As Editors-in-Chief of Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal (KM&EL), we are very pleased to announce the release of the special issue "E-Health: Accessing Knowledge for Global Health". Please see below for a detailed description of the contents.
A FREE copy of this Issue can be downloaded at Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An Int. Journal (KM&EL)
http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication
KM&EL Lab
http://kmel-lab.org/website/index.html
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The contents of the special issue
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Editorial: E-Health: Accessing Knowledge for Global Health
By Patricia Abbott
The Relevance of Telehealth across the Digital Divide: The transfer of knowledge over distance
By Ton AM Spil, Roel W Schuring, Margreet B Michel-Verkerke, Reuben Mugisha, Peter JB Lagendijk
Knowledge Networking for Family Planning: The Potential for Virtual Communities of Practice to Move Forward the Global Reproductive Health Agenda
By Megan O'Brien, Catherine Richey
Developing Nursing and Midwifery Communities of Practice for Making Pregnancy Safer
By Jody Rae Lori, Debbie Diaz Ortiz, Sandra Oyarzo, Patricia Abbott, Sandra Land
Managing knowledge across boundaries in healthcare when innovation is desired
By Mats Edenius, Christina Keller, Staffan Lindblad
The use of synchronous video-conference teaching to increase access to specialist nurse education in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
By Jennifer Chipps
Learning AIDS in Singapore: Examining the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS efficacy messages for adolescents using ICTs
By Arul Indrasen Chib, May O. Lwin, Zhuomin Lee, Victoria W. Ng, Priscilla H. P. Wong
Development of an online sleep diary for physician and patient use
By Jacqueline Blake, Don Kerr
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Forthcoming Issue Vol.2, No.3, Sep 2010
Special Issue on "Advanced Learning and Performance Technologies, Open Contents, and Standards" - Best Papers Selected from the Conference ICCE C3 2009
Table of Contents
Editoral: Advanced Learning and Performance Technologies, Open Contents, and Standards
By Kiyoshi Nakabayashi, Fanny Klett (IEEE Fellow), Stephen J.H. Yang
Automatic Generation System of Multiple-choice Cloze Questions and its Evaluation
By Takuya GOTO, Tomoko KOJIRI, Toyohide WATANABE, Tomoharu IWATA, Takeshi YAMADA
The Effects of Blended Instruction on Oral Reading Performance and their Relationships to Five-Factor Model of Personality
By Noritake Fujishiro, Isao Miyaji
Design and Implementation of Extensible Learner-adaptive Environment
By Kiyoshi Nakabayashi, Yosuke Morimoto, Yoshiaki Hada
Specifying Cases for TEL in an SME
By Vladan Devedžić, Sonja Radenković, Jelena Jovanović, Viktor Pocajt
The Design of a Sustainable Competency-Based Human Resources Management : A Holistic Approach
By Fanny Klett (IEEE Fellow)
Building Virtual Collaborative Research Community Using Knowledge Management Approach
By Ju-Ling Shih, Jussi Nuutinen, Gwo-Jen Hwang, Nian-Shing Chen
Situational Language Teaching in Ubiquitous Learning Environments
By Angus F.M. Huang, Stephen J.H. Yang, Gwo-Jen Hwang, Chin-Chung Tsai
Understanding Retailers' Acceptance of Virtual Stores
By Irene Y.L. Chen
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Call for Papers:
http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/announcement
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Editors-in-Chief
Maggie M. Wang (magwang at hku.hk)
Stephen Yang (jhyang at csie.ncu.edu.tw)
Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal (KM&EL)
http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication
My source: GANM (Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery) list
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sciatica & Causes of Sciatica
Sciatica is a set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression and/or irritation of one of five nerve roots that give rise to the sciatic nerve, or by compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve itself.The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, and/or various parts of the leg and foot.
In addition to pain, which is sometimes severe, there may be numbness, muscular weakness, and difficulty in moving or controlling the leg.
Typically, the symptoms are only felt on one side of the body.
May be there are many causes of Sciatica,but I want to share main Four Causes of Sciatica.
(1) Piriformis Syndrome :-
This is the common cause of sciatic pain and is created when pressure is placed on the sciatic nerve by the piriformis muscle.
Muscle imbalances pull the hip joints and pelvis out of place and this changes the positioning of the piriformis muscle, which then places pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Whatever the case, muscle imbalances will cause major problems and are the underlying cause of piriformis syndrome.
