Folic acid, which is also called folate, is a B vitamin. The best food sources of folic acid are fortified cereals. Folic acid plays an important role in the production of red blood cells and helps your baby's neural tube develop into her brain and spinal cord.

If you have been diagnosed with a bulging disc, you are not alone. Bulging discs, also known as a disc protrusion, are a very common occurrence. They usually remain asymptomatic; however, they can cause discomfort and disability in various parts of the body if the disc compresses an adjacent nerve root or the spinal cord. As we age, the outer fibrous portion of our discs can weaken. Pressure from the central core of the disc can then stretch to the outer rim, causing the disc to bulge. If left untreated, the disc can continue to bulge until it tears, which is classified as a herniated disc.

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.

White stretch marks are unsightly marks that are found along the thighs, abdomen and upper arms. These are marks that could be due to a recent weight loss, trauma or pregnancy. Stretch marks can affect your confidence if you wear revealing outfits and so you should do all you can to remove them.

This video: The veins around your anus tend to stretch under pressure and may bulge or swell. Swollen veins (hemorrhoids) can develop from an increase in pressure in the lower rectum. Factors that might cause increased pressure include: Straining during bowel movements.

Watch that video of Removal of a large epidermal cyst in the chest

Management of postpartum hemorrhage at vaginal delivery. The approach to treatment of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) differs somewhat depending on the cause and whether hemorrhage occurs after a vaginal birth or after a cesarean delivery.

A ureteral stent is a thin, hollow tube that is placed in the ureter to help urine pass from the kidney into the bladder. Ureters are the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder. You may have a small amount of blood in your urine for 1 to 3 days after the procedure.

Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. It can occur within seconds or minutes of exposure to something you're allergic to, such as a peanut or the venom from a bee sting. The flood of chemicals released by your immune system during anaphylaxis can cause you to go into shock; your blood pressure drops suddenly and your airways narrow, blocking normal breathing. Signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis include a rapid, weak pulse, a skin rash, and nausea and vomiting. Common triggers of anaphylaxis include certain foods, some medications, insect venom and latex. Anaphylaxis requires an immediate trip to the emergency department and an injection of epinephrine. If anaphylaxis isn't treated right away, it can lead to unconsciousness or even death.

Neurogenic shock is a distributive type of shock resulting in low blood pressure, occasionally with a slowed heart rate, that is attributed to the disruption of the autonomic pathways within the spinal cord. It can occur after damage to the central nervous system such as spinal cord injury.

During surgery to repair the hernia, the bulging tissue is pushed back in. Your abdominal wall is strengthened and supported with sutures (stitches), and sometimes mesh. This repair can be done with open or laparoscopic surgery. You and your surgeon can discuss which type of surgery is right for you.

Our specialists treat conditions that are recurrent and hard to treat. Simply put, TPIAT a procedure that lets surgeons remove the pancreas, take out islet cells – the cells in the pancreas that make insulin – and put those islet cells into the liver. Patients then take pancreatic enzymes to help them digest food.

Treatment for kidney stones varies, depending on the type of stone and the cause. Small stones with minimal symptoms Most kidney stones won't require invasive treatment. You may be able to pass a small stone by: Drinking water. Drinking as much as 2 to 3 quarts (1.9 to 2.8 liters) a day may help flush out your urinary system. Unless your doctor tells you otherwise, drink enough fluid — mostly water — to produce clear or nearly clear urine. Pain relievers. Passing a small stone can cause some discomfort. To relieve mild pain, your doctor may recommend pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve). Medical therapy. Your doctor may give you a medication to help pass your kidney stone. This type of medication, known as an alpha blocker, relaxes the muscles in your ureter, helping you pass the kidney stone more quickly and with less pain. Large stones and those that cause symptoms Kidney stones that can't be treated with conservative measures — either because they're too large to pass on their own or because they cause bleeding, kidney damage or ongoing urinary tract infections — may require more extensive treatment. Procedures may include: Using sound waves to break up stones. For certain kidney stones — depending on size and location — your doctor may recommend a procedure called extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). ESWL uses sound waves to create strong vibrations (shock waves) that break the stones into tiny pieces that can be passed in your urine. The procedure lasts about 45 to 60 minutes and can cause moderate pain, so you may be under sedation or light anesthesia to make you comfortable. ESWL can cause blood in the urine, bruising on the back or abdomen, bleeding around the kidney and other adjacent organs, and discomfort as the stone fragments pass through the urinary tract. Surgery to remove very large stones in the kidney. A procedure called percutaneous nephrolithotomy (nef-row-lih-THOT-uh-me) involves surgically removing a kidney stone using small telescopes and instruments inserted through a small incision in your back. You will receive general anesthesia during the surgery and be in the hospital for one to two days while you recover. Your doctor may recommend this surgery if ESWL was unsuccessful. Using a scope to remove stones. To remove a smaller stone in your ureter or kidney, your doctor may pass a thin lighted tube (ureteroscope) equipped with a camera through your urethra and bladder to your ureter. Once the stone is located, special tools can snare the stone or break it into pieces that will pass in your urine. Your doctor may then place a small tube (stent) in the ureter to relieve swelling and promote healing. You may need general or local anesthesia during this procedure. Parathyroid gland surgery. Some calcium phosphate stones are caused by overactive parathyroid glands, which are located on the four corners of your thyroid gland, just below your Adam's apple. When these glands produce too much parathyroid hormone (hyperparathyroidism), your calcium levels can become too high and kidney stones may form as a result. Hyperparathyroidism sometimes occurs when a small, benign tumor forms in one of your parathyroid glands or you develop another condition that leads these glands to produce more parathyroid hormone. Removing the growth from the gland stops the formation of kidney stones. Or your doctor may recommend treatment of the condition that's causing your parathyroid gland to overproduce the hormone.

The accumulation of ascitic fluid represents a state of total-body sodium and water excess, but the event that initiates the unbalance is unclear. Although many pathogenic processes have been implicated in the development of abdominal ascites, about 75% likely occur as a result of portal hypertension in the setting of liver cirrhosis, with the remainder due to infective, inflammatory, and infiltrative conditions. Three theories of ascites formation have been proposed: underfilling, overflow, and peripheral arterial vasodilation. The underfilling theory suggests that the primary abnormality is inappropriate sequestration of fluid within the splanchnic vascular bed due to portal hypertension and a consequent decrease in effective circulating blood volume. This activates the plasma renin, aldosterone, and sympathetic nervous system, resulting in renal sodium and water retention. The overflow theory suggests that the primary abnormality is inappropriate renal retention of sodium and water in the absence of volume depletion. This theory was developed in accordance with the observation that patients with cirrhosis have intravascular hypervolemia rather than hypovolemia. The most recent theory, the peripheral arterial vasodilation hypothesis, includes components of both of the other theories. It suggests that portal hypertension leads to vasodilation, which causes decreased effective arterial blood volume. As the natural history of the disease progresses, neurohumoral excitation increases, more renal sodium is retained, and plasma volume expands. This leads to overflow of fluid into the peritoneal cavity. The vasodilation theory proposes that underfilling is operative early and overflow is operative late in the natural history of cirrhosis. Although the sequence of events that occurs between the development of portal hypertension and renal sodium retention is not entirely clear, portal hypertension apparently leads to an increase in nitric oxide levels. Nitric oxide mediates splanchnic and peripheral vasodilation. Hepatic artery nitric oxide synthase activity is greater in patients with ascites than in those without ascites. Regardless of the initiating event, a number of factors contribute to the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity. Elevated levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine are well-documented factors. Hypoalbuminemia and reduced plasma oncotic pressure favor the extravasation of fluid from the plasma to the peritoneal fluid, and, thus, ascites is infrequent in patients with cirrhosis unless both portal hypertension and hypoalbuminemia are present.

Lungs Inflating

Keratoplasty is the procedure whereby abnormal corneal tissue is replaced by a healthy donor cornea.

Ankle fusion (arthrodesis) This is a surgical procedure which joins together the main bones of the ankle joint (the tibia and the talus). However, depending on the technique your surgeon will use, occasionally the fibula will be included in this procedure. The two joint surfaces which generate the pain are removed.

A ureteral stent, sometimes as well called ureteric stent, is a thin tube inserted into the ureter to prevent or treat obstruction of the urine flow from the kidney. The length of the stents used in adult patients varies between 24 to 30 cm.

Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) is vasculitis of small vessels. It was initially considered as a microscopic form of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN). In 1990, the American College of Rheumatology developed classification criteria for several types of systemic vasculitis but did not distinguish between polyarteritis nodosa and microscopic polyarteritis nodosa. [1] In 1994, a group of experts held an international consensus conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to attempt to redefine the classification of small vessel vasculitides. [2, 3]

Medical Terminology