casa

case history the collected data concerning an individual, the family, and environment; it includes the medical history and any other information that may be useful in analyzing and diagnosing the case or for instructional or research purposes.

case method a type of nursing care delivery system; see nursing practice.

case mix the groups of patients requiring similar tests, procedures, and resources that are treated at a particular hospital. Case mix is a way to define a hospital's production and has been identified as a major factor in differing costs among hospitals and among individual patients.

A. You can start with life style changes: if you have symptoms during the night, you can try to elevate the head of your bed. You can try to avoid foods that induce reflux: fatty foods, chocolate, peppermint, and excessive alcohol. Cola, red wine, and orange juice are very acidic, so it would be wise to avoid them too, In addition to these, you can try to use a diary to reveal which kind of food causes symptoms and avoid it.

Try to refrain from lying down immediately after a meal, or eating just before bedtime. Overweight is a risk factor for reflux, so if it's relevant weight reduction is also recommended.

If you feel heartburn, you may chew in order to increase salivation and thus alleviate the symptoms. Smoking has a negative effect on salivation, so smoking cessation is also recommended.

And that's before we even mentioned OTC drugs...

A. I know how frustrating this is! I got this from a Biopsych text:

"Many cases of insomnia are...physician created--in large part because sleeping pills, which are usually prescribed by physicians, are a major cause of insomnia. At first...drugs are effective in increasing sleep, but soon the patient is trapped in a rising spiral as tolerance to the drug develops.
"In one study insomniacs claimed to take an average of 1 hour to fall asleep and to sleep an average of only 4.5 hours per night; but when they were tested in a sleep lab they were found to have an average sleep latency of only 15 minutes and an average nightly sleep duration of 6.5 hours.
"One of the most effective treatments..is sleep restriction therapy. First, the amount of time spent in bed is substantially reduced. Then after a period of sleep restriction, time is gradually increased as long as sleep latency remains in a normal range. Even sever insomnia often benefit from this treatment"(Pinel,

A. I'm not sure that autism is more common today but rather it's diagnosed better - the diagnosis isn't trivial, and in the past many times autistic children were diagnosed as suffering from childhood schizophrenia or other diseases.