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May 16, 2005
Far From Good
I have been diagnosed with the medical conditions:
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is an immune-mediated, genetic disease manifesting in the skin and/or the joints. It affects more than 4.5 million people in the United States. In plaque psoriasis, the most common type, patches of skin called "lesions" become inflamed and are covered by silvery white scale. Psoriasis can be limited to a few lesions or can involve moderate to large areas of skin. The severity of psoriasis can vary from person to person; however, for most people, psoriasis tends to be mild.
Sleep Apnea
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is defined as the cessation of airflow during sleep preventing air from entering the lungs caused by an obstruction. These periods of ‘stopping breathing’ only become clinically significant if the cessation lasts for more than 10 seconds each time and occur more than 10 times every hour. OSA only happens during sleep, as it is a lack of muscle tone in your upper airway that causes the airway to collapse. During the day we have sufficient muscle tone to keep the airway open allowing for normal breathing. When you experience an episode of apnoea during sleep your brain will automatically wake you up, usually with a very loud snore or snort, in order to breathe again. People with OSA will experience these wakening episodes many times during the night and consequently feel very sleepy during the day: they have an airway that is more likely to collapse than normal.
From http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk
Trichotillomania
Trichotillomania (TTM) is an impulse disorder that causes people to pull out the hair from their scalp, eyelashes, eyebrows, or other parts of the body, resulting in noticeable bald patches. It is currently defined as an impulse-control disorder, but there are still questions about how it should be classified. It may seem, at times, to resemble a habit, an addiction, a tic disorder or an obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is estimated to affect one to two percent of the population, or four to eleven million Americans.
From http://www.trich.org
Depression
Depression has a variety of symptoms, but the most common is a deep feeling of sadness. People with depression may feel tired, listless, hopeless, helpless, and generally overwhelmed by life. Simple pleasures are no longer enjoyed, and their world can appear dark and uncontrollable. Emotional and physical withdrawal are common responses of depressed people. Depression can strike at any time, but most often appears for the first time during the prime of life, from ages 24 to 44.
From http://www.psych.org
Posted by D W at May 16, 2005 11:36 AM
Comments
I've got psoriasis... around my elbows, strangely enough. And since i'm dark, it discolores me with dapples of light, like the last rays of sun through a drizzled windshield at twilight.
Trying to make myself feel better about being patchy, incase you couldn't tell ;)
Posted by: C at May 16, 2005 08:47 PM
hmm now that i come to think about it, i used to have TTM [before full-blown depression a couple of years later].
i would examine my hair at every opportunity and pull out ALL the white ones. the result is my balding top patch. kinda like middle-aged men actually.
you can overcome all these. i know you can. He can. you just have to believe it.
Posted by: fhope at May 17, 2005 02:25 AM
D W - i would echo waht fhope said in the last line above. =)
i see health issues as something that our physical bodies have to undergo as a sign of growing older. something to cope with, and learn to live with somehow. =) but it's a daily struggle, and we just soldier on lor.
Posted by: a l at May 19, 2005 11:08 AM