(2) Herniated Discs :-
Pressure caused by a herniated or bulging disc.
A herniation is when a disc protrudes out from between the vertebrae and this can either be caused by an event like a car accident, or, by months or years of uneven pressure due to muscle imbalances.
This can sometimes cause sciatic pain, but it is also important to note that many people with herniated discs don't even experience pain or symptoms, and many don't know they have the condition.
(3) Spinal Stenosis :-
Pressure caused by spinal stenosis, which is a decrease in the space between the vertebrae. This is primarily caused by uneven pressure and compression due to muscle imbalances.
(4) Isthmic Spondylolisthesis :-
Pressure caused by Isthmic spondylolisthesis which is simply when a vertebrae slips or moves. This can sometimes pinch the sciatic nerve but often times people who have this condition don't have any sciatic pain, symptoms, or even know they have it!
As you can see, there is a trend here, in nearly every case of sciatica, muscle imbalances are the primary cause of the pressure being placed on the sciatic nerve.
If you are not sure which one of the four is causing your sciatica, I recommend you start with the basics. Most cases of sciatic pain are caused by muscle imbalances so if you begin to work on correcting any muscle imbalances you have, you should start to see improvement right away, and likely eliminate your sciatic pain in a few weeks or less!
Sciatica comes about either due to a traumatic event, muscle imbalances, or a combination of both. The event scenario is most likely the catalyst for sudden onset of sciatic pain. So what happens? When there is undue stress on the Piriformis muscle that stress causes it to go into spasm and then you have pain due to the Piriformis muscle putting pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Yoga Benefits
(1) Our Breathing Capacity :-
Yoga is one of the best activity in exercise terms to increase our breathing capacity.Yoga focuses on the complete breathing.
We focus on the inhalation but fail to ever completely exhale. Without completing the exhale breathing is not complete.
Yoga provides opportunities to send oxygen to all the body breath capacity is enlarged.
Instead of just the rib cage enjoying the gentle inhale and exhale breath is sent to the diaphragm, the inter costals and the clavicle.
As oxygen allows the lungs to expand in a full three dimensional fashion muscle tension and joint compression is released allowing the body to find comfort in better alignment.
(2) For Holistic Health :-
Yoga focuses on the mind, body and spirit as one.
Our Today’s busy schedules and deadlines to meet our minds are working over time leaving little thought to the rest of our holistic self.
If there is a holistic imbalance eventually it will manifest itself through emotional trauma, physical injury or chronic problems.
Yoga provides opportunities that encourage people to focus on the moment.
When performing a yoga pose one is focused on the spatial pulls and the dynamic forces throughout their body, this focus while maintaining their breathing which supports their movement and add stability.
By taking the time to focus on bringing the mind, body and spirit together one will be energized and have an increased awareness of their abilities and potential in the world.
(3) Flexibility :-
Sitting on chairs, in a car, on the coach, at a computer desk or at a table leave some muscles are in a permanent state of flexion.
This presents issues of muscular tightness and tension which lessens the flexibility of the joints.
Increased flexibility really can improves a persons overall health by decreasing joint discomfort, by preventing immobility in later years and it provides greater efficiency to do everyday and exercise movements.
(4) Improvement in Many Important Factor of our Healthy Life Like,
Sleep,Alignment & Posture,Steadiness & Balance,Social Adjustments,Attention,Self-acceptance,Well Being.
(5) With the Help of Yoga,we can also increase Energy & Endurance & It is helpful in Weight Normalization.
(6) Heal Injuries :-
The increased agility and strength that you get from a regular Yoga practice can help you heal old injuries and can even help you prevent new ones.
Many people that suffer from pain caused by old injuries and have a hard time finding exercises that they can comfortably do find that Yoga is something they can do easily and without pain.
If you have had past injuries that make exercising difficult or painful try Yoga.
(7) For active athlete :-
If you are an active athlete in another sport, or if you want to be, then the stretching and strength training aspects of Yoga can help you become a better overall athlete. Many of the top athletes in the world practice Yoga to help them perform better in their chosen sport.
(8) After Pregnancy :-
If you've recently had a baby, lost a lot of weight, or have had another event in your life that drastically altered your body starting a regular Yoga practice that focuses on strength and agility can help you re-shape your body and create the type of body that you want.
