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A peak flow meter is an inexpensive, portable, handheld device for those with asthma that is used to measure how well air moves out of your lungs. Measuring your peak flow using this meter is an important part of managing your asthma symptoms and preventing an asthma attack.
Shoulder dystocia is a specific case of obstructed labour whereby after the delivery of the head, the anterior shoulder of the infant cannot pass below, or requires significant manipulation to pass below, the pubic symphysis. It is diagnosed when the shoulders fail to deliver shortly after the fetal head. Shoulder dystocia is an obstetric emergency, and fetal demise can occur if the infant is not delivered, due to compression of the umbilical cord within the birth canal. It occurs in approximately 0.3-1% of vaginal births. Contemporary management of shoulder dystocia requires a calm operator and a well-thought-out plan of action. It is imperative that if not already present, help is summoned immediately after shoulder dystocia is recognized. This help may include additional nursing staff, an anesthesiologist, a pediatrician or neonatologist and an additional obstetrician or midwife. Future coordination may demonstrate that rapid response teams are best suited to attend to this emergency.
A simple test of fingernail clippings could replace a blood draw as a way to diagnose and monitor type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with huge implications for tracking the disease in the developing world. Research on this method by a team of Belgian researchers was reported July 28, 2015, at the 2015 American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo in Atlanta. The team, led by Joris R. Delanghe, MD, PhD, of the Department of Global Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology at Ghent University, collected nail clippings from 25 people with T2DM and 25 without the disease. The clippings were ground into a powder and tested with an inexpensive FT-IR photometer to measure how much the protein in the nails had bonded with sugar molecules, a process known as glycation. “We found a striking difference in the measurements between the control group and the patients with diabetes,” Delanghe said. In an interview with Evidence-Based Diabetes Management, he said replacing the standard blood test to measure glycated hemoglobin is a huge advantage. In many cultures, he said, “Taking blood is something that cannot be tolerated.” - See more at: http://www.ajmc.com/journals/evidence-based-diabetes-management/2015/september-2015/fingernail-tests-may-offer-cheap-simple-way-to-diagnose-diabetes#sthash.XQxnBcNO.dpuf
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.
Smallpox disease is a serious, highly contagious, and often life-threatening infection marked by a rash of round pox (blisters) on the face, arms, and legs. It is caused by the Variola virus. The last case of smallpox in the United States was in 1949.
Mysterious things happen in nature, and extraordinary birth delivery facts amaze and astound us. And "The baby who didn't know he was born" is one of them; the reason was because his mother didn't break water, so the little one thought was still in the womb. Of course, the amniotic sac was later broken by the doctor, and as soon as this happened the baby began to breath and cry.
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.
Megacolon, as well as megarectum, is a descriptive term. It denotes dilatation of the colon that is not caused by mechanical obstruction.[1, 2] Although the definition of megacolon has varied in the literature, most researchers use the measurement of greater than 12 cm for the cecum as the standard. Because the diameter of the large intestine varies, the following definitions would also be considered: greater than 6.5 cm in the rectosigmoid region and greater than 8 cm for the ascending colon. Megacolon can be divided into the following 3 categories: Acute megacolon ( pseudo-obstruction) Chronic megacolon, which includes congenital, acquired, and idiopathic causes Toxic megacolon
A needle is inserted into a joint for two main indications: aspiration of fluid (arthrocentesis) for diagnosis or for relief of pressure, or injection of medications. In practical terms, most injections into joints consist of a glucocorticoid, a local anesthetic, or a combination of the two. Occasionally saline is injected into the joint to diagnose a joint injury. This topic will review the basic technique of inserting a needle into a joint and the main indications for intraarticular steroid injections. The same techniques apply for injection of the less commonly used hyaluronate viscosupplementation agents into knees, hips, and perhaps shoulders.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) occurs when fluid builds up in the tiny, elastic air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs. More fluid in your lungs means less oxygen can reach your bloodstream. This deprives your organs of the oxygen they need to function. ARDS typically occurs in people who are already critically ill or who have significant injuries. Severe shortness of breath — the main symptom of ARDS — usually develops within a few hours to a few days after the original disease or trauma. Many people who develop ARDS don't survive. The risk of death increases with age and severity of illness. Of the people who do survive ARDS, some recover completely while others experience lasting damage to their lungs.
An estimated 900,000 knee replacements are performed in the U.S. every year, but experts say about 15% of patients aren’t totally pleased with the outcome. An advancement in technology is focused on improving those outcomes.
In most cases, your body's immune system defeats an HPV infection before it creates warts. When warts do appear, they vary in appearance depending on which variety of HPV is involved: Genital warts. These appear as flat lesions, small cauliflower-like bumps or tiny stem-like protrusions. In women, genital warts appear mostly on the vulva but can also occur near the anus, on the cervix or in the vagina. In men, genital warts appear on the penis and scrotum or around the anus. Genital warts rarely cause discomfort or pain, though they may itch. Common warts. Common warts appear as rough, raised bumps and usually occur on the hands, fingers or elbows. In most cases, common warts are simply unsightly, but they can also be painful or susceptible to injury or bleeding.