Tuesday 29 September 2015

How can you diagnose nerve damage or nerve dysfunction?


A nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test is the medical procedure that helps diagnose nerve damage or nerve dysfunction. Electrical signals are passed through the nerves that determine activities of muscles.  
Purpose of NCV test
Nerves are used to send signals and experience important senses. Electrical signals sent more quickly depicts healthiness and strength of nerves.
Nerve conductivity test NYC or elsewhere is helpful in determining injury nerve and its effects on muscles. This test helps in diagnosis of nerve problem and appropriate course of treatment.


Suspicion of pinched nerve makes the importance of going for the test in order to check nerve damage.
Preparation
Before going for the test, person must have normal body temperature. As low body temperature will not provide accurate results.
People with pacemaker or cardiac defibrillator require informing doctor, so that electrodes do not affect the device.
Performance of NCV test
Electrodes that are in form of flat, patch-style these are placed over the nerve that is to be examined. Electrical impulses are passed through electrodes that stimulate the nerve (slight electric shock, not painful).
Impulses are viewed with an oscilloscope. Monitoring system attached with the electrodes shows visual image of the impulses. Rate of traveling of impulses through the nerves help depict the existence of nerve damage in a patient, if any.
Test results
Electrical impulses travelling slow than normal rate depicts damage to the myelin sheath. On the other hand, decreased response but with normal speed of impulses, damage the nerve fiber.
Following is the result of the test-
  • axonopathy (damage to the nerve cell)
  • conduction block (an obstacle within the nerve)
  • demyelination (damage to the myelin sheath)
Causes of nerve damage
  • Alcoholic neuropathy
  • Diabetic neuropathy
  • Nerve effects of uremia (from kidney failure)
  • Traumatic injury to a nerve
  • Guillain-BarrĂ© syndrome
  • Diphtheria
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Brachial plexopathy
  • Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (hereditary)
  • Chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy
  • Mononeuritis multiplex
  • Primary amyloidosis
  • Radial nerve dysfunction
  • Sciatic nerve dysfunction
  • Common peroneal nerve dysfunction
  • Distal median nerve dysfunction
  • Femoral nerve dysfunction
  • Friedreich's ataxia
  • General paresis
  • Secondary systemic amyloidosis
  • Sensorimotor polyneuropathy
  • Tibial nerve dysfunction
  • Ulnar nerve dysfunction
From the above provided information, you must have got an idea what are the factors that lead to nerve damage problem, and ways to detect it. The test result helps in determining course of treatment, which is as follows.
Treatments for nerve damage
  • Physical therapy
  • Surgery
  • Pain medications
However, the treatment depends on few factors like severity, extent, and type of nerve damage. Patients suffering from severe nerve damage would require going for surgery, while others can get relief through medications.

Wednesday 23 September 2015

How to find the best primary care physician in your area?


Maintaining a good health is one of the most important concerns of every individual as being unhealthy can be serious strain, physically, psychologically, as well as financially. Therefore, it becomes very important to find the best primary care physician in Glen Oaks. However, when you are searching for a primary care physician, make sure to get as much information as you can to ensure that you are in the hands of a suitable person. 

There are number of ways through which you can find the most suitable primary care physician and the most common one’s are-
  • Recommendations- There is nothing better than getting information from your family, friends, or colleagues. They will provide you the names of some of the best physicians so that you can gather further information about them. Moreover, you can also ask the local people of that area rather than just depending on the information from family and friends.
  • Search online- You can also take help of the internet and you will be provided with a list of all the primary care physicians in your area. You can also find number of physicians directories online and with the help of these directories, you can look for the information about doctors in your area or the area near to your home. The online search provides you the opportunity to refine your search according to the area and the specialist you want and choose accordingly.
  • Check for a valid license- It is highly important to check that the primary care doctor holds a valid license. You can consult the local medical board to make sure that the doctor is carrying a license and does not have any complaints or cases of malpractice pending against them. It is always better to choose the doctor that has clean and good records of service.
The aforementioned are some of the tips that can help you to find the best primary care physician. So if you are looking for a physician, make sure you take a note of all the above-mentioned tips and search accordingly. Apart from all these, make sure to visit the doctor to know more about his services.

