A C-reactive protein (CRP) test is a blood test that measures the amount of a protein called C-reactive protein in your blood. C-reactive protein measures general levels of inflammation in your body. High levels of CRP are caused by infections and many long-term diseases.

Portal hypertension is an increase in the blood pressure within a system of veins called the portal venous system. ... If the vessels in the liver are blocked due to liver damage, blood cannot flow properly through the liver. As a result, high pressure in the portal system develops

If you look at someone’s back, you’ll see that the spine runs straight down the middle. When a person has scoliosis, their backbone curves to the side. The angle of the curve may be small, large or somewhere in between. But anything that measures more than 10 degrees is considered scoliosis. Doctors may use the letters “C” and “S” to describe the curve of the backbone. You probably don’t look directly at too many spines, but what you might notice about someone with scoliosis is the way they stand. They may lean a little or have shoulders or hips that look uneven. What Causes Scoliosis? In as many as 80% of cases, doctors don’t find the exact reason for a curved spine. Scoliosis without a known cause is what doctors call “idiopathic.” Some kinds of scoliosis do have clear causes. Doctors divide those curves into two types -- structural and nonstructural. In nonstructural scoliosis, the spine works normally, but looks curved. Why does this happen? There are a number of reasons, such as one leg’s being longer than the other, muscle spasms, and inflammations like appendicitis. When these problems are treated, this type of scoliosis often goes away. In structural scoliosis, the curve of the spine is rigid and can’t be reversed

Stapling is used to treat prolapsed hemorrhoids. A surgical staple fixes the prolapsed hemorrhoid back into place inside your rectum and cuts off the blood supply so that the tissue will shrink and be reabsorbed. Stapling recovery takes less time and is less painful than recovery from a hemorrhoidectomy.

The clinician performing the procedure should be familiar with the anatomy of the specific joint and cognizant of the relevant landmarks in order to avoid puncture of tendons, blood vessels, and nerves (see the images below).

It is a specialized bodily fluid that supplies essential substances and nutrients, such as sugar, oxygen, and hormones to our cells, and carries waste away from those cells, this waste is eventually flushed out of the body in urine, feces, sweat, and lungs (carbon dioxide). Blood also contains clotting agents.

Cervical cerclage can be placed via transvaginal, open transabdominal, or laparoscopic transabdominal approach, preferably before pregnancy. Recurrent late miscarriages may be due to a weak (sometimes called an incompetent) cervix that shortens or opens too early in pregnancy. Cervical cerclage involves placing a stitch around the upper part of the cervix to keep it closed; the operation may be carried out through the vagina, or through the abdomen, as an open or laparoscopic ('keyhole') procedure.

Delayed puberty is defined as the absence of any signs suggestive of puberty by 14 years of age. In this case, the patient's pubertal delay appears to be constitutional because of his positive family history, absence of syndromic features or systemic illness, and bone age of 12 years. Puberty correlates more closely with bone age than chronological age. On follow-up, the patient will most likely demonstrate a similar onset of puberty as his father.

Pelvic ureter. The ureter enters the pelvis, where it crosses anteriorly to the iliac vessels, which usually occurs at the bifurcation of the common iliac artery into the internal and external iliac arteries. Here, the ureters are within 5 cm of one another before they diverge laterally.

Upper right quadrant: The right upper quadrant contains the liver and gallbladder, which are protected by the lower right part of the ribcage. The large intestine, or colon, also spends a little time in this section. Upper left quadrant: The left upper quadrant contains part of the stomach and the spleen.

Your egg usually lives for just 12 to 24 hours, but sperm will live inside you for anything from a few hours to seven days, with one to three days the optimum time. ... But because a small number of sperm are long-living, having sex up to six days before ovulation can also result in pregnancy.

It's a symptom of heart disease but typically does not cause permanent damage to the heart. It is, though, a sign that you are a candidate for a heart attack at some point in the future. The chest pain may spread to your arm, shoulder, jaw, or back. It may feel like a pressure or squeezing sensation.

complications from using a urinary catheter include: allergic reaction to the material used in the catheter, such as latex. bladder stones. blood in the urine. injury to the urethra. kidney damage (with long-term indwelling catheters) septicemia, or infection of the urinary tract, kidneys, or blood.

A bowel obstruction happens when either your small or large intestine is partly or completely blocked. The blockage prevents food, fluids, and gas from moving through the intestines in the normal way. The blockage may cause severe pain that comes and goes. This topic covers a blockage caused by tumors, scar tissue, or twisting or narrowing of the intestines. It does not cover ileus, which most commonly happens after surgery on the belly (abdominal surgery). What causes a bowel obstruction? Tumors, scar tissue (adhesions), or twisting or narrowing of the intestines can cause a bowel obstruction. These are called mechanical obstructions . In the small intestine, scar tissue is most often the cause. Other causes include hernias and Crohn's disease, which can twist or narrow the intestine, and tumors, which can block the intestine. A blockage also can happen if one part of the intestine folds like a telescope into another part, which is called intussusception.

Colorectal cancer (also known as colon cancer, rectal cancer or bowel cancer) is the development of cancer in the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. People with HNPCC tend to develop colon cancer before age 50. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). FAP is a rare disorder that causes you to develop thousands of polyps in the lining of your colon and rectum. People with untreated FAP have a greatly increased risk of developing colon cancer before age 40.

The arm and leg muscles are affected later. Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease — a disease that occurs when the immune system attacks the body's own tissues. In MG, that attack interrupts the connection between nerve and muscle — the neuromuscular junction.

Dr. Chadrick Denlinger, MUSC transplant surgeon, describes what must take place when a patient receives a lung transplant.

why you should keep your ears clean.

There are a number of different causes of vertigo. Vertigo can be defined based upon whether the cause is peripheral or central. Central causes of vertigo arise in the brain or spinal cord while peripheral vertigo is due to a problem within the inner ear. The inner ear can become inflamed because of illness, or small crystals or stones found normally within the inner ear can become displaced and cause irritation to the small hair cells within the semicircular canals, leading to vertigo. This is known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

The liver also detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs. As it does so, the liver secretes bile that ends up back in the intestines. The liver also makes proteins important for blood clotting and other functions. First, for those impatient, short answers to the mini-questions (if you're reading this in the news feed, you may want to click through for the question details): No one knows why we evolved 2 kidneys and one liver.