This video, Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that can affect more than just your joints. In some people, the condition also can damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels. An autoimmune disorder, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your own body's tissues. Unlike the wear-and-tear damage of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of your joints, causing a painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity. The inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis is what can damage other parts of the body as well. While new types of medications have improved treatment options dramatically, severe rheumatoid arthritis can still cause physical disabilities.

Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that, over time, can cause some of the vertebrae in your spine to fuse. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture. If ribs are affected, it can be difficult to breathe deeply. Ankylosing spondylitis affects men more often than women. Signs and symptoms typically begin in early adulthood. Inflammation also can occur in other parts of your body — most commonly, your eyes. There is no cure for ankylosing spondylitis, but treatments can lessen your symptoms and possibly slow progression of the disease.

Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic arthritis. In some people, it is mild, with just occasional flare ups. In other people, it is continuous and can cause joint damage if it is not treated. Early diagnosis is important to avoid damage to joints. Psoriatic arthritis typically occurs in people with skin psoriasis, but it can occur in people without skin psoriasis, particularly in those who have relatives with psoriasis. Psoriatic arthritis typically affects the large joints, especially those of the lower extremities, distal joints of the fingers and toes, and also can affect the back and sacroiliac joints of the pelvis. For most people, appropriate treatments will relieve pain, protect the joints, and maintain mobility. Physical activity helps maintain joint movement. Psoriatic arthritis is sometimes misdiagnosed as gout, rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. - See more at: http://www.rheumatology.org/I-Am-A/Patient-Caregiver/Diseases-Conditions/Psoriatic-Arthritis#sthash.VsBTUw76.dpuf

Keep tabs on your blood pressure. If it's too high, your risk of a heart attack and heart disease goes up. Stress management, a healthy diet, and regular exercise can help you manage your blood pressure. Your doctor may also prescribe medications to lower your levels.

Injuries and certain medical conditions can result in bleeding. This can trigger anxiety and fear, but bleeding has a healing purpose. Still, you need to understand how to treat common bleeding incidents, like cuts and bloody noses, as well as when to seek medical help.

Though most snakes aren't venomous, the ones with a deadly bite are so scary that many researchers think humans evolved to naturally fear the sinuous creatures. With good reason. In the video, two men milk the venom of a Russell's viper and then show what happens when one drop of that venom mixes with a glassful of human blood. It's terrifying.

Tobacco use is the most common preventable cause of death. About half of the people who don't quit smoking will die of smoking-related problems. Quitting smoking is important for your health. Soon after you quit, your circulation begins to improve, and your blood pressure starts to return to normal. Your sense of smell and taste return, and it's easier for you to breathe. In the long term, giving up tobacco can help you live longer. Your risk of getting cancer decreases with each year you stay smoke-free. Quitting is not easy. You may have short-term affects such as weight gain, irritability, and anxiety. Some people try several times before they succeed. There are many ways to quit smoking. Some people stop "cold turkey." Others benefit from step-by-step manuals, counseling, or medicines or products that help reduce nicotine addiction. Some people think that switching to e-cigarettes can help you quit smoking, but that has not been proven. Your health care provider can help you find the best way for you to quit.

Catheters can be placed in veins in the neck (internal jugular vein), chest (subclavian vein or axillary vein), groin (femoral vein), or through veins in the arms (also known as a PICC line, or peripherally inserted central catheters).

A torn meniscus is one of the most common knee injuries. Any activity that causes you to forcefully twist or rotate your knee, especially when putting your full weight on it, can lead to a torn meniscus. Each of your knees has two menisci — C-shaped pieces of cartilage that act like a cushion between your shinbone and your thighbone. A torn meniscus causes pain, swelling and stiffness. You also might feel a block to knee motion and have trouble extending your knee fully. Conservative treatment — such as rest, ice and medication — is sometimes enough to relieve the pain of a torn meniscus and give the injury time to heal on its own. In other cases, however, a torn meniscus requires surgical repair.

A central venous catheter (CVC), also known as a central line, central venous line, or central venous access catheter, is a catheter placed into a large vein. Catheters can be placed in veins in the neck (internal jugular vein), chest (subclavian vein or axillary vein), groin (femoral vein), or through veins in the arms (also known as a PICC line, or peripherally inserted central catheters). It is used to administer medication or fluids that are unable to be taken by mouth or would harm a smaller peripheral vein, obtain blood tests (specifically the "central venous oxygen saturation"), and measure central venous pressure.

A renal biopsy is a procedure used to extract kidney tissue for laboratory analysis. The word “renal” describes the kidneys. A renal biopsy is also called a kidney biopsy. The test helps your doctor identify the type of kidney disease you have, how severe it is, and the best treatment for it.

Throat Endoscopy: This video shows the vocal cords while singing

Are you getting enough vitamin B12? Many people don’t, and that deficiency can cause some serious problems. Vitamin B12 does a lot of things for your body. It helps make your DNA and your red blood cells, for examples. Since your body doesn't make vitamin B12, you'll need to get it from animal-based foods or from supplements, and it needs to be consumed on a regular basis. Exactly how much you need and where you should get it from depends on things like your age, the diet you follow, your medical conditions, and in some cases what medications you take.

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.

Varicose veins are caused by weakened valves and veins in your legs. Normally, one-way valves in your veins keep blood flowing from your legs up toward your heart. When these valves do not work as they should, blood collects in your legs, and pressure builds up. The veins become weak, large, and twisted.