(9) Stress :-
If you have a high stress job or if you're trying to balance a family and a career and you have a lot of stress in your life you're at risk for developing serious stress-related illnesses. Doing Yoga on a regular basis can help you mange your stress and reduce your risk of illness and feel better.
Yoga is one of the best activity in exercise terms to increase our breathing capacity.Yoga focuses on the complete breathing.
We focus on the inhalation but fail to ever completely exhale. Without completing the exhale breathing is not complete.
Yoga provides opportunities to send oxygen to all the body breath capacity is enlarged.
Instead of just the rib cage enjoying the gentle inhale and exhale breath is sent to the diaphragm, the inter costals and the clavicle.
As oxygen allows the lungs to expand in a full three dimensional fashion muscle tension and joint compression is released allowing the body to find comfort in better alignment.
(2) For Holistic Health :-
Yoga focuses on the mind, body and spirit as one.
Our Today’s busy schedules and deadlines to meet our minds are working over time leaving little thought to the rest of our holistic self.
If there is a holistic imbalance eventually it will manifest itself through emotional trauma, physical injury or chronic problems.
Yoga provides opportunities that encourage people to focus on the moment.
When performing a yoga pose one is focused on the spatial pulls and the dynamic forces throughout their body, this focus while maintaining their breathing which supports their movement and add stability.
By taking the time to focus on bringing the mind, body and spirit together one will be energized and have an increased awareness of their abilities and potential in the world.
(3) Flexibility :-
Sitting on chairs, in a car, on the coach, at a computer desk or at a table leave some muscles are in a permanent state of flexion.
This presents issues of muscular tightness and tension which lessens the flexibility of the joints.
Increased flexibility really can improves a persons overall health by decreasing joint discomfort, by preventing immobility in later years and it provides greater efficiency to do everyday and exercise movements.
(4) Improvement in Many Important Factor of our Healthy Life Like,
Sleep,Alignment & Posture,Steadiness & Balance,Social Adjustments,Attention,Self-acceptance,Well Being.
(5) With the Help of Yoga,we can also increase Energy & Endurance & It is helpful in Weight Normalization.
(6) Heal Injuries :-The increased agility and strength that you get from a regular Yoga practice can help you heal old injuries and can even help you prevent new ones.
Many people that suffer from pain caused by old injuries and have a hard time finding exercises that they can comfortably do find that Yoga is something they can do easily and without pain.
If you have had past injuries that make exercising difficult or painful try Yoga.
(7) For active athlete :-
If you are an active athlete in another sport, or if you want to be, then the stretching and strength training aspects of Yoga can help you become a better overall athlete. Many of the top athletes in the world practice Yoga to help them perform better in their chosen sport.
(8) After Pregnancy :-
If you've recently had a baby, lost a lot of weight, or have had another event in your life that drastically altered your body starting a regular Yoga practice that focuses on strength and agility can help you re-shape your body and create the type of body that you want.
(9) Stress :-
If you have a high stress job or if you're trying to balance a family and a career and you have a lot of stress in your life you're at risk for developing serious stress-related illnesses. Doing Yoga on a regular basis can help you mange your stress and reduce your risk of illness and feel better.
Pink Eye Symptoms- Home Remedies for Pink Eye
Pink eye, also called conjunctivitis, is a common problems caused by several different factors.
Pink eye may occur due to of stress, chemical, air pollution and bacteria or viral infection.
Pink eye are infected by bacteria are very easy to spread in public, infectious patient should wear sun glasses to protect your eyes.
Some of pink eye symptoms are following:-
(1) Feeling that there is something in your eye
(2) Itchiness, irritation or swollen eyelids in the eye and eyelids
(3) A slight stinging pain and water discharge
(4) Sensitivity to light
Frequent eye lid flanking and blurring vision.
The most affected home remedy for pink eye:-
(1) Eye baths are a most common home remedy for pink eye. Your eye are very importance, you have to take good care of them.
Before touch your eye make sure wash your hand well, and using fresh eye bath solution and fresh clean tools to apply it every time, since the bacteria that cause pink eye breeds quickly and are extremely contagious.
Eye washes containing a teaspoon of baking soda to a cup of water (be sure that you using extremely clean water).
(2) Colloidal silver has been used as eye drops with the properties of natural antibiotic for over a century.