Monday 21 September 2015

What medical care you can expect from primary care physician?


With increase in number of diseases and need to provide medical care to patients, quality medical services are expected from health care centers. This is where physicians and other staff members play a vital role.
Services provided in health care center by primary care physician in NYC or elsewhere include-


Allergy testing- Patients with symptoms like itching, redness, bumps and swelling on the skin require going for allergy testing. During the test, health professionals notice things that cause allergic reactions.
Annual physical test- A comprehensive body checkup includes diagnosis of physical, mental, and emotional wellness. Wide range of tests are covered in it that include checkup of vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate, weight, temperature and respiration rate, check-up of the respiratory system and cardiovascular system, nervous system and more.

Arterial Doppler- Health issues with blood circulation can be detected with arterial Doppler ultrasound. It includes defects like blocked arteries, defects in heart valve, narrowness, swelling, or injury in arteries and arteriosclerosis.
Carotid Doppler- This test is helpful in detecting problem in carotid arteries. Early detecting helps improve blood flow in the brain.
Holter test- To measure heart rate and rhythm a small device is used called Holter monitor. With this functioning of heart and issues related to it such as heart does not receiving enough oxygen, delay electrical impulses can be determined.
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) - With age, loss of memory problems are ought to occur. Serious issues can lead to Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and developing of Alzheimer’s disease.

Urodynamics- Urinary system problems like urinary frequency, urgency, and incontinence can be detected from Urodynamics test. Result of test allows physician to come up to a decision and make required changes in diet or medicines.
Vaso Scan- Coronary disease is detected by Vaso scan. Any biological age of arteries, peripheral blood circulation and stress levels can be determined through it.
VENG Test- Functioning of inner ear is determined through it. Electronystagmography (VENG) test is performed for discovering problems related to ear.
Echocardiogram- This test provides a scan of heart that helps in assessing the structure and functioning of heart.
Preventive care- Body is prone to infections and diseases. Patients require staying healthy must go for medical tests and screening. Wide array of tests are included in it that includes cholesterol screening, anemia screening, cancer screening, osteoporosis screening, depression screening and more.
 Contact us :
Medical Associates
5499 Nesconset Hwy
Mt Sinai, NY 11766
Phone: (631) 928-2600, (631) 928-9355 
257-10 Union Turnpike
Glen Oaks, NY 11004
Phone: (516) 742-3500, (718) 347-3500

Thursday 17 September 2015

What are the signs of bad heart health and tests for the diagnosis?


Heart disease, also referred as cardiac disease is a leading cause of death in the United States. There are different types of heart disorders that can include heart failure, cardiovascular disease, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, etc. There are different signs and symptoms for these disorders that can include-

  • Chest pain or discomfort
  • Shortness of breath
  • Palpitations
  • Irregular heart beats
  • Sweating
  • Nausea
  • Weakness
  • Vomiting
There are also certain risk factors that can increase the chances of heart disease. Some of these risk factors are-
  • High blood pressure
  • High cholesterol levels
  • Smoking
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Physically Inactive
  • Unhealthy diet
  • Stress
  • Family Background
If you notice any symptoms associated with heart disease or have risk factors, you must get in touch with your physician in Glen Oaks for your health check up. Depending on your present condition, symptoms, and present condition, you physician may perform a variety of tests to diagnose the problems. Some of these tests might be-
  • Electrocardiogram
  • Echocardiography
  • Stress Test
To prevent heart disease or control their affects, you must make few changes such as give below-
  • Heart-healthy Diet- Healthy diet plays a vital role in preventing or controlling heart related issues. Therefore, you need to make sure that you include fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. Reduce your daily salt intake and foods that have trans fat and saturated fats.
  • Physically Active- You can reduce risk of heart related problems with a daily exercise routine. 30-60 minutes of physical activities everyday offer many heart benefits. It also helps you prevent other risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, etc.
  • Healthy Weight- If you are overweight, it increases the risk of heart disease. Therefore, if you have extra pounds, you need to develop a weight loss plan. Even small weigh loss can benefit you, thus motivate yourself for weight loss.
  • Give Up Smoking- Smoking is dangerous for your heart because chemicals in tobacco can damage your heart and blood vessels. Therefore, if you are a smoker make sure that you get rid of your smoking habit as quickly as possible.

Tuesday 15 September 2015

All you need to know about Mild Cognitive Impairment Treatment


Mild cognitive impairment or known to be dementia is a condition in which brain looses to function due to cause of certain diseases. Some of them are non-reversible and one cannot stop the disease from spreading.
Some of the mild cognitive impairment treatment  NYC includes Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, and certain infections such as Lyme and HIV disease. 
 
Other types of mild cognitive impairment other than the above ones may reverse if discovered earlier. The arise of reversible one comes from brain tumors, blood sugar level change, lower B12 levels, medication use and many other.
The chance of Dementia is usually more in older individuals or rarely in people below 60 yrs. The main symptoms include problems like language and memory issues, observation issues, emotional or behavioral issues and decrease in taking judgment and thinking.
Its occurrence is seen when one suffers from memory loss or poor memory. Initially, the person will see certain changes like forgetting recent happenings or conversations. Other than this, the person will fail to do many tasks at a time and will find problem in solving certain issues.
In the later stage when the person’s case worsens, he /she will not only start to forget recent happening but will also tend to forget his/her own life history. In addition, you will fail to understand words spoken by them, as they will use incorrect words. Other signs include failing to read as well as write showing self-destructive behaviors.
In worse cases, it is even observed that people stop understanding the language, identify members of the family or perform basic daily chores that they use to perform earlier during the day like eating, getting ready, and bathing.
However, if you or anyone in your known suffers from such ailments then it is advisable to take them to a physician and consult them before it is too late. The doctor will perform series of tests in order to determine what the cause of cognitive impairment is and will try to find out if there is any cure to it or if it can be reversed.
If in case the dementia can be reversed then sooner the doctor would advise the person to seek medical treatment so that they are able to repeal the damage.
There are assortments of treatments available for this disease but it all depends upon its cause.

Tuesday 8 September 2015

All you need to know about urodynamic testing


Troubles in the urinary system can take place due to numerous problems like age factor, infection, or due to some kind of injury. One may suffer frequency in urine, Urgency, painful urination, and periodic urinary tract infections and many other problems.
To know the cause of such problems, test called urodynamic testing is performed on the patient in order to confirm whether bladder, sphincters, and urethra are storing and releasing urine properly or not.

Following are some of the measurements-
  • Filling cystometry - This test is used to measure the capacity of the bladder, its contractions and leakage in urinary.
  • Voiding uroflometry - This type of test measures the potency of the urinary course.
  • Urethral pressure study - This type of test will gauge the pressure as well as flow of urine that is coming out of the bladder. It is done using a sensor placed in the urethra.
  • Video cystourethrography - The test identifies if there is any structural problems in the bladder.
  • Electromyogram - This test gauges muscle contractions that manage urination.
You can get the results for the test like cystometry and uroflowmetry immediately. For some tests like electromyography and video urodynamic test in NYC, it will take few days to get the results.
After performing this test, the patient might feel uncomfortable or soreness at the time of urination after the test for some time.
You might also observe some blood flow at the time of urination due to insertion of catheter.
However, to overcome such problems, one may consume 16 ounces of water on hourly basis, which may help you to overcome such problems.
Your doctor may advice you to undergo some procedures to counter pain and prescribe some medicines so that infection does not occur.
However, it is advisable that if in case you feel any of the symptoms like pain, fever, or infection, consult the doctor immediately so that the treatment can be done immediately.
Another thing to consider is to look for a healthcare center that holds good reputation and has employed experienced professionals who can find the right cause behind the problem you are facing and accordingly carry out the tests.
Make sure that the equipment used to test is of latest trend so that test results they deliver are accurate.