Biomedical Instrumentation

Archive for July, 2009

Hypertension: The term hypertension refers to excess pressure in the arteries. Hypertension has a hereditary component; it runs in families. Learn your own family’s characteristics in this respect. People who are middle aged or elderly, black, obese, heavy drinkers, users of oral contraceptives, or suffering from kidney disease or diabetes are especially prone to hypertension. The most effective single step you can take to protect yourself from CVD is to know your blood pressure or at least to know whether it is above normal or not.

You can see a health care professional to get an accurate blood pressure reading; self test machines often give inaccurate readings. If your blood pressure is above normal, the reading should be confirmed. Depending on how high it is, and on your age, physical state, and family history, different treatments are appropriate. To understand how the blood pressure can rise too high, consider how the body works to raise it when it falls too low.

Smoking: The link between smoking and lung diseases is easy to visualize-hot smoke drawn into the lungs damages the delicate tissues. But the link between smoke in the lungs and disease in the arteries of the heart seems remote until you consider how the damage occurs. The heart and the lungs are both working together on the same unending project supplying the entire body with ample oxygen so that it can produce energy to do life’s work. When tobacco smoke enters the lungs, it delivers to the blood a load of nicotine, a stimulant that triggers the stress response. This raises the blood pressure and an increase the heart rate, and it is greatly increases the heart’s need for oxygen.

At the same time, carbon monoxide from the smoke is mistaken picked up by the blood, because it closely resembles oxygen- but instead of providing oxygen to the tissues, the carbon monoxide continues to ride the blood, starving the tissues. Smoking thus increases the demand for heart activity, partly from the stress effect and partly from the oxygen-starved tissues, while starving the heart muscle of the oxygen it needs to support its work. My dear friends! I am sure this article will enhance your knowledge regarding hypertension and smoking.

Pharmacotherapy: It is the use of medications to foster relief from mental illness such as depression. Antidepressant medications are place into four categories: selection serotonin reuptake inhibitors, tri-cyclic antidepressants, a typical antidepressants, and monoamine oxidize inhibitors. Antidepressant medications are usually considered, in conjunction with psychotherapy, when there is a moderate-to-serve form of depression. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the most commonly prescribed antidepressant medications currently on the market. They are better tolerated, have less dramatic side effects, and are safer in overdose than older medications. The most commonly prescribed SSRIs include Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft. Monoamine oxidize inhibitors are generally no longer considered for used due to their dangerous side effects and difficulty of administration.

Electroconvulsive therapy: It is the use of electrically induced repetitive firings of the neurons in the central nervous system in order to bring about improvements in depression. It is usually not a first line of treatment. Electroconvulsive therapy is recommended when the depressive symptoms are severe; when there are psychotic features due to depression , as a rapid response to strong suicidal potential, during a physical condition; or when there is intolerable suffering. It may also be used when alternative therapies are riskier, such as tolerable side effects to medications, or when antidepressant medications prove to be unhelpful.

Light therapy: It is used to treat a depressive condition known as seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder involves a pattern of Major Depressive Episodes at specific times of the year, most commonly in fall or winter. Light therapy is controlled exposure to specific levels of light in order to create relief from an evident seasonal pattern of depression. It involves lamps with specific light frequencies designed to treat the condition effectively. It is important to monitor for signs of a deteriorating condition throughout the treatment, suggesting the need for hospitalization. Signs may include a high potential for suicide, severe psychotic features, inability to eat or sleep for long periods or posing a threat to others. My dear friends! I am sure this article will enhance your knowledge regarding pharmacotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy and light therapy.

Stress test or exercise electrocardiography is used when the diagnosis of coronary arterial disease is suspected or to determine the physical performance characteristics of a patient. The test involves the recording of the electrocardiogram during dynamic or occasionally isometric exercise. The diagnostic value of exercise testing primarily concerns either depression or elevation of the ST segment present in myocardial ischemia. Dynamic exercise is performed by the patient who walks on a treadmill on which the speed and elevation can be adjusted, manually or automatically, to suit a variety of graded exercise protocols. Alternatively, the patient may be asked to pedal an electrically braked bicycle ergo meter. Both the treadmill and ergo meter can be used as stand –alone devices for testing physical fitness. Advanced ergo meters and treadmills can store and display activity data, transfer it to a PC and download patient data from the PC.

Treadmill test: There are two basic kinds of exercise protocols used in treadmill tests. The Balk-ware Protocol uses a constant speed of 3.3 miles/ hour, with progressive increments in the load every 2 minutes. This is achieved by increasing the grade or incline of the motor-driven treadmill. The exercising subject therefore walks up hill and his own body weight serves as the load. The Bruce Protocol uses simultaneous increments in both speed and tread mill grade at intervals of 3 minutes. Both the protocols are satisfactory for most clinical purposes. However, they may have to be modified to suit the condition of the individual bring subjected to exercise testing.

Bicycle test: In this test, the speed is usually kept constant and incremental resistance is applied either mechanically or electrically. The work load can be precisely measured in terms of kilograms per meter per minute. Physiological measurements are more easily obtained with the subject comfortable seated and the torso relatively immobile. I am sure this article will enhance your knowledge regarding the exercise stress testing.