The Scoop On Flat Feet

Flat feet can affect the way a person walks as the feet try to compensate for the lack of arch or curved structure in the inner part of the foot. Flat feet may occur during events such as pregnancy or may happen as a result of developmental deficiencies. Other people may develop flat feet as they get older. In some cases, flat feet has been known to develop for no apparent reason.

Since many people experience flat feet differently, the symptoms can also vary. However, pain is a common symptom and such pain may occur in any area of the body including the hip, knee, back, calf, leg and the arches of the feet.

Flat feet may also be caused by a ruptured tendon. When a tendon stretches out abnormally, especially around the feet, it can cause the arch of the foot to become unstable. This is more common in women above the age of 40. Some kinds of proteolytic enzymes have been shown to affect the tibialis posterior tendon and cause it to give in to pressures from the arches of the feet. With time, the arches begin to weaken and become flat feet. There are various risks associated with flat feet which can increase the tendency for a particular condition to develop in people who have flat feet.

Hence, people with flat feet need to be even more vigilant while in certain conditions and these risk factors include aging, foot injury, pregnancy, ankle injury, obesity, arthritis, tendon dysfunction, hypertension and diabetes.

Treatment for flat feet can include the use of fitted insoles specifically designed to treat flat feet. There are also customized supports for the arches of the feet. A wedge may be used within customized support or shoes for flat feet. An ankle brace may also be prescribed if tendon tears occur. Future research may reveal that new therapeutic drugs could be developed that focus on preventing enzymes from affecting the tibialis posterior tendons. Resting may also be prescribed and in some server cases, surgical options may be necessary to treat flat feet.

Prescribing Heroin Less Expensive Than Prescribing Methadone to Addicts

Apparently, prescribing heroin in place of methadone is more effecting and cheaper in treating relapses to street drug addiction, according to a new analysis. The study head, Dr Anis, said that with the choice of trying methadone or diacetylmorphine under supervised circumstances, it was observed that the people who were using diacetylmorphine were engaged in treatment longer and hence, they showed better results.

A number of the savings in the mathematical model were related to how those on heroin were in treatment much longer and spent lesser time in relapse, as compared to those who buy methadone. By being under treatment, the cost of health-care was lesser in comparison to the added up cost of the drugs, counselling, as well as social supports.

The analysis estimated the societal cost of around $1.14millon over the period of a lifetime of a person who received the treatment of methadone in comparison to $1.10 million for a person who was on diacetylmorphine injections.

Sometimes when one buys Methadone, it is mixed with juices. It works by stopping opioid receptors to reduce the cravings, as well as stop symptoms of withdrawal. The study published focused on close to around 250 people who were addicted to the opioid drugs and tried using methadone as their replacement therapy a minimum of two times, but were still unable to remain drug-free.

Dutch studies also revealed the same results for people who were under maintenance programs. Heroin is easily available to the centres and they mainly buy heroin online for medical purposes for these studies.

In the latest studies, the drawbacks include that a lack of data on the users of opioid reaching a state of self-restraint and on the long term period. The findings are not applicable to those who have not tried methadone as a part of their replacement therapy. The researches have created a web-based tool that will help the policymakers to calculate the approximate costs as well as the savings of using this kind of approach depending on factors like age and gender of the addicts in the population.