Treatment depends largely on the location, type, severity, and cause of the varicose veins. There are both invasive and noninvasive treatments available. Most involve a combination of therapies. In cases in which the varicose veins return, invasive therapies are usually applied. Noninvasive Treatments Noninvasive treatments include: Lifestyle modification Compression therapy Lifestyle Modification Lifestyle modifications are the same activities recommended for preventing varicose vein development. Regardless of how severe any additional treatments may be, life modification is essential for a full recovery from treatment. Losing weight and exercising can help improve outcomes by staving off the obesity risk and by improving calf pump function. Elevating the feet and alternating between sitting and standing also reduce the compression of the veins in the lower limbs. Compression Therapy Compression therapy is the first line treatment of varicose vein related discomfort and swelling. This treatment is particularly recommended for individuals with large and more severe varicose veins. Treatment involves wearing compression stockings over the affected areas. The stockings are put on in the morning while sitting or lying down, worn all day, and then removed before bed. The stockings reduce venous reflux and venous hypertension while walking.  Different levels of compression are applied based on the severity of the symptoms and varicosity.

Dyskinesia is defined as an abnormal or involuntary movement. However, dyskinesia characterizes the mild to severe symptoms that cause uncontrolled muscle contractions and twitching movements. The level of dyskinesia commonly differs between patients. For example, some Parkinson’s patients will experience only mild motor complications that target isolated muscles—while others suffer severe twitching that causes the entire body to writhe and twitch. Dyskinesia can impact muscles throughout the entire body (i.e., face, arms, legs, and torso), and it often gradually becomes worse as the Parkinson’s disease progresses. Recommended Read:  Foods to Include in a Brain Diet What causes dyskinesia? Medical professionals attribute Parkinson’s disease to the lack of specific brain cells that produce glutamine, dopamine, and serotonin, all very essential brain chemicals responsible for muscle movement and muscle control. An imbalance in these brain chemicals, particular dopamine, can cause a loss of muscle coordination and control and result in mid to more severe muscle shakiness, twitching, tremors, and even muscle pain and stiffness common to individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Recommended Read:  Conditions Mistaken for Alzheimer’s Disease How is dyskinesia treated? Parkinson’s is a progressive disease, it tends to worsen with time, the symptoms of the disease, including dyskinesia. As a result, doctors will often attempt to control or slow the symptoms with prescription drugs.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that has been around for thousands of years. Sepsis goes by many names including; Septicemia, Sepsis syndrome, Systemic inflammatory response syndrome or SIRS, and Septic shock.  Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in the intensive care unit. Unfortunately, due to its broad symptoms and comorbidity, Sepsis can be difficult to diagnose. Sepsis was first described in 1,000 BC by Ibn Sīnā, an Islamic philosopher, as the putrefaction of blood and tissues with fever. Since then, the disease has been redefined by several notable scholars and scientists. As of the 1990s, sepsis was described as a systemic inflammatory response (SIRS) to a microbial infection. A SIRS is defined as two of the following occurring at the same time: Tachypnoea (rapid breathing) Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) Pyrexia (fever) Hypothermia Leukocytosis (high white blood cell count) Leukopaenia (low white blood cell count) Neutrophilia (high amount of neutrophil granulocytes in the blood) However, there is some consideration of whether some of these responses should be used in the definition since these symptoms can be a response to an infection. Thus the definition of sepsis has been simplified to a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by deregulated host response to infection.

Sepsis is defined by the presence of at least a body temperature above 101°F or below 96.8°F, a heart rate greater than 90 beats per minute and/or a respiratory rate greater than 20 breaths per minute. Cases of severe sepsis are defined by having sepsis symptoms along with one of the following symptoms: A major increase in urine Significant change in mental state Decrease in platelet count Difficulty breathing Abnormal heartbeat Abdominal pain HOW COMMON IS SEPSIS AND SEPTIC SHOCK? The incidence of sepsis worldwide is not well-known. It is estimated that approximately, 31.5 million cases of sepsis and 19.4 million cases of severe sepsis occur worldwide each year. Over 10% of these cases, or 5.3 million, resulting in death.  These statistics are approximations due to little data generated from low- and middle- income countries. Sepsis is also not reported in the WHO Global Burden of Disease report. Because sepsis is associated with a high prevalence of infectious diseases, it is speculated that regions with high infectious disease rates and deaths may contribute to sepsis burden.  Studies of hospital-treated sepsis in high-income countries have concluded that the incidence of sepsis is increasing. However, these findings may not be accurate due to the change in the definition of sepsis over the last few decades.

Clinical Diagnosis Sepsis and septic shock are identified clinically using the Sequential (Sepsis-Related) Organ Failure Assessment or SOFA. SOFA uses common clinical parameters to identify vital organs that are functioning incorrectly or failing in response to sepsis. SOFA can also be used for prognostic purposes, as an increase in SOFA score within the first two days implicates a 50% mortality rate. More recently, in 2016, quick SOFA or qSOFA was developed.  qSOFA uses clinical data that can be obtained easily and quickly at the patient’s bedside. These measures include: Altered level of consciousness (determined by a score equal to or less than 13 on the Glasgow Coma Scale) Systolic blood pressure less than  or equal to 100 mmHg Respiratory rate greater than or equal to 11 rpm When the patient exhibits two or more of the qSOFA criteria, qSOFA is just as effective as SOFA at identifying patients with sepsis and predicting poor outcomes. However, further validation of this testing method is needed. Another drawback to qSOFA is that it may be difficult to implement in undeveloped and developing countries.  In 2015, the Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3) simplified the definition of sepsis to a life-threatening organ dysfunction or failure resulting from a dysregulated host response to an infection.