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Asthma was originally described as an inflammatory disease that predominantly involves the central airways. Pathological and physiological evidence reported during the past few years suggests that the inflammatory process extends beyond the central airways to the peripheral airways and the lung parenchyma. The small airways are capable of producing T-helper-2 cytokines, as well as chemokines, and they have recently been recognized as a predominant site of airflow obstruction in asthmatic persons. The inflammation at this distal site has been described as more severe than large airway inflammation. These findings are of great clinical significance, and highlight the need to consider the peripheral airways as a target in any therapeutic strategy for treatment of asthma.
A leg ulcer is simply a break in the skin of the leg, which allows air and bacteria to get into the underlying tissue. This is usually caused by an injury, often a minor one that breaks the skin. In most people such an injury will heal up without difficulty within a week or two. However, when there is an underlying problem the skin does not heal and the area of breakdown can increase in size. This is a chronic leg ulcer.
The bladder is a hollow organ in the lower abdomen (pelvis). It collects and stores urine produced by the kidneys. The bladder is connected to the kidneys by a tube from each kidney called a ureter. When the bladder reaches its capacity of urine, the bladder wall contracts, although adults have voluntary control over the timing of this contraction. At the same time, a urinary control muscle (sphincter) in the urethra relaxes. The urine is then expelled from the bladder. The urine flows through a narrow tube called the urethra and leaves the body. This process is called urination, or micturition.
How do you make a working human heart? Scientists can turn stem cells into beating heart cells, but getting them to organize into a 3D heart requires a scaffold. At the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Harald Ott and his team are reusing the scaffold that nature provides. They’re stripping away all the living cells from dead hearts, before filling in the leftover matrix with healthy new cells. In this video, Brendan Maher finds out how the technique could be used to develop parts of the heart, like the aortic root and valve, for transplant.
Thalassemia (thal-uh-SEE-me-uh) is an inherited blood disorder characterized by less hemoglobin and fewer red blood cells in your body than normal. Several types of thalassemia exist, including alpha-thalassemia, beta-thalassemia intermedia, Cooley's anemia and Mediterranean anemia. Hemoglobin is the substance in your red blood cells that allows them to carry oxygen. The low hemoglobin and fewer red blood cells of thalassemia may cause anemia, leaving you fatigued. If you have mild thalassemia, you may not need treatment. But, if you have a more severe form of thalassemia, you may need regular blood transfusions. You can also take steps on your own to cope with fatigue, such as choosing a healthy diet and exercising regularly.
In your first few months of pregnancy, hormones flood your body. Your baby is still tiny but already your body is changing. Your breasts start to swell and may feel tender. Tiredness, nausea and frequent trips to the loo are common pregnancy symptoms.
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.
Uterine fibroids are noncancerous growths of the uterus that often appear during childbearing years. Also called leiomyomas (lie-o-my-O-muhs) or myomas, uterine fibroids aren't associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer and almost never develop into cancer. Fibroids range in size from seedlings, undetectable by the human eye, to bulky masses that can distort and enlarge the uterus. You can have a single fibroid or multiple ones. In extreme cases, multiple fibroids can expand the uterus so much that it reaches the rib cage. Many women have uterine fibroids sometime during their lives. But most women don't know they have uterine fibroids because they often cause no symptoms. Your doctor may discover fibroids incidentally during a pelvic exam or prenatal ultrasound.
Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a fertility treatment that involves placing sperm inside a woman's uterus to facilitate fertilization. The goal of IUI is to increase the number of sperm that reach the fallopian tubes and subsequently increase the chance of fertilization.
A central venous catheter, also called a central line, is a long, thin, flexible tube used to give medicines, fluids, nutrients, or blood products over a long period of time, usually several weeks or more. A catheter is often inserted in the arm or chest through the skin into a large vein.
The uterus, or womb, is an important female reproductive organ. It is the place where a baby grows when a women is pregnant. There are different types of uterine cancer. The most common type starts in the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. This type of cancer is sometimes called endometrial cancer. The symptoms of uterine cancer include Unusual vaginal bleeding or discharge Trouble urinating Pelvic pain Pain during intercourse Uterine cancer usually occurs after menopause. Being obese and taking estrogen-alone hormone replacement therapy (also called menopausal hormone therapy) also increase your risk. Treatment varies depending on your overall health, how advanced the cancer is and whether hormones affect its growth. Treatment is usually a hysterectomy, which is surgery to remove the uterus. The ovaries and fallopian tubes are also removed. Other options include hormone therapy and radiation.
Women's College Hospital is revolutionizing the way knee-replacement surgery is done. It is starting to provide the procedure as an ambulatory service. Patients can go home from hospital four hours after having the surgery. In some other hospitals knee replacement surgery patients have to stay as long as 4 days.
Read an excerpt from Theresa Boyle's story:
It’s been less than four hours since Greg Nemez underwent knee-replacement surgery and the 56-year-old Mississauga man is already on his way home from hospital.
This past Monday, he became the fifth patient at Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital to undergo the outpatient procedure, which normally requires a hospital stay of two or three days.
“I’m happy ... You have that freedom of movement from before. It’s like wow,” he said on the elevator as he was leaving the hospital.
After years of being unable to hold his leg straight, the real-estate agent can finally do so. A 20-year-old football injury had left him with severe arthritis and pain.
Read the full story:
https://www.thestar.com/news/g....ta/2018/04/11/he-got
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Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a category of cancer treatment that uses chemical substances, especially one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents) that are given as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen.