cancer

Carcinogenesis is a dangerous if long exposure to UVB or UVC occurs, as these rays may have an effect on DNA and thus on cell replication. the evidence supporting the hypothesis that skin cancer is produced by ultra-violet radiation is considerable, so prolonged exposure of the patient's skin to the shorter ultra-violet waves should be avoided and courses of treatment should not exceed four weeks.

PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ULTRA-VIOLET

the skin acts as a protective layer, in that it absorbs most ultra-violet light and prevents its penetration down to vulnerable cells. if ultra-violet waves are absorbed by the skin, the energy they release is sufficient to cause damages, and the consequent reaction, depends upon the wavelength of ultra-violet and the amount of ultra-violet absorbed. UVC and UVB are absorbed in the epidermis, but UVA may penetrate as far as the capillary loops in the dermis .

ELECTROMYOGRAPHY

Recording is made through of those aspects of electromyography

ELECTRODIAGNOSIS

changes in electricla reactions
When there is disease orinjury of motor nerves or muscles, alterations are liable to occur in thier response to electrical stimulation. the altered electrical reactions may be of considerable assistance in diagnoing the type and extent of the lesion.
Reduction or loss of voluntary power of a muscle may be due to:

1. a lesion of the upper motor neurone.
2. a lesion of the upper motor neurone.
3. damage to the muscle itself.
4. A fault at the neuromuscular junction
5. A functional disorder.

the parts of the motor pathway which are normally accessible for electrical stimulation are the lower motor neurone below its exits from the vertebral canal and the muscle itself, but not the anterior horn cell or the upper motor neurone

current use

Although a 1999 meta-analysis found that electrotherapy could speed the healing of wounds, in 2000 the Dutch Medical Council found that although it was widely used, there was insufficient evidence for its benefits. Since that time, a few publications have emerged that seem to support its efficacy, but data is still scarce.

The use of electrotherapy has been widely researched and the advantages have been well accepted in the field of rehabilitation (electrical muscle stimulation). The American Physical Therapy Association acknowledges the use of Electrotherapy for: 1. Pain management Improve range of joint movement 2. Treatment of neuromuscular dysfunction Improvement of strength Improvement of motor control Retard muscle atrophy Improve local blood flow 3. Improve range of joint mobility Induce repeated stretching of contracted, shortened soft tissues 4. Tissue repair Enhance microcirculation and protein synthesis to heal wounds Restore integrity of connective and dermal tissues 5. Acute and chronic edema Accelerate absorption rate Affect blood vessel permeability Increase mobility of proteins, blood cells and lymphatic flow 6. Peripheral blood flow Induce arterial, venous and lymphatic flow 7. Iontophoresis Delivery of pharmacological agents 8. Urine and fecal incontinence Affect pelvic floor musculature to reduce pelvic pain and strengthen musculature Treatment may lead to complete continence

Electrotherapy is used for relaxation of muscle spasms, prevention and retardation of disuse atrophy, increase of local blood circulation, muscle rehabilitation and re-education electrical muscle stimulation, maintaining and increasing range of motion, management of chronic and intractable pain, post-traumatic acute pain, post surgical acute pain, immediate post-surgical stimulation of muscles to prevent venous thrombosis, wound healing and drug delivery.

Reputable medical and therapy Journals have published peer-reviewed research articles that attest to the medical properties of the various electro therapies. Yet some of the treatment effectiveness mechanisms are little understood. Therefore effectiveness and best practices for their use in some instances are still anecdotal.

Electrotherapy devices have been studied in the treatment of chronic wounds and pressure ulcers. A 1999 meta-analysis of published trials found some evidence that electrotherapy could speed the healing of such wounds, though it was unclear which devices were most effective and which types of wounds were most likely to benefit.However, a more detailed review by the Cochrane Library found no evidence that electromagnetic therapy, a subset of electrotherapy, was effective in healing pressure ulcers or venous stasis ulcer

use of eletrotherapy

In 1855 Guillaume Duchenne, the father of electrotherapy, announced that alternating was superior to direct current for electrotherapeutic triggering of muscle contractions. What he called the 'warming affect' of direct currents irritated the skin, since, at voltage strengths needed for muscle contractions, they cause the skin to blister (at the anode) and pit (at the cathode). Furthermore, with DC each contraction requiring the current to be stopped and restarted. Moreover alternating current could produce strong muscle contractions regardless of the condition of the muscle, whereas DC-induced contractions were strong if the muscle was strong, and weak if the muscle was weak.

Since that time almost all rehabilitation involving muscle contraction has been done with a symmetrical rectangular biphasic waveform. In the 1940s, however, the US War Department, investigating the application of electrical stimulation not just to retard and prevent atrophy but to restore muscle mass and strength, employed what was termed galvanic exercise on the atrophied hands of patients who had an ulnar nerve lesion from surgery upon a wound. These Galvanic exercises employed a monophasic wave form, direct current - electrochemistry.