(3) Brewing the tea bag, let it cool, and then put over your eye. Tea can help to fight off infection and reduce inflammation.
(4) Using a few drops of chamomile, lavender, or rose oil on a warm cloth and apply the cloth to the eyes until it cools. This is good home remedy for pink eye.
(5) One drop of Castor oil three times per day in the eye. This used as eye drops.
(6) Consuming cucumber, tofu, eggs, clams, and water chestnuts. These foods have many benefits for your eyes.
(7) Make sure using warm moisture cloth for watering of eyes discharge.
(8) Over counter medicines such as eye drops are affected.
Using honey as eye drops. Honey has properties for anti-bacterial.
Pink eye may occur due to of stress, chemical, air pollution and bacteria or viral infection.
Pink eye are infected by bacteria are very easy to spread in public, infectious patient should wear sun glasses to protect your eyes.
Some of pink eye symptoms are following:-
(1) Feeling that there is something in your eye
(2) Itchiness, irritation or swollen eyelids in the eye and eyelids
(3) A slight stinging pain and water discharge
(4) Sensitivity to light
Frequent eye lid flanking and blurring vision.
The most affected home remedy for pink eye:-
(1) Eye baths are a most common home remedy for pink eye. Your eye are very importance, you have to take good care of them.
Before touch your eye make sure wash your hand well, and using fresh eye bath solution and fresh clean tools to apply it every time, since the bacteria that cause pink eye breeds quickly and are extremely contagious.
Eye washes containing a teaspoon of baking soda to a cup of water (be sure that you using extremely clean water).
(2) Colloidal silver has been used as eye drops with the properties of natural antibiotic for over a century.
(3) Brewing the tea bag, let it cool, and then put over your eye. Tea can help to fight off infection and reduce inflammation.
(4) Using a few drops of chamomile, lavender, or rose oil on a warm cloth and apply the cloth to the eyes until it cools. This is good home remedy for pink eye.
(5) One drop of Castor oil three times per day in the eye. This used as eye drops.
(6) Consuming cucumber, tofu, eggs, clams, and water chestnuts. These foods have many benefits for your eyes.
(7) Make sure using warm moisture cloth for watering of eyes discharge.
(8) Over counter medicines such as eye drops are affected.
Using honey as eye drops. Honey has properties for anti-bacterial.
Heart Disease Preventing Talks & Ideas
Heart disease is the number one cause of death.
It is never too late to begin living healthy, but the sooner a person begins, the better.
Healthy living does not demand anything that is intensive, unconventional or painful.
All it calls for is moderation.A little bit of knowledge and good sense goes a long way.
If we have to get Healthy Heart & One Healthy Life Style then we should follow some common but very useful for our Heart-One most important part of our body.
(1) First of all everyday we have to mark what we eat today.Consume a good meal of fruit and vegetables.
An excitable formula to check you're eating an assortment of nutrients is to keep meals colourful.
Colors will cover some of the important stable amount of nutrients from food.
(2) Very Common & Dangerous Bad Habit-SMOKING :-
It is long-known that smoking and second-hand smoke are dangerous, but most importantly smoking in front of your children could jeopardise their health.
Your children future habits could also depend on your present habits, and smoking could become ingrained in their subconscious mind.
It has been demonstrated that children are more than likely to smoke if they were brought up in a family where one or both parents also smoked.
(3) Maintain Healthy Weight :-
Reduce the intake of saturated fats and cholesterol through food.
It is not just vital to be sure you are not overweight but also to check for any excess abdominal fat, which poses a far greater hazard of getting some of the life threatening heart disease.
Restrict your alcohol uptake. Controlled alcohol consumption might in reality be healthful, particularly red wine, which supplies antioxidants for your heart. People who drink large amounts of alcohol tend to have higher blood pressure.
Supervise cholesterol levels. Frequent health check ups are essential, since cholesterol could be high even in people who appear to be otherwise well. Chronically elevated cholesterol increases build-up of atherosclerotic plaque.
(4) Blood pressure :-
Arterial blood pressure should be kept at optimum levels in order to prevent the chance of a cardiovascular (stroke) and cardiovascular (heart) disease. The higher the blood pressure, the higher the health risks on the heart and the brain.
