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In a normal person, when a muscle tendon is tapped briskly, the muscle immediately contracts due to a two-neuron reflex arc involving the spinal or brainstem segment that innervates the muscle. The afferent neuron whose cell body lies in a dorsal root ganglion innervates the muscle or Golgi tendon organ associated with the muscles; the efferent neuron is an alpha motoneuron in the anterior horn of the cord. The cerebral cortex and a number of brainstem nuclei exert influence over the sensory input of the muscle spindles by means of the gamma motoneurons that are located in the anterior horn; these neurons supply a set of muscle fibers that control the length of the muscle spindle itself.
The essential components of the human cardiovascular system are the heart, blood and blood vessels. It includes the pulmonary circulation, a "loop" through the lungs where blood is oxygenated; and the systemic circulation, a "loop" through the rest of the body to provide oxygenated blood.
Skin cancer is the most common of all cancer types, accounting for an estimated one third of all new cases. It’s important to take the right steps to ensure proper protection and adopt good sun care habits no matter what your age or stage in life.
Biliary and Pancreatic Sphincterotomies for Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction
This 43 year old woman has severe recurrent RUQ pain post cholecystectomy. Liver and pancreatic chemistries and duct size are normal, but pancreatic manometry is abnormal. The plan is to perform dual biliary and pancreatic sphincterotomy. The pancreatic duct is cannulated with a 3.9 French tip tr...iple lumen papillotome loaded with a 0.025 inch Jagwire. Contrast is injected to outline the course of the duct. The wire is passed to the tail. Notice the knuckling of the wire into the tail. This provides a safety loop, but is only safe in a small duct with use of a smaller caliber wire. Then with the wire securely in PD, papillotome is used to cannulate the bile duct. Placement of the wire in PD guarantees access for pancreatic stent placement, which is mandatory in these patients to reduce risk, it also facilitates difficult biliary cannulation. Here is the fluoroscopic view as the papillotome is passed deep into bile duct. This shows wires in the CBD and PD. Now a biliary sphincterotomy is performed, with the pancreatic guidewire in place beside the papillotome. The scope is pushed into a longer position to orient up the middle of the papilla. The sphincterotomy is done in very careful stepwise fashion to avoid perforation. Now the biliary wire is removed and the papillotome passed over the pancreatic wire for pancreatic sphincterotomy. The incision is aimed back up towards the biliary sphincterotomy to ensure the septum only is cut. Note the large pancreatic orifice. Last, a 4 French 9cm unflanged soft material pancreatic stent is placed. We always use single pigtail design to avoid inward migration of the stent. The long unflanged design allows spontaneous passage within a few weeks.
Obesity is one of the most pervasive, chronic diseases in need of new strategies for medical treatment and prevention. As a leading cause of United States mortality, morbidity, disability, healthcare utilization and healthcare costs, the high prevalence of obesity continues to strain the United States healthcare system. Obesity is defined as excess adipose tissue. There are several different methods for determining excess adipose (fat) tissue; the most common being the Body Mass Index (BMI) (see below). A fat cell is an endocrine cell and adipose tissue is an endocrine organ. As such, adipose tissue secretes a number of products, including metabolites, cytokines, lipids, and coagulation factors among others. Significantly, excess adiposity or obesity causes increased levels of circulating fatty acids and inflammation. This can lead to insulin resistance, which in turn can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Overweight does not necessarily equal unhealthy. There are actually plenty of overweight people who are in excellent health (1). Conversely, many normal weight people have the metabolic problems associated with obesity (2). That’s because the fat under the skin is actually not that big of a problem (at least not from a health standpoint, it’s more of a cosmetic problem). It’s the fat in the abdominal cavity, the belly fat, that causes the biggest issues (3). If you have a lot of excess fat around your waistline, even if you’re not very heavy, then you should take some steps to get rid of it. Belly fat is usually estimated by measuring the circumference around your waist. This can easily be done at home with a simple tape measure. Anything above 40 inches (102 cm) in men and 35 inches (88 cm) in women, is known as abdominal obesity. There are actually a few proven strategies that have been shown to target the fat in the belly area more than other areas of the body.
Frostbite is an injury caused by freezing of the skin and underlying tissues. First your skin becomes very cold and red, then numb, hard and pale. Frostbite is most common on the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin. Exposed skin in cold, windy weather is most vulnerable to frostbite. But frostbite can occur on skin covered by gloves or other clothing. Frostnip, the first stage of frostbite, doesn't cause permanent skin damage. You can treat very mild frostbite with first-aid measures, including rewarming your skin. All other frostbite requires medical attention because it can damage skin, tissues, muscle and bones. Possible complications of severe frostbite include infection and nerve damage.