Joel Ullisperger.

Unfortunately, it appears as if this chance to cure or better said, get patients free of MS symptoms is kept secret; maybe even purposefully. National MS societies who are supposed to be the spokespersons of MS patients and whose first goal should be to make an effective solution available are uninterested in cooperating, as Ullisperger had to find out sadly.

The worst of all is he says that even if people get to know this unique chance and read of an even improved, still more effective approach, they seem to have a hard time to give it a try. One reason is that people, even if they suffer from cancer, try to avoid changing their beloved way to eat. More likely is they are so manipulated, so negatively conditioned by the misinformation of mass media to this “no cure possible” that they simply resigned, says Joel Ullisperger.

I tell you what:
If I had a disease that made my life miserable, I would do all and everything to get better. If that would only mean a simple change of my diet, I would jump and start right away especially if I had a specialist who tells me exactly how and why to do it.

Patient Opinion Leader (POL) is one more jargon floated by pharma marketeres. And lot of people are jumping into the bandwagon too early. Let’s face it. Presently in India, POL does not exist and we can comfortably assume that POL will not have any significant impact in forseable future.

Firstly, let’s start with “Patient’s Opinion”. Here we are talking about patient’s opinion on Rx medicine. (POLs or whatever you may call it, can influence personal medical testing devices category - for example, which glucometer to buy). We must accept the fact that patients are merely a consumer who have almost no say in deciding which Rx medicine is appropriate for him/her. It is entirely doctor’s prerogative because patients are not equipped with medical knowledge to make the right choice. We may argue that today’s patients are well-read, net savvy, health conscious consumer but still patient’s opinion should not or rather can not directly impact the sale of the brand. At the most, patients’ can share their personal experiences about managing a disease which might be helpful to other patients, but their opinions cannot be taken into consideration when it comes to buying Rx medicines. And that’s why POLs, if at all they exist, cannot be given equal importance as KOLs and pharma marketers cannot afford to limit the role of Doctors.?

Moreover, patients need a platform to voice their opinion to become “Patient as a Leader. The so-called Health 2.0 or Pharma 2.0 provides a convenient platform in terms of blogs and social networking websites. Internationally, there are websites like Patientslikeme.com (featured as Disruptor of the Month by Forbes, March issue) and Six Until Me (a popular diabetes blog started by Kerry Morrone) that provide the right platform to share patients’ views, to discuss treatment options, etc. In India, we don’t have such websites but soon we might see similar websites catering to health conscious netizens.?

We should know that giving opinions on topics like movies, cars, consumer durables, etc. is fine, but when it comes to giving an informed opinion on health realted issue, one must be very careful. For example, when reports suggested that lithium might slow down the progression of ALS - a neurodegenerative disease, a number of ALS sufferers among the PatientsLikeMe community began their own somewhat impromptu drug trial, taking lithium and posting the results. Although the website has not run a formal trial and only facilitates members reporting of their results, there still has been some controversy. Such incidences can be disastrous. We must understand that leaders have followers. When it comes to treating disease, it’s advisable to follow a physician than a POL. In a nutshell, POLs, a non-medical professional who inspire trust and acts as guide to other patients, can create lots of controversies and that’s not good news for pharma marketer.?

There is no denying that internet is going to play a very important role. In US, 59% of the patients turn to internet as their first source of health information. Same might be true for India. Pharma companies are already using internet to provide information to patients. Patients are connecting with each other on the net, but at the same time I believe as far as serious medical ailment is concerned, patients are aware that there is a difference between sharing experiences on the net and taking decision based on those opinions.?

The Indian Pharma Marketer should also ask himself whether he would like to empower patients to an extent that the ‘empowered’ patients start questioning doctors or interfering with doctors’ prescriptions. The answer is a big NO, because no pharma company would like to take that risk of offending doctors. We know what happens when you turn a prescriptive brand into OTC brand and start directly promoting it to patients/consumers. That brand might increase overall sales but it surely looses out Doctors’ prescription.