Undergo tests for diabetes. Diabetes can show no symptoms until it has already turn a critical threat to health. Type 2 diabetes is most common type and it’s associated with obesity.
(5) Exercise :-
Make it a habit to include some physical activity into your daily routine. Routine physical activity is helpful in controlling obesity. This will support your health, and add to longevity.
It is never too late to begin living healthy, but the sooner a person begins, the better.
Healthy living does not demand anything that is intensive, unconventional or painful.
All it calls for is moderation.A little bit of knowledge and good sense goes a long way.
If we have to get Healthy Heart & One Healthy Life Style then we should follow some common but very useful for our Heart-One most important part of our body.
(1) First of all everyday we have to mark what we eat today.Consume a good meal of fruit and vegetables.An excitable formula to check you're eating an assortment of nutrients is to keep meals colourful.
Colors will cover some of the important stable amount of nutrients from food.
(2) Very Common & Dangerous Bad Habit-SMOKING :-
It is long-known that smoking and second-hand smoke are dangerous, but most importantly smoking in front of your children could jeopardise their health.
Your children future habits could also depend on your present habits, and smoking could become ingrained in their subconscious mind.
It has been demonstrated that children are more than likely to smoke if they were brought up in a family where one or both parents also smoked.
(3) Maintain Healthy Weight :-
Reduce the intake of saturated fats and cholesterol through food.
It is not just vital to be sure you are not overweight but also to check for any excess abdominal fat, which poses a far greater hazard of getting some of the life threatening heart disease.
Restrict your alcohol uptake. Controlled alcohol consumption might in reality be healthful, particularly red wine, which supplies antioxidants for your heart. People who drink large amounts of alcohol tend to have higher blood pressure.
Supervise cholesterol levels. Frequent health check ups are essential, since cholesterol could be high even in people who appear to be otherwise well. Chronically elevated cholesterol increases build-up of atherosclerotic plaque.
(4) Blood pressure :-
Arterial blood pressure should be kept at optimum levels in order to prevent the chance of a cardiovascular (stroke) and cardiovascular (heart) disease. The higher the blood pressure, the higher the health risks on the heart and the brain.
Undergo tests for diabetes. Diabetes can show no symptoms until it has already turn a critical threat to health. Type 2 diabetes is most common type and it’s associated with obesity.
(5) Exercise :-
Make it a habit to include some physical activity into your daily routine. Routine physical activity is helpful in controlling obesity. This will support your health, and add to longevity.
Human Body Facts
(1) The average human brain has about 100 billion nerve cells.(2) Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles (274 km) per hour.
(3) The thyroid cartilage is more commonly known as the adams apple.
(4) The only jointless bone in your body is the hyoid bone in your throat
(5) It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
(6) Your stomach needs to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it would digest itself.
(7) It takes the interaction of 72 different muscles to produce human speech.
(8) The average life of a taste bud is 10 days.
(9) The average cough comes out of your mouth at 60 miles (96.5 km) per hour.
(10) Relative to size, the strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
(11) Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
(12) When you sneeze, all your bodily functions stop even your heart.
(13) Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age.
(14) Children grow faster in the springtime.
(15) It takes the stomach an hour to break down cow milk.
(16) Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
(17) Blondes have more hair than dark-haired people do.
(18) There are 10 human body parts that are only 3 letters long (eye hip arm leg ear toe jaw rib lip gum).
(19) If you go blind in one eye you only lose about one fifth of your vision but all your sense of depth.
(20) The average human head weighs about 8 pounds.
(21) Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
(22) In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator.
(23) An average human scalp has 100,000 hairs.
(24) The length of the finger dictates how fast the fingernail grows. Therefore, the nail on your middle finger grows the fastest, and on average, your toenails grow twice as slow as your fingernails.
(25) The average human blinks their eyes 6,205,000 times each year.
(26) The entire length of all the eyelashes shed by a human in their life is over 98 feet (30 m).
(27) Your skull is made up of 29 different bones.
(28) Your ears and nose continue to grow throughout your entire life.
(29)After you die, your body starts to dry out creating the illusion that your hair and nails are still growing after death.
(30) Hair is made from the same substance as fingernails.
(31) The average surface of the human intestine is 656 square feet (200 m).
(32) A healthy adult can draw in about 200 to 300 cubic inches (3.3 to 4.9 liters) of air at a single breath, but at rest only about 5% of this volume is used.
(33) The surface of the human skin is 6.5 square feet (2m).
(34)15 million blood cells are destroyed in the human body every second.
(35) The pancreas produces Insulin.
(36) The most sensitive cluster of nerves is at the base of the spine.
(37) The human body is comprised of 80% water.
(38) The average human will shed 40 pounds of skin in a lifetime.
(39) Every year about 98% of the atoms in your body are replaced.
(40) The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet (9 m).
(41) You were born with 300 bones. When you get to be an adult, you have 206.
(42) Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.
(43) Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.
(44) There are 45 miles (72 km) of nerves in the skin of a human being.
(45) The average human heart will beat 3,000 million times in its lifetime and pump 48 million gallons of blood.
(46) Each square inch (2.5 cm) of human skin consists of 20 feet (6 m) of blood vessels.
(47) During a 24-hour period, the average human will breathe 23,040 times.
(48) Human blood travels 60,000 miles (96,540 km) per day on its journey through the body.
Mood Disorders- Bipolar & Schizophrenia
Of all the mental health disorders,the two most common,and perhaps the most disruptive and distressing are,(1) Schizophrenia. (2) Bipolar.
Even though the two share few similarities in symptoms and characteristics, they are both treated and medicated very differently.
Schizophrenia is the most devastating mental health disorder diagnosed.
It typically emerges in adolescence,but can be diagnosed in males between the ages of 16-25. In females, diagnoses generally occur between 25-30. Both male and female are affected equally.
It is thought that schizophrenia develops when several factors are acting together.
When genetic influence is combined with brain trauma at birth, social isolation and stress, an individual is at a greater risk for schizophrenia.
The disease affects between 1and 2% of the worlds population at some point during their lifetime.
Contrary to popular belief, schizophrenia is not a split personality.
However, for individuals who suffer from the disease, their perception of reality is extremely different.
They suffer from terrifying internal voices not heard by others around them.
They often believe that other people are reading their mind, controlling their thoughts or are trying to control them.
They continually live in a world that is distorted by hallucinations and delusions.
Their speech and behavior is often disorganized and are frightening to others around them. They are often distant, detached or preoccupied or may be very restless and fidgety.
Fortunately, these symptoms are not present all of the time. A psychotic episode will occur when an individual suddenly begins to suffer from one or more of the symptoms.
With the proper medication and treatment, the symptoms can be controlled and the individual can live a productive life.
Onset of the initial episode of bipolar disorder typically occurs when an individual is in their late teens to mid 20’s.
The disorder has two distinctive forms,
(1) Bipolar I disorder. (2) Bipolar II disorder.
Bipolar I disorder, previously called manic-depression, is characterized by a single episode of mania, depression or a combination of both.
Mania is described as ones mood as being elated or irritable. Individuals have racing thoughts, inflated self-confidence, excessive spending, reckless driving and impulse traveling.
For a diagnosis of mania, there is no required duration of the illness. However, for a diagnosis of depression, the individual must have symptoms for at least two weeks.
Bipolar I occurs in about 1% of the population and impacts men and women equally. Although women are more likely to suffer depressive episodes.
Usually, episodes of illness are followed by periods of wellness that can be as long a several years.
Bipolar II disorder is mainly depressive episodes with very few manicepisodes and is more common in women.
Bipolar disorder is a recurring illness and the average person experiences more than ten episodes.
Some experience chronic depression and between 15-20% of bipolar diagnosed individuals experience rapid cycling.
This is defined as four or more episodes of mania, depression or both on one year.
There is no doubt that bipolar is a familial disorder. Studies show that two-thirds of bipolar individuals have a positive family history of the disorder.
There have also been reports of individuals suffering from biochemical, neurophysiologic and sleep abnormalities.
As with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder is a mental illness that can be controlled with medication. However, the most important key to successful treatment is to continue the treatment and medication.
Many individuals who are taking mood stabilizers, anti-depressants and anti-psychotic medications, may believe they are getting better or are actually cured. This is not the truth. Their symptoms are being controlled, not cured, therefore making their life manageable.
Studies show that one-third of the individuals who stop taking their medication will suffer a relapse with two years.
More alarming is that of the total individuals with a mood disorder; one-quarter to one-half will attempt suicide. Anywhere from 9-15% will succeed. This exemplifies the need for medication compliance in mood disorders.
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