How do we diagnose fibromyalgia
People with Fibromyalgia have you had a hip replacement?
Please let us know at the poll below.
Please feel free to share your story here at FibromyalgiaTalk
People with Fibromyalgia have you had a hip replacement?
hip replacements
Cast Life – A Parent’s Guide to DDH – a post from Natalie Trice
Cast Life – A Parent’s Guide to DDH was launched in October and I hope it will offer a vital lifeline to parents with children suffering from Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH).
Cast Life – A Parent’s Guide to DDH Natalie Trice
DDH occurs when the ball and socket of the hip joint do not fit snugly together and whilst it affects between one and three children in every thousand, information and support is shockingly poor leaving parents feeling confused about what happens next.
Inspired by her son who was diagnosed at four months, the author, Natalie Trice, knows all too well that whilst DDH is not life threatening, it certainly is life changing.
Natalie passionately believes that there needs to be more awareness of DDH, which if left untreated, can lead to long term disability, hip replacements and life long pain.
Cast Life is a comprehensive book that covers everything from easy to understand explanations about the condition and the treatments involved to the products available to make life easier for children in casts. It also looks at family life, dealing with emotions as well including first person stories and parent comments.
Professor N. M. P. Clarke ChM, DM, FRCS Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, who wrote the foreword for Cast Life, commented, ““DDH is one of the most common congenital abnormalities and it is remarkable that there is so little information out there. This book is essential reading for the parents of children with the condition, as well as health professionals working with them, and I would love to see it in all clinics around the world.”
Natalie added, “When a child is diagnosed with any illness, the parents often feel overwhelmed and want know as much about the condition as possible. When Lucas was diagnosed with DDH I was terrified and my initial search for information threw up horrific images and worst-case scenarios that simply compounded my fear.
“With Lucas facing more surgery this autumn, I am really pleased to have done something to help others as I know how hard the waiting and recovery periods are. Cast Life isn’t loaded with medical jargon, but it gives the reader the knowledge and facts they need to get to grips with DDH so they regain a little bit of control and power in what can be a tough situation.”
Cast Life is available on Amazon in the UK and US and Natalie has also set up Spica Warrior a charity offering information about DDH, 10% of the royalties will be going to this cause, and blogs about the condition at Just because I love
Cast Life can be purchased here.
Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) – what it is and why you need to know about it.
Anti-microbial resistance
As a medical blogger and ex–healthcare researcher I have to spend a certain amount of time most days keeping up with trends in the area of medicine and wellness.
A lot of the time I ignore what I’m reading because of its over-sensationalist content which I think does not really improve anybody’s chance of better health if they are being terrified all the time.
But on this occasion I have been reading about a trend which I think it will be of value to share with my readers. In this case it is anti-microbial resistance or AMR. And it could well be a common part of our discussions about health in the years to come.
Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is also referred to as drug resistance but that is not quite an accurate description in my view. It could be, perhaps, better explained by saying that certain types of bacteria are developing resistance to antibiotics.
As a side (well actually very relevant) issue this is not just about anti-biotics used by humans but also those used on animals as part of the agricultural process.
So what then is the problem? Well, according to Margaret Chan, chief of the World Health Organisation (WHO), it could put back medical advances by 80 years because those infections that could once have been fought by anti-biotics will now not be treatable. This could affect operations such as hip replacements through to an increased risk of tuberculosis.
Not just that – there has been the rise of the super bugs which we covered in a previous blog on MRSA here – https://patienttalk.org/mrsa-infections-are-you-concerned-about-mrsa-in-hospitals-and-the-community-what-is-your-experience-with-mrsa/
So what can be done? This seems to me the million dollar (plus) question. And information does seem to be a bit confusing.
One doctor I spoke to a few weeks ago said that it was a question of everyone learning to complete their course of anti-biotics. On the other hand some have argued that it is our over-prescription of anti-biotics that causes the problem.
Another view holds that this is the very nature of medicine and different products outliving their usefulness if simply part of life. So maybe we just need a new generation of drugs.
But what may happen is rather more impressive. The next wave of drugs may go into the DNA of different bacteria and prevent them from becoming resistant to our medications.
Now wouldn’t that be brilliant!