Alcoholism is scientifically considered a disease and you should attempt to treat it as a medical condition. It doesn’t really matter if you have struggled with this addiction yourself or have seen someone you cared about try to deal with this; either way you know how hard it can be to conquer this addiction.

Alcoholism can be difficult to diagnose. It can take months and sometimes years for the actions, symptoms and effects of alcoholism to start causing irreversible problems in your life. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence created a quiz to help you determine whether you or someone you love has tendencies that match the tendencies of alcoholism:

Are you frequently unable to keep commitments you make to yourself about maintaining control over your drinking?

Do you have multiple work, school, family or financial problems due to your alcohol usage?

Do you find that you are intoxicated for several days in succession?

If you had to answer yes to any of the questions above, it is possible that you are abusing alcohol. It is completely understandable that accepting a diagnosis of alcoholism or being told that you have a drinking problem can cause you to feel absolutely overwhelmed. You don’t have to feel alone as you make your way through this dark time. Many of the individuals who suffering from alcohol abuse begin their journey to freedom in firm denial. If you are watching a loved one go through this don’t panic, as this is very common.

Another sign of alcoholism is when you start having lots of drinks and then justify to yourself why you had them. When you start being secretive about your consumption of alcohol, it can be a sign that you are struggling with keeping control of how much you drink.

If you are worried about a loved one suffering from the abuse of alcohol, try to see if they often struggle with hangovers, if their appearance has changed or if they are spending more time with the bottle than they used to in the past. If you feel comfortable, approach your dear one with sensitivity and compassion to initiate open channels of communication.

You can find out more information here.

Whether you are a paramedic, doctor, nurse, pharmacist or other health care professional, having the right training is an important part of being able to do your job. Of course, the type of training that is needed will vary depending on the type of health care field you are in. Your training will definitely take many different avenues, covering a wide variety of different types of situations; however, one area of concern that takes specialized training is the handling hazmat situations. If you are in a health care profession, you should know how to handle these emergency situations.

Why Choose a Hazmat Course

You never know what type of incident you are going to encounter in the course of your work, but with professional hazmat classes, by a professional team of experienced educators, you’ll be prepared for just about any type of threat, including patients who have been exposed to hazardous materials, nuclear incidents, biological agents, chemical spills, and radiological sources as well as toxic terrorism. Knowing how to handle these emergencies is crucial to the care of the patient as well as those providing medical treatment.

Hazmat Training is Important for all Health Care Professionals

Proper emergency response training is the key to helping a patient exposed to a hazmat situation. Whether it’s an overturned truck resulting in a chemical spill or it’s the result of biological terrorism, the right care and course of treatment are crucial. Many health care professionals may be the first contact after an emergency and as such, their knowledge and fast response can mean the difference between life and death. The right course of action can also mean helping to contain further contamination.

How to Choose a Hazmat Course Provider

When you’re looking for training classes for yourself or your team, choosing a provider that has a proven and well established course is important. You’ll find a variety of threats that are covered in this type of training, so make sure that the provider offers the courses you and your team need. You’ll find courses covering everything from chemical burns to exposure to dangerous goods.

Whether you sign up for an existing course, or you schedule a group course for your team or colleagues, the quality of training will depend on the expertise of those presenting the material. Always make sure that you choose a course that is offered by experts in their field.

When you think of a CT scan or any other type of image, you might think that the doctor has seen something bothersome on another type of test that has been done. That’s not always the case as there are times when the doctor simply wants to make sure that everything is alright with the body. At imaging centers in NJ, you can rest assured that you will receive the best care possible whether you have an MRI or a CT done. There are are few reasons why you might be asked to have a scan done, most that you can research to get an idea as to what the doctor is looking for with the test.

A reason why you might need a CT instead of an MRI is because you aren’t able to have the MRI done. The CT isn’t as sensitive to movement. This is ideal for those who can’t lay still for the length of time needed for the MRI. It’s also an option if you have devices or other hindrances that might making getting an MRI difficult, such as a pacemaker.

The CT is often used to examine the blood vessels. There are medications that can be given to see if there are any small tears in the blood vessels that an MRI might have difficulties in detecting. The scan will prevent unnecessary surgery from being performed. The scan is also useful if the doctor needs to look at smaller areas of the body or smaller bones in the body to see if there are any breaks or chips. The doctor can also look to see if there is any soft tissue damage as well. An MRI usually doesn’t pick up on these issues like a CT would do, giving the doctor a way to treat the condition that is present with medications or other medical tools so that you can begin healing. Some doctors will use a guided CT to help with surgery to see where the tools should go in the body, especially if there is a tumor that is difficult to reach.

Many people experience pain in their thumbs following accidents and sport injuries. If you’d like to tackle a variety of tasks without worry about excessive joint pain, you must fully understand the conditions that can build up tension in your thumbs. You’ll also need to learn how to deal with different symptoms whenever they occur.

Causes

Because each thumb is used a lot throughout various activities, tons of tension and stress generate around the carpometacarpal joint. This unique joint is attached to a metacarpal bone, which is a part that functions with the trapezium bone that’s found in the wrist. When the ligaments and tendons in this area are bruised, the pain will travel to the thumb.

Symptoms

If your thumb needs medication attention after you’ve sprained a joint or fractured a ligament, you’ll experience pain whenever you perform slight movements. An immediate treatment will be needed if you have a jammed thumb. This medical problem is dangerous and risky because the ligaments could become disabled whenever vital treatments are delayed.

No matter how your thumb was injured, there will be inflammation around the bruised joint. This inflammation creates different symptoms when objects are gripped. The most common symptoms are:

• Swelling
• Tenderness
• Stiffness

In some cases, these pain symptoms will occur while the thumb is at rest. When this happens, joint strength and range of motion could suffer throughout typical activities.

Treatments

A thumb that’s injured should be treated in a conservative manner. You can begin this process by keeping the joint relaxed for several hours. Throughout this recovery process, try to avoid any activities that can aggravate the joint in your thumb. Usually, when an injury isn’t major, the ligament will heal in about six to eight weeks.

Proper medications, ice packs, and cmo supplements can treat a thumb injury as well. When picking a medication, always select something that’s designed to reduce inflammation. Ice treatments are effective and worth considering because the low temperature reduces inflammation in a very soothing way.

When your thumb aches, you can eliminate the pain if you seek the best treatment method that suits the injury. Once the injury is healing, strategic steps must be followed during the recovery process to eliminate slight pain and discomfort.