Hypercalcemia Essay

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Hypercalcemia is the abnormal calcium level in blood. Calcium helps maintain bones, contracts muscles, release hormones, and monitor functions of the nerves and brain. For calcium to maintain these functions; it has to stay at a normal level. Anything above the normal can cause other problems. There are three types of hypercalcemia. They are tertiary, familial and humoral. The tertiary is when the disease of the renal is in its end stage causeing the body to be resistance to vitamin D. The familial is due to low calcium and humoral is factors associated with process of tumoal. Hypercalcemia disease affects mostly the elderly. Women are at higher risk than men for this disease. The Myeloma and sarcoidosis are mostly found in blacks.
The cause of hypercalcemia is not known due to the many disesases surrounding it. The main cause of hypercalcemia is extra activities in the parathyroid glands. The parathyroid regulates the level of calcium in the bloodstream which regulate blood calcium levels. There are also many causes of hypercalcemia which are cancer, some medical problems, medications, over use of calcium, vitamin D, dehydration and some may be hereditary.
The signs and symptoms of hypercalcemia sometimes doesn't show but can appear as severe when diagnosed. The treatment of hypercalcemia depends on the diseases being diagnosis. Some symptoms related to this disease if severe are nausea and vomiting,loss of appetite,excessive thirst,frequent urination,constipation,abdominal pain,muscle weakness,muscle and joint aches,confusion and lethargy and fatigue. Some of these symptoms would be normal but if continues occurrence, consulting a doctor can help. There may be other conditions relating to those symptoms. Some of which are ost...

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... are use to rebuild bone if damange by this disease are bisphosphonates. This group of drugs can greatly reduce calcium level in about two to four days. The drugs can last up to a week. The medications are effective in severe patients. If the test is done and cancer is present, treatments are available but staying healthy and controling the pain associated with hypercalcemia cancer are the most important treatments. If the patient is a smoker, quiting could be the best option. Lowering calcium to 400 mg/day is helpful and would also help stop diarrhea. Drinking enough water to filter the kidney would also be helpful. Exercise regularly to maintain bone density. Once the cause of hypercalcemia is found, treatments can be posible and effective depending on the severity. The treatments are not always successful but if diagnosied early, it could be treatable.

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