On a lighter side, I have a different theory on the evolution of Patient Opinion Leaders concept. I believe the POL concept is promoted by pharma marketers who hate doctors, because no matter what innovative, out of the box, disrutptive marketing strategy they implement, but ultimately the fate of prescriptive brands are in doctor’s hand and in most cases, the KOLs decide the success or failure of the brand. Therefore frustated pharma marketers want to counter KOLs by creating another equally powerful monster called POLs. Don’t forget guys, a monster is a monster is a monster.

Panic attack should be given special attention. You must be equipped with required medication and therapeutic treatment. Along with these, there should be panic attack help as it acts as the best treatment. You should use effective measures to overcome this problem. A support or a helping hand lent by any one such as family member, friend, relative etc. can do wonders in treating panic attacks. This can also ensure a speedy and a quick recovery.

You should understand the reason for the panic attack before giving panic attack help. Panic attacks can happen without ant reason and in various situation and can lead to very high anxiety level. This level is exceeded to the fear of death which overpowers the senses of the sufferer. While into a panic attack help, you should charge the patient with optimism and emotional support. This would give him/her enough strength to cope up with the disease. In certain situations, symptoms of panic attack resemble the symptoms of a cardiac attack and it is here that the emotional support plays an important role!

Treating panic attacks requires extra effort. You can’t do panic attack treatment by merely taking medicines without doing any special diagnostic investigation. The specialized doctors and therapists investigate the causes, symptoms and conclude after thorough investigation of the case before prescribing better treatment. The cases have been seen that a panic disorder with or without agoraphobia happen in the patients who are finally diagnosed by both medication and therapy. Effective treatments for panic disorder are possible only when your case has been investigated thoroughly. In many cases antidepressant medications play greater role in reducing ruthlessness of panic symptoms in successful manner. When prescribed medication is applied it becomes easy to eliminate such attacks without doing much effort.

Certain amount of serotonin re uptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants is also prescribed in many special cases. A doctor will keep in mind, the side effects, body metabolism and patient preference, before suggesting any such special medication. As per a number of researches made, cognitive behavior theory has proved to be effective in treating panic attack disorders. Some other effective measures like Benzodiazepines and antidepressants are also effective in treating panic disorders.

It is therefore very important to choose selective and best panic attack medications according to the guidelines of specialists so that your disorder is cured effectively. Diagnosing panic attack sufferers always become a typical issue for the specialist doctors as every medicine have some sort of side effect or the other. Knowing the symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath is most important factor before prescribing medication. In case no serious effort is done, the patient may land into many stern conditions. When you choose better options and do proper diagnosis entire treatment procedure becomes easy and medication too is applied under strict investigation, so is the implication of therapeutic applications. Proper combination of both would help you have better quality of life and you will feel rejuvenated.

Research findings describe that approximately 17 to 25 percent patients complaining chest pain are the sufferers of some sort of panic disorder or the other. Psychiatric treatments too have proved best in this case. The patients with agoraphobia show the symptoms of panic disorder. They should be cured after strict investigation as knowing the root cause makes the entire treatment process easy and qualitative. Depression is one of the major after-effects of panic disorder which must be taken seriously.

Panic treatments basically fall into two categories. The physician may initially try out some form of behavior therapy to help you in controlling your reactions to the surge of adrenalin that you experience during a panic attack. In more severe cases, you may be put on some medications which help you to do so. A combination of both behavioral therapy and medications is also used at times.?There are two major categories of panic treatments. Doctors apply some sort of behavior therapies at the initial stage to make you able to have better control over the reactions you would’ve due to access adrenalin in body in repeated panic attack you had. At times various medications are given to help you control it. In some cases both behavioral therapy and medications are applied as combination treatment.Two specific categories of panic treatments are available. Sole motive of a doctor at the very beginning of treatment is that you get control over your body which has developed excess adrenalin due to panic attack. Doctors apply behavior therapies. When your case turn chronic your doctor advice for combination treatment in which medication and therapies are part of treatment. Use of medicines is done carefully in these cases.

The behavioral therapy includes a number of psychological and physical trainings that help a person manage his reactions. Patients are first helped in identifying situations which start off these attacks. They are then asked to avoid these or control their reactions to such situations. The therapy often includes breathing exercises to relax the patient, positive reinforcement in thoughts and a general and forceful avoidance of negative thought processes.All categories of behavioral therapies including psychological and physical training are helpful for a person to manage panic reactions. Sufferers are made aware of the causes of attacks through better identification. Doctors advice patients to avoid such aspects and control reactions in crucial moments. Main areas of this therapy are breathing exercises, keeping patient in relaxed posture, developing motivational thoughts and ensuring that sufferers don’t fall prey to negative thoughts.Many psychological and physical trainings are part of behavioral therapy. They help sufferers manage reactions. First and foremost step is helping them to identify situations which are the possible reason of attack. After being identified they are asked to suppress those reactions. Breathing exercises, relaxing patients and helping to believe in optimism are major parts of this therapy. In the meanwhile patients are prepared to strictly negate pessimism from life.

Medications broadly fall into three categories. There are antidepressants, anti anxiety medications and beta blockers. Among these, anti depressants is the preferred mode of treatment simply because they have fewer side effects. Anti depressants include such medications as sertraline, fluvoxamine etc. the only thing you need to be careful about when you are taking these is the time period. Anti depressants act over a period of time, so don’t expect instant results. Also, you should take these medications only under the supervision of your doctors. Beta blockers are actually medicines recommended for the treatment of heart diseases. They are however used for such purposes in order to control the physical manifestations of the panic attacks. These may include a heart that is beating faster, trembling of the limbs etc.?There are three broad categories of medication including antidepressants, anti anxiety medications and beta blockers. Out of these three antidepressants are considered best as it has lesser side effects. Sertraline and fluvoxamine are the main antidepressant medicines. Be extra careful in taking these medicines and remain aware of suitable time period. You shouldn’t expect instant results from antidepressants which are meant to react for certain time period only. Ensure that these medicines have been prescribed by a doctor and you are taking them under his/her supervision. Usually Beta blocker medicines are used to treat heart patients but they are also helpful in panic attacks to control its physical manifestation. This medicine is best in treating fast heart beats and limbs trembling.?Three major categories of medicines are used in treating anxiety disorders. They are antidepressants, anti anxiety medications and beta blockers. Doctors prefer antidepressants over the rest two as suitable treatment option due to its minimum side effect. In antidepressants sertraline and fluvoxamine are main medicines. Calculation of time plays pivotal role in the intake of these medicines. Actually the impact of antidepressants doesnâ’t last forever. They are effective for certain time period. Another important thing to be kept in consideration is that they must be taken under the strict supervision of doctor. Although beta blockers are medicines used to treat heart diseases they are effective in panic disorders due to their powerful impact in controlling physical manifestation of attacks and lessening extreme heart beating and trembling of limbs.

Treatment for anxiety involves a variety of factors. The first thing you need to do is to find out whether you need professional help. Anxiety and its symptom are felt by everyone at some stage of their lives. When these symptoms become so intense that you start avoiding situations and places, you need active support.Different factors of treatment for anxiety is available. Follow planned approach and search suitable professional help if you require it at the very first step. We counter some sort of anxiety or symptoms in our lives in one form or the other. You should be supported actively when such symptoms turn intense and you keep avoiding problematic situations.?Several factors are involved in treatment for anxiety. Your first and foremost step should be searching professionals who help you. We face anxiety or its symptom in our lives at one point or the other. Once these symptoms turn severe and the sufferer avoids different situations or places one needs to be supported actively.

Anxiety disorders respond to treatment in a short time. The exact type of treatment you receive will depend on the type of disorder you have and its severity. Usually, these disorders are treated with behavioral therapy, medications or both.It takes little time for anxiety disorder to respond to prescribed treatments. Doctors ensure that your treatment matches with the symptom type and the intensity of that disorder. Such disorders are treated through behavioral therapy, medications or appropriate combination of both.?Our bodies respond to anxiety disorder treatment in shorter time period. The type of symptom and its intensity are major factors of genuine treatment by doctors who imply behavioral therapy, medication or both in treating the critical anxiety symptoms.

The best treatment for anxiety is to have an expert evaluate your condition professionally. He can then recommend any one of the treatments or a combination of all as per your requirements.?You must do professional evaluation of your case for the best and effective treatment for anxiety. Professionals will guide you rather recommend you proper and suitable treatment or combination method if required.?Better evaluation is necessary in treating anxiety disorder which you do by taking help from professionals for treatment for anxiety. You are suggested better options to choose whether combination treatment or medication

Everyone is different when it comes to panic attack disorders.

The cause for one person may be completely different for another. No two cases are exactly alike. There are different treatment methods, including techniques that can be done at home.

If medication is the method that your doctor has decided to treat you with, you should be aware of the side effects that may occur. While the medication prescribed may have negative side effects it will have a set of benefits as well.

It is good to know what you may encounter before you begin taking any panic disorder medication.

Serotonin levels affect our mental state and the positive way that we feel. There are several medications that can be prescribed that boost serotonin levels. Some of these types of medications are Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil and Luvox. These have been known to reduce panic attacks by up to 85 percent. These are all pills that must be taken once a day.

As with any medication, allergic reactions are always a possibility. Rashes and swelling of the throat are symptoms that should not be ignored. Less serious side effects are dizziness, nausea, weight loss or gain and decreased sex drive.

A doctor should be contacted if symptoms of anxiety become worse with any medication.

Panic disorder medication that is used for the treatment of panic attacks does work. It can take up to eight weeks to feel the effects or as little as one week. You will start to notice that you can be in any situation without feeling scared that you are going to have an attack. Medication that is prescribed to aid in sleeping without having anxiety will work right away.

While most of the medicines prescribed for depression and anxiety will have side effects, they will normally be reduced in a couple of weeks.If panic disorder medication that is essential for you to function properly is discontinued you may have a difficult time coping. This should be done under the supervision of a doctor or psychotherapist so that they can help you with the transition.

It may take up to a year to begin feeling good without using medication. Realize that the road to living an anxiety free life will be a challenge that will be even more difficult without panic disorder medication.

There is hope, there is help, you just have to be willing to reach out and grab it.

More and more companies are presently resorting to formulation and delivery to ensure the success of current and new drug products for the Industry. This is due to a general increase in competing firms throughout the clinical research industry, where New Drug Entities have been discovered and the pressure to produce commercial drugs endure. For the progression and success of current drug products and medicines for the pharmaceutical industry, a vast amount of organisations focus on formulation and delivery. It is thought that the above has risen from an increasing amount of clinical research competitors, where new the needs of new commerciall drugs are on the up and where new drug entities continued to be revealed.

World Drug Delivery and Formulation 2010 is an event that is will be held this year for both scientific and business heads currently involved in formulation and development to deliberate the obstacles that they are currently facing.

Scientific and business professionals from the formulation & delivery fields will be able to converse upon industry specific topics, where visitors will have the ability to partake in the assembly of their main area of interest.

The Following topics will be discussed in various sessions:

- Small molecule formulation - enhancing solubility and bioavailability

- Biologic formulation - improving stability and preventing aggregation

- Drug delivery partnerships - evaluating the potential of new drug delivery technologies

The opportunity to attend these sessions and network with like-minded peers during this two day event will provide attendees with priceless information and facts relating to Drug delivery and formulation. The one-on-one meeting programme offers the chance to meet leading specialists and solution providers in drug formulation and delivery, which could provide valuable insight to business owners who are looking improving working processes back on site.

Drug development is increasingly being outsourced to contract providers as pharmaceutical companies are now focusing more and more on R&D and commercialisation.This has been going on for some time now and now CROs are even dealing with promising biotech companies who do not yet have the necessary facilities and this has in turn supplied more business opportunities to the ever-growing pharmaceutical outsourcing industry. For more information: http://www.ddfevent.com.

Medication labels can contain some of the most confusing information available today. Most people do not have a PhD, which makes reading these labels almost impossible. Once they are deciphered, usually with medication identification help, their uses can easily be forgotten. These problems compound as more and more medicines begin to fill the cabinet. Any one who is taking care of senior citizens can attest to the validity of this statement.

However, prescription help for seniors is just one of many age groups that a growing new product is intended to help. Newly developed medication stickers are designed to help people of any age take their medicine quickly and efficiently on a daily basis. It is a system which allows seniors to create their own custom medication labels.

These labels can then be applied to the medicine bottle or tube that it was created for. This allows the user to identify each product for its correct use each day without going through the hassle of reading the label. The labels can be customized by color, shape and medication use. Once they have been customized on the website they will be quickly created and mailed to the customer.

They can then be put into action, thus saving a great amount of time on a daily basis. Instead of spending a half hour figuring out which medicines need to be taken at a certain time, the customer can spend five minutes. This allows the extra 25 minutes to be spent in a much more productive manner than searching through a cabinet of medicine bottles for the exact one needed at that time.

Although modern medicines have many benefits for senior citizens in treatment of age-related disease, caution needs to be taken when using a combination of medicines. Medicine or “drugs” can refer to any substance you get with a prescription, any oral or topical substance used for pain relief, and dietary supplements. Any substance that has the potential to interact with other substances in the body can be considered in this category. To prevent mixing medicinal substances together that could be harmful, always let your doctor know what medications you take in addition to those prescribed. Senior citizens should keep a list of medications and doses that they take and bring it to every doctor’s appointment.

It is very important to practice safe habits with medication as many drugs can be lethal is taken in the wrong way. Senior citizens should use the following tips to ensure safe use of medication. Companions or caregivers should use these tips to help facilitate and encourage proper medication use.

Tips for when you are Prescribed Medications

When a doctor prescribes a new medication for specified symptoms, remember the following tips for how to proceed afterward:

• Tell your doctor about all other medications you currently take,
• Remind primary care physicians about allergies that you have or side effects that you experience from other types of medications.
• Be sure that you understand exactly how all of your medications work and how to properly take them.

Here are some helpful questions to get this information:

• What is the name of the medication?
• Why am I taking it?
• How many times a day should I take it?
• Should I take this medication before, during, or after meals?
• What does “as needed” mean?
• When should I stop taking the medication?
• If I forget to take the medication, what should I do?
• What side effects can I expect?

You can also ask your pharmacist these questions and others to get more information about your medication. By having all of your medications filled at the same pharmacy, the pharmacy may be able to predict harmful interactions if all of your medications are kept on file. When getting a prescription filled at the pharmacy, keep these tips in mind:

• Be sure that you can read and understand all directions and writing materials that accompany prescribed medication.
• Check that you can open the container the medicine is in.
• Let your pharmacist know if you have difficulty swallowing pills, so that you can get a liquid variety if available - Do not crush or chew medication meant to be swallowed.
• Ask about the best way to store the medication.
• Be sure that the label of the medication indicates that it is the correct medication you were prescribed and displays your name.

Tips for Taking Medications

After filling a prescription for a medication that you received from your doctor, you should be sure that you follow directions for taking that medication. Here are some tips for safely taking a combination of medications:

• Have a list of medications; include the doctor who prescribed it, the name of the medication, the reason you take it, and the directions for use.
• Read and save all written information that comes with prescribed medication
• Take your medication exactly in the way that it is meant to be taken.
• Let your doctor know immediately if you experience any unexpected side effects from the medication.
• Use charts, calendars, or weekly pillboxes to help you remember which medications to take on a daily basis.
• Make sure companions or caregivers know when and how you are supposed to take your medication so that they can remind you.
• Do not skip medication - if you have trouble affording medication, research programs that can aid in funding for needed medications. Medicare, a government program for senior citizens, may be a good place to start.
• Avoid mixing alcohol and medication - alcohol can cause medications to not work correctly.
• Take medication until it is finished or your doctor instructs you to stop.
• Do not take medication prescribed to others.
• Do not take medication in the dark to avoid making a mistake.
• Check expiration dates on your pill bottles in case a medication should be replaced.
• Do not leave your medication in the open where children or pets could get to them.

Spinal chord injury can be very serious, serious enough to render you a paraplegic. Obviously, you’ll want to avoid anything like that.

It has to be said that any spinal chord injury really should be treated professionally. It might be too hard, in serious cases, to treat yourself. But there is a homeopathic medicine that you can take which will repair damaged nerves from injury.

This medicine is called Hypericum. Depending when your injury occured will determine the strength (potency) of the medicine as well as the frequency of dose and duration of the healing period.

If you have sustained the injury recently, then the time period needed to resolve it will be much shorter than if you sustained the injury years ago.

Either way, you should notice a difference soon after you start taking it. The pain will be less intense. Maybe you’ll experience tingling or pins and needles, even a burning sensation, as the nerves start to work again.

This is a good sign, despite the pain! If in doubt, seek the services of a professional homeopath. They will be able to tell you if you are going towards a cure or away from it, by the signs and symptoms you experience.

Nerve pain (the spine is all about nerves as well as support) is one of the most intense pains there is. And it has a shooting quality about it. So if you experience a shooting sensation (like an electric shock) in any part of your spine, and it shoots away from the injured part.

Other symptoms include a stinging pain, a tingling, pins and needles, burning and/or numbness.

Even without these symptoms, Hypericum is one of the first medicines to use after any spinal chord injury, and may be one of the most important.

Female urinary incontinence is often misunderstood to be a disease. However, one should understand that it is just a symptom. This is a symptom which is caused largely by the daily habits of a person. It can be cured with the help of medicines. Once the doctor makes an evaluation of your body, they will be able to tell you the cause and the remedy for it. It is often told by doctors- It is not how much you drink but what you drink!

The causes of this symptom are discussed in brief below. Like mentioned above, what you drink makes a lot of difference.

-Alcohol- alcohol is a direct stimulant of the bladder which results in temporary Female urinary incontinence. A small change in the consumed quantity can relieve you.

-Extra hydration- taking in a lot of fluids in a very short period of time will increase the symptoms. This is due to the fact that the urine gets highly concentrated. This can also increase the salt content in the body which results in the worst situation of Female urinary incontinence.

-Coffee- like alcohol caffeine is also a bladder stimulant. It has similar effects on the body and causes a sudden and frequent requirement to urinate.

-Dehydration- while over hydration is one extreme, dehydration is another extreme. If there is not enough fluid in the body, the concentration of salts increase in the body which causes an irritated effect on the vaginal area when the urine is passed.

In order to diagnose your Female urinary incontinence, the doctor will first enquire about your family medical history and the symptoms which are prevailing at the present. Your pattern of urination will be the deciding factor. If you are not sure of the frequency at which the urination occurs, he might suggest you to maintain a record (diary). This recording may go up to a week. Apart from the urination, you will also have to keep a track of the liquid intake and any other conditions such as irritation, drug usage, surgeries done in the past, etc. Once this is known, a physical examination is done in order to check for any signs of the symptom. If it is found to be present, a series of tests are required to be done for the treatment to be planned according to the body reactions and condition. The tests undertaken are as follows:

-Bladder stress test

-Urine test

-Blood test

-Cystoscopy

-Ultra sound

The treatment for this symptom uses many kinds of drugs which have an effective reduction in the leakage intensity. The person is advised to have a balanced diet and should strictly watch his or her fluid intake. There are a few drugs which ease the urinary bladder and thus the frequency is reduced. The muscles are also made to function properly which gives the person the ability to have complete control over the bladder. However, these antibiotic drugs have side effects which may cause breast and cervical cancer in the long run.