Click here to order complete MediFocus Guides for Orthopedics Section
CONTACT INFO:
WILLA F. ALLEN
faith640@peoplepc.com
MediFocus MedCenter ©
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome(RT001)
Introduction
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is caused by compression of the median nerve where it passes through the bones in the wrist (the carpal tunnel). While repetitive motion is the most commonly considered cause of CTS there are other disorders and situations that can cause symptoms.
CTS is considered to be the most common peripheral nerve entrapment neuropathy (disorder of the nerve caused by constriction or mechanical distortion). It was initially described in 1880 and occurs in 99 out of 100,000 persons. Eighty-two percent of persons affected are over age 40, and 65-75% of cases is seen in women. However, there seems to be an increasing incidence among young workers of both sexes who experience symptoms during the course of repetitive manual labor.
CTS can cause a great deal of discomfort and disability if not treated early.
Treatment of CTS consists of medication, splinting, alterations in work habits, and often, surgery.
Get the Facts... With Your MediFocus Guide
This Medifocus Guide on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:
What are the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome?What are the risk factors for developing the disorder?What medical testing is used to establish the diagnosis?What is the current standard of care for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome?What treatment options are available for management of carpal tunnel syndrome?Are there any promising new developments or potential breakthroughs in treatment?Who are the most notable medical authorities who specialize in carpal tunnel syndrome?Where are the leading hospitals and centers of research for carpal tunnel syndrome?What are the most important questions to ask my doctor about carpal tunnel syndrome?What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Surgical treatment of common entrapment neuropathies in the upper limbs.Muscle & Nerve. 2000 Does this patient have carpal tunnel syndrome?.JAMA. 2000 Interventions for the primary prevention of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome.American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2000 Neurologic disorders masquerading as carpal tunnel syndrome: 12 cases of failed carpal tunnel release.Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2000 Upper extremity disorders in women.Clinical Orthopaedics & Related Research. 2000 MR nerve imaging of the wrist and hand.Hand Clinics. 2000 Clinical evaluation and management of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome.American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2000 The carpal tunnel syndrome.Journal of Emergency Medicine. 1999 Carpal tunnel syndrome: is it work-related?.Hospital Practice (Office Edition). 1999 Clinical management of carpal tunnel syndrome: a 12-year review of outcomes.American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 1999 MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information
MediFocus.com understands that consumers who are facing serious medical issues need access to credible, up-to-date medical information to help them make informed health-care decisions. That's why we've developed the MediFocus Guides...the most advanced and trustworthy patient research guides for over 200 chronic and life-threatening conditions. Each MediFocus Guide includes a detailed overview of the condition including information about diagnosis, treatment options, cutting-edge research, and new developments; excerpts of important journal articles from the current medical literature focusing on standard treatments and treatment options; a directory of leading authors and medical institutions who specialize in the treatment of the condition; and a listing of organizations and support groups where you can obtain additional information about the illness.
MediFocus Guides are the perfect solution for consumers who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of their medical issue and avail themselves of the same type of professional level medical information that is used by physicians and other health-care professionals to help then in the clinical decision making process.
© Copyright 2000-2001 Medifocus.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
MediFocus MedCenter ©
Osteoporosis(RT010)
Introduction
Bones with osteoporosis become porous because of deterioration of the bone tissue, which leads to bone fragility and increase in fracture risk. There are two types of osteoporosis. Type I occurs predominantly in women within 15-20 years after menopause and estrogen deficiency plays a predominant role. Type II occurs in men and women over the age of 70 (women twice as frequently as men) and estrogen deficiency plays a far less predominant role.
Eighty percent of persons with osteoporosis are women. This disease affects 8 million (30-40% of all) women in the US. One in two women over the age of 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime. Osteoporosis also affects 2 million (5-15% of) men. One in eight men will eventually experience an osteoporosis-related fracture.
Osteoporosis is responsible for more than 1.5 million fractures every year, including 700,00 vertebral fractures; 300,000 hip fractures; 250,000 wrist fractures; and 300,000 fractures at other sites.
There is currently no cure for osteoporosis. The best treatment available for osteoporosis is prevention. The goals of therapy are to slow the progression of the disease once it has started, and to minimize the risks of complications that may cause pain and reduction in function. The current core therapies include calcium supplementation and regular weight-bearing exercise. Drugs used to treat osteoporosis fall into two categories: those that slow or inhibit bone resorption and those that accelerate bone formation.
Get the Facts... With your MediFocus Guide
The Medifocus Guide on Osteoporosis provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:
What are the most common symptoms of osteoporosis?Are there any recognized risk factors for developing osteoporosis?What kinds of medical tests are used to establish the diagnosis of osteoporosis?What is the current standard of care for the treatment of osteoporosis?What treatment options are available for the management of osteoporosis?Are there any promising new developments or potential breakthroughs in treatment?Who are the most notable medical authorities who specialize in osteoporosis?Where are the leading hospitals and centers of research for osteoporosis?What are the most important questions to ask my doctor about osteoporosis?What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Therapeutic approaches to bone diseases.Science. 2000 Orthopaedic surgery in the elderly.Hospital Medicine (London). 2000 Primary osteoporosis in men: role of sex steroid deficiency.Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2000 Raloxifene. Not better than estrogen.Canadian Family Physician. 2000 Dietary considerations to prevent loss of bone and renal function.Nutrition. 2000 Osteoporosis prevention, detection, and treatment. A mandate for primary care physicians.Postgraduate Medicine. 2000 Inhaled corticosteroids: 2. Systemic toxicity.Hospital Practice (Office Edition). 2000 Hypervitaminosis A and bone.Nutrition Reviews. 2000 Obesity, brain and gonadal functions, and osteoporosis.Journal of the American Dental Association. 2000 Carcinoma of the breast and hormone replacement therapy for osteoporosis.International Journal of Clinical Practice. 2000 MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information
MediFocus.com understands that consumers who are facing serious medical issues need access to credible, up-to-date medical information to help them make informed health-care decisions. That's why we've developed the MediFocus Guides...the most advanced and trustworthy patient research guides for over 200 chronic and life-threatening conditions. Each MediFocus Guide includes a detailed overview of the condition including information about diagnosis, treatment options, cutting-edge research, and new developments; excerpts of important journal articles from the current medical literature focusing on standard treatments and treatment options; a directory of leading authors and medical institutions who specialize in the treatment of the condition; and a listing of organizations and support groups where you can obtain additional information about the illness.
MediFocus Guides are the perfect solution for consumers who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of their medical issue and avail themselves of the same type of professional level medical information that is used by physicians and other health-care professionals to help then in the clinical decision making process.
© Copyright 2000-2001 Medifocus.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
MediFocus MedCenter ©
Spondylolisthesis(RT015)
Introduction
Spondylolysis is the degeneration or deficient development of the articulating part of the vertebrae. It occurs in 6% of the general population and occurs only in persons who are able to stand upright and walk, which is thought to be a causative factor. The condition is virtually nonexistent among newborns, but exists in 5% of 6 year olds. Spondylolysis is more common in persons who participate is sports such as diving, weight lifting, wrestling and gymnastics - activities that require repetitive hyperextension.
In combination with other factors, spondylolysis may permit forward slippage of one vertebra on the one below, producing a spondylolisthesis. This occurs most commonly at the last lumbar vertebra (L5) causing it to slip on the first sacral vertebra (S1).
Many young persons with spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis may have no symptoms. Persons often develop symptoms during the preadolescent growth spurt. Magnitude of symptoms does not always correlate with the severity of slip.
Many persons require no treatment for the condition. Persons with spondylolysis or low-grade spondylolisthesis may be managed conservatively without surgery. Skeletally immature persons with slippage greater that 30-50% are at increased risk for progression and are considered candidates for spinal fusion without delay.
Get the Facts... With your MediFocus Guide
The Medifocus Guide on Spondylolisthesis provides answers to the following important questions and medical issues:
What are the most common symptoms of spondylolisthesis?Are there any recognized risk factors for developing spondylolisthesis?What kinds of medical tests are used to establish the diagnosis of spondylolisthesis?What is the current standard of care for the treatment of spondylolisthesis?What treatment options are available for the management of spondylolisthesis?Are there any promising new developments or potential breakthroughs in treatment?Who are the most notable medical authorities who specialize in spondylolisthesis?Where are the leading hospitals and centers of research for spondylolisthesis?What are the most important questions to ask my doctor about spondylolisthesis?What Your Doctor Reads:
This MediFocus Guide contains an extensive listing of citations and abstracts of recent journal articles that have been published about this condition in trustworthy medical journals. This is the same type of information that is available to physicians and other health care professionals. A partial selection of journal articles that are abstracted in this MediFocus Guide includes:
Iatrogenic spondylolysis leading to contralateral pedicular stress fracture and unstable spondylolisthesis: a case report.Spine. 2000 Management of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis in the pediatric and adolescent population.Orthopedic Clinics of North America. 1999 Management of degenerative disc disease above an L5-S1 segment requiring arthrodesis.Spine. 1999 Spondylolisthesis in children. Cause, natural history, and management.Spine. 1999 Conditions of the spine.Adolescent Medicine. 1998 Complications in spinal fusion.Orthopedic Clinics of North America. 1998 The role of surgery in the management of low back pain.Baillieres Clinical Rheumatology. 1998 Is there increased intervertebral mobility in isthmic adult spondylolisthesis? A matched comparative study using roentgen stereophotogrammetry.Spine. 2000 Traumatic spondylolisthesis of the axis: treatment rationale based on the stability of the different fracture types.European Spine Journal. 2000 Sagittal plane configuration of the sacrum in spondylolisthesis.Spine. 2000 MediFocus Guides... When You Need Trustworthy Medical Information
MediFocus.com understands that consumers who are facing serious medical issues need access to credible, up-to-date medical information to help them make informed health-care decisions. That's why we've developed the MediFocus Guides...the most advanced and trustworthy patient research guides for over 200 chronic and life-threatening conditions. Each MediFocus Guide includes a detailed overview of the condition including information about diagnosis, treatment options, cutting-edge research, and new developments; excerpts of important journal articles from the current medical literature focusing on standard treatments and treatment options; a directory of leading authors and medical institutions who specialize in the treatment of the condition; and a listing of organizations and support groups where you can obtain additional information about the illness.
MediFocus Guides are the perfect solution for consumers who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of their medical issue and avail themselves of the same type of professional level medical information that is used by physicians and other health-care professionals to help then in the clinical decision making process.
© Copyright 2000-2001 Medifocus.com, Inc. All rights reserved.