Thoracic sympathectomy has been practiced regularly since 1920, attempting to treat a great long list of problems. Today, the most common indications for ETS are "hyperhidrosis", facial blushing, Raynaud's disease and anxiety.

ETS stands for Educational Testing Service. It is the company that creates and administers the GRE, as well as other tests, like the SAT and GMAT. Although often mythologized (and sometimes demonized), the people who work for ETS are not certified geniuses or cruel sadists; they're regular people who just happen to have jobs creating standardized tests.

The best manner to treat hyperhidrosis is to interrupt the stimulus from the sudomotor center to the affected area. For palmar, axilar, and facial areas the stimulus is interrupted to those areas by removing or cutting the sympathetic trunk and its rami. In the past it was necessary to open the chest cavity to do this. In 1947, Dr. E. Kux and his nephew, Dr.

The commonest is compensatory sweating in other parts of the body. While there is no definite answer as to why compensatory sweating occurs everyone experiences it in greater or lesser degree after ETS. A lot of people fear that they will suffer dehydration owing to compensatory sweating. While that may not always be the case there is a risk that about 5%-10% of patients will display severe compensatory sweating.

Yes. From our experience and the experience of many other surgeons who perform this procedure, ETS is very effective in abolishing hand sweating. It does help many patients, although Botox is far more effective and is the treatment of first choice for armpit sweating. See the contact us section if you wish to enquire about Botox injections at our unit.

Many surgeons in the UK perform this operation under the NHS. Contact your GP to see if he/she knows such a surgeon in your area. See the contact us section if you wish to find more details on how to be referred to our unit. Yes, if your doctor has referred you to a specialist who agrees you have hyperhidrosis rather than just a generalised sweating problem.

ETS can be done at all ages. HOWEVER we rarely offer surgical treatment for those below the age of 16-17. In adult patients, we do not often see patients above the age of 50 asking for surgery perhaps because they have become used to their problem over the years. Yes, Quality of life studies have shown significant improvement following surgery. See here for an example of such a study.

No, ETS is a pernament procedure. There has been some success in the last few years in reversing this operation. Clamping the sympathetic nerve can be reversed within the first two weeks.

ETS surgery will alter the function of many organs, glands and muscles. Viewed one at a time, and depending on the original complaint, many of these effects could be considered a benefit. For example, ETS typically will lower heart rate and contraction strength. If the patient feels their heart is overactive, such as in panic attacks, the lowered cardiac output could be considered a benefit.

No. Because of devastating ETS side effects, there is great demand for a reversal procedure. Three types of reversal procedures are available, none has proven effective. For patients who were cut or burned, there are 2 different nerve graft "reversal" operations available, sural and intercostal. In the sural nerve graft (SNG), a piece of the sural nerve is harvested from the left calf and glued into the damaged areas of the sympathetic chain.

Yes. Occasionally with relatively mild cases of hyperhidrosis patients will secure relief through topical agents such as aluminum chloride and patent antiperspirants such as deodorizers. Aluminum-based antiperspirants are popularly known as astringents which plug sweat glands. If you are allergic to a few of the ingredients in the astringents however your skin may develop localized rashes and sting a little.

signatories to the Kyoto Protocol, EU countries have commitments to reduce GHG emissions. Although the Kyoto Protocol identifies national GHG reduction targets and provides some general guidelines, it leaves development of a specific approach to meeting the target with each individual participating country. The EU ETS is the European Union's plan and program to create emission reductions at the facility level to meet its Kyoto GHG reduction commitments.

The EU ETS is currently structured around two periods. The initial period is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2005 and continues until December 31, 2007. The second period runs from January 2008 through December of 2012. This second period coincides with the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. After the second period, there are expectations of additional 5-year periods of the Scheme.