Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group I am new to this site and to AS, and Im not coping

Thats good aussiegirl we all help each other in many ways you will make a lot of friends from all over the world gather lots of info and have to put up with a few idiots (like me)who try and bring a bit of humour to things.We might all have a crappy disease but we can still have fun while we learn and kick as.

Kevin

trigger finger: don't have that exactly, but hands, wrists more specifically, flare at times, and typing definitely an issue when they are in a flare. when really bad, nothing works as well as contrasts baths (alternating ice cold and very hot water, a minute or two in one, then a minute or two in the other, for 15-20 minutes total, a few times a day). when just a little bad, doing dishes in hot water or my fairly new (and loving it) paraffin wax bath (http://www.therabathpro.com/) do the trick at keeping the hands under control.

one of these days will get around to voice recognition software. have found a mouse to be useful instead of just the keypad of the laptop when thumbs especially bad.

one of the things i've discovered through PT and here is all the little tricks and devices to help make life easier. while not a cure, every little bit helps.

Sorry to learn of your problems. Glad you are joining us though. There is a lot of knowledge on this site. A lot of support as well!

Craig

One wishes that it were - 'just akin to an airplane flight'... Not so Megan.

There has been a deal of information recently, like over the past year, on the dangers of radiation exposure, and there is alaso concern emerging on radiation scatter (as in/like with those airport scanners). Doctors have woken upto the fact that there has been/is too much rad exposure. The information is out there.

18,200 hits on radiation exposure, specific to CT scans, here's just a few:-

CT Radiation warning, ct scan radiation
Web ResultsCT Scans to be Equipped with Markers to Prevent Radiation ...

Feb 26, 2010 ... But CT scans deliver a much higher radiation dose than ... It would also offer a red alert warning when a patient is about to be given a ...
english.pravda.ru/news/science/health/26-02-2010/1123... - Similar

CT Scan Manufacturers Pledge to Add Radiation Gauges After ...
Feb 26, 2010 ... CT Scan Manufacturers Pledge to Add Radiation Gauges After ... It would also offer a red alert warning when a patient is about to be given a ...
www.shoppingblog.com/blog/226107 - Similar

DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog: FDA Warning: ...
FDA Warning: Excessive Radiation from CT Brain Perfusion Scans. By Catherine D. Bertram, Esquire. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, ...
www.dcmedmalblog.com/us-food-and-drug-administration-... - Similar

[PPT]Radiation Safety in the PET Facility
Radiation Warning Signs. Cyclotron. PET/CT Scanner. “Hot” Lab. Record Retention. Shipping and Receiving (3 years); Area Surveys and Trash Surveys (3 years) ...
www.safety.duke.edu/radsafety/slides/PET_CT_Web.pps - Similar

[PDF]Radiation Safety Standard: Computed tomography ...
Radiation Warning Sign and Light. Radiation warning signs must be displayed on the outside of all entrances to the CT room. The entrance to the CT room must ...
www.health.vic.gov.au/environment/downloads/radiation... - Similar

Radiation From CT Scans May Raise Cancer Risk : NPR
Dec 15, 2009 ... Doctors love the detailed pictures created by CT scans. Patients often expect a scan. But now researchers are warning that the radiation ...
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121436092 - Similar

(and of course more of the same, 18,194... Note dates - and I have posted several times in rcent months on these specific CT radiation warnings. ANY decent radiologist worth their salt, will impress that one cannot be too careful on considering your level of rad exposure.)

-------------------

ONE CT scan is equivalent to 120 standard X-Ray exposures, *at the same time*. i.e. `not spaced out over a number of months or years. Full dose, in one hot shot! That is a number, and any radiologist will advise that 120 X-Ray exposures is somewhat dangerous, let alone the cumulative effect of additional standard X-Rays...and let alone the possibility of adding in long distance flights or owt else in the world outside of medecine and diagnostics...

Hospitals are now saying that too many CTs are being requested and that the radiology industry needs to do summat about actually cutting *down the level of rad exposure. The FDA has jumpoed in with advice, and these strictures are *now being implemented*, but has only 'just' started to be implemented, and that is in/with the new scanning machines.

Can only hope that hospitals look to themselves and their diagnostic equipment and take on board the MANY recommendations.

Remember the radiologist in the UK has warned me about my own level of rad exposure. He says, too much - which same has not been countered by medics over here in France: they agree, too many X-Ray exposures. That is X-Rays, CT Scans and a Nuclear Bone Scan, and tjhis spaced out over a few years - which does not take into account any long haul flights or any scatter radiation or owt else outside of medecine! Now, no more X-Rays, will only consider MRI. Got enough problems without the (probability of) adding to em.

662,000 results with a slightly different search. Here's a sample:-

More Offers: CT Scans Radiation exposure
Web ResultsComputed Tomography (CT)

Feb 9, 2010 ... Radiation exposure is a concern in both adults and children. ... For example, if a CT scan is performed on a child using the same parameters ...
www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmitt... - Similar

NEJM -- Computed Tomography -- An Increasing Source of ...
We focus on the increasing number of CT scans being obtained, ..... Mass screening with CT colonography: should the radiation exposure be of concern? ...
content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/22/2277 - Similar

Radiation from CT scans linked to cancers, deaths - USATODAY.com
Dec 15, 2009 ... CT scans deliver far more radiation than previously believed and may ... doctors about alternatives that don't involve radiation exposure. ...
www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-12-15-radiation15_s... - Similar

GIST Support International - Radiation Exposure from CT Scans
Sep 23, 2007 ... Donald P. Frush, MD explains the risk from radiation in CT scans weighed against the benefit of scan results.
www.gistsupport.org/ask-the-professional/radiation-ex... - Similar

X-ray computed tomography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
However, there are several methods that can be used in order to lower the exposure to ionizing radiation during a CT scan. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_computed_tomography - Similar

CT scan radiation may cause cancers - The Globe and Mail
Dec 15, 2009 ... The high doses of radiation patients receive from CT scans may cause ... caused by exposure to radiation during computed tomography scans. ...
www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/ct-scan-radiation-may-... - Similar

CT Scan Radiation May Lead to 29000 Cancers, Researchers Warn ...
Dec 15, 2009 ... Radiation doses from computed tomographic (CT) scans are higher than ... In the latest study, exposure varied widely both within and between ...
abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/ct-scan... - Similar

Couple here that are very good - particulary liked the one that CT Scans will eventually come with an informed consent warning...phew! Now that's summat innit? (Don't think longhaul airplane flights come with, nor are likely to come with, informed consent warnings...'smile') This stuff is serious Megan.

There is a serious position out there for patients. We as patients and especially with conditions such as ours, that require any number of screenings, need to be informed, and well informed, of ALL risks not just with the meds that might be involved but also in with the diagnostics. Our bodies. Informed consent on ALL levels required.

CT Scan Radiation Exposure Much Worse Than Originally Thought ...Dec 15, 2009 ... CT scans will eventually come with informed consent warning patients of the risk of cancer from CT scan radiation exposure. ...
thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2009/12/ct-scan-radi... - Similar

FDA Issues Warning: CT Scans Reported To Cause Hair Loss and ...Feb 10, 2010 ... FDA Issues Warning: CT Scans Reported To Cause Hair Loss and Other Serious ... high levels of radiation during CT scans of their brains. ...
www.thebaldtruth.com/articles/fda-issues-warning-ct-s... - Similar

Cedars-Sinai radiation overdoses went unseen at several points ...As a result of the radiation overdoses, the FDA issued an alert warning of the possibility that CT scanners at other hospitals could be set wrong. ...
articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/14/local/me-cedars-sina... - Similar

(and 'other hospitals 'could be set' wrong'. Well, well. Sigh).-------------------

Got to be forever looking over your shoulder, a big bore, but if you don't, no one else is going to do it for you!

Aussiegirl - there's your answer to the radiologist refusing to CT your neck... Too close to the brain etc etc. At least they knew summat and were careful with you.

MRI Saggital STIR in future. Way to go 'smile'.

Now to locate the information re open MRI scanners and specific application to our own spondy concerns.

Dig, dig..

Absolutely.


Yes. Some plantar fasciitis perhaps. The Osgood-Schlatter's disease is a very specific form of enthesitis, which is very common in AS.

I think it would be best to get him on NSD before inflammation leads to permanent damage.

In a reactive arthritis caused by giardiasis, it is possible not only to trigger AS in susceptible individuals, but I wonder whether the OSD is related to AS, ReA, or just normal for Your family. ReA due to giardiasis can totally mimic AS in the early stages. Plantar fasciitis is, however, NOT normal and very probably due to AS and it is frustrating to see it in such a young child. I would not hesitate to have some evaluation for giardiasis, however; yourself, also. This can be the key to Your AS. Any other ReA (salmonellosis, shigellosis, etc) can likewise trigger AS.

KickAS,
John

HI and welcome to KA.

You've had quite the journey, but the road led you here, and that's all to the good. These are some of the finest folk you'd ever want to meet.

Hugs,

Yes I am aren't I Kat....