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The cat's stomach is a sac-like structure designed to store large volumes of food and continue the digestive process. The esophagus carries food to the stomach, where it enters via a valve-like structure called the cardiac sphincter. On the interior surface of the stomach is a series of folds called gastric folds. These folds function to help grind and digest food. The inner stomach lining secretes acids and enzymes to break down food. Once the initial stomach digestive process is complete, the partially digested food exits the stomach through the pyloric sphincter area and then enters the duodenum (first segment of the small intestine). Once eaten, most food leaves the stomach within twelve hours after entering.
6 987 24 MORE How Does Anesthesia Work? Credit: itsmejust | Shutterstock If you’ve ever had surgery, unless you are super tough, you’ve gone through it with the benefit of anesthetics. But, how do these body-numbing elixirs work? Prior to the invention of anesthesia in the mid-1800s, surgeons had to hack off limbs, sew up wounds and remove mysterious growths with nothing to dull the patient's pain but opium or booze. While these drugs may have numbed the patient, they didn’t always completely block the pain, or erase the memory of it. Since then, doctors have gotten much better at putting us out with drug combinations that ease pain, relax muscles and, in some cases, put us in a deep state of hypnosis that gives us temporary amnesia. Today, there are two primary types of anesthesia drugs: those that knockout the whole body (general) and those that only numb things up locally.
Most people have general anesthesia right before surgery. This means you will be asleep and pain-free. Other kinds of anesthesia, like regional anesthesia or a block, may also be used for this surgery. The tissue to replace your damaged ACL will come from your own body or from a donor. A donor is a person who has died and chose to give all or part of his or her body to help others. Tissue taken from your own body is called an autograft. The two most common places to take tissue from are the knee cap tendon or the hamstring tendon. Your hamstring is the muscle behind your knee. Tissue taken from a donor is called an allograft. The procedure is usually performed with the help of knee arthroscopy. With arthroscopy, a tiny camera is inserted into the knee through a small surgical cut. The camera is connected to a video monitor in the operating room. Your surgeon will use the camera to check the ligaments and other tissues of your knee. Your surgeon will make other small cuts around your knee and insert other medical instruments. Your surgeon will fix any other damage found, and then will replace your ACL by following these steps: The torn ligament will be removed with a shaver or other instruments. If your own tissue is being used to make your new ACL, your surgeon will make a larger cut. Then, the autograft will be removed through this cut. Your surgeon will make tunnels in your bone to bring the new tissue through. This new tissue will be in the same place as your old ACL. Your surgeon will attach the new ligament to the bone with screws or other devices to hold it in place. As it heals, the bone tunnels fill in. This holds the new ligament in place. At the end of the surgery, your surgeon will close your cuts with sutures (stitches) and cover the area with a dressing. You may be able to view pictures after the procedure of what the doctor saw and what was done during the surgery.
Natural painkiller found in human spit. Compound in saliva could be more powerful than morphine. A new painkilling substance has been discovered that is up to six times more potent than morphine when tested in rats — and it's produced naturally by the human body.
Breast lump removal is surgery to remove a lump that may be breast cancer. Tissue around the lump is also removed. This surgery is called a lumpectomy. When a noncancerous tumor such as a fibroadenoma of the breast is removed, it is often called an excisional breast biopsy, instead of a lumpectomy
Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue. Connective tissue holds all the body’s cells, organs and tissue together. It also plays an important role in helping the body grow and develop properly. marfan_general_2.jpg What is Marfan Syndrome?Connective tissue is made up of proteins. The protein that plays a role in Marfan syndrome is called fibrillin-1. Marfan syndrome is caused by a defect (or mutation) in the gene that tells the body how to make fibrillin-1. This mutation results in an increase in a protein called transforming growth factor beta, or TGF-β. The increase in TGF-β causes problems in connective tissues throughout the body, which in turn creates the features and medical problems associated with Marfan syndrome and some related disorders. Because connective tissue is found throughout the body, Marfan syndrome can affect many different parts of the body, as well. Features of the disorder are most often found in the heart, blood vessels, bones, joints, and eyes. Some Marfan features – for example, aortic enlargement (expansion of the main blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of the body) – can be life-threatening. The lungs, skin and nervous system may also be affected. Marfan syndrome does not affect intelligence.
Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep. People with narcolepsy often find it difficult to stay awake for long periods of time, regardless of the circumstances. Narcolepsy can cause serious disruptions in your daily routine. Sometimes, narcolepsy can be accompanied by a sudden loss of muscle tone (cataplexy) that leads to weakness and loss of muscle control. Cataplexy is often triggered by a strong emotion, most commonly laughter. Narcolepsy is a chronic condition for which there's no cure. However, medications and lifestyle changes can help you manage the symptoms. Support from others — family, friends, employer, teachers — can help you cope with narcolepsy.
This syndrome was previously known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy, algodystrophy, causalgia, Sudeck atrophy, transient osteoporosis, and acute atrophy of bone. Usually occurring after an injury, CRPS presents with pain out of proportion to the injury, temperature change, edema, and abnormal skin color. Type I CRPS (90% of CRPS cases) occurs without a definable nerve lesion, while type II occurs with a definable nerve lesion. The pathogenesis is likely due to an injury causing increased sensitivity to sympathetic nerves, an abnormal response to and sensation of pain, and increased neuropeptide release causing burning pain to light touch (allodynia).
Red blood cells, most white blood cells, and platelets are produced in the bone marrow, the soft fatty tissue inside bone cavities. Two types of white blood cells, T and B cells (lymphocytes), are also produced in the lymph nodes and spleen, and T cells are produced and mature in the thymus gland.
The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column. The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system (CNS).
An ileostomy is an opening in the belly (abdominal wall) that’s made during surgery. The end of the ileum (the lowest part of the small intestine) is brought through this opening to form a stoma, usually on the lower right side of the abdomen. A Wound Ostomy Continence nurse (WOCN or WOC nurse) or the surgeon will figure out the best location for your stoma. (A WOC nurse is a specially trained registered nurse who takes care of and teaches ostomy patients. This nurse may also be called an ostomy nurse.)
Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder. People with Thalassemia disease are not able to make enough hemoglobin, which causes severe anemia. Hemoglobin is found in red blood cells and carries oxygen to all parts of the body. When there is not enough hemoglobin in the red blood cells, oxygen cannot get to all parts of the body. Organs then become starved for oxygen and are unable to function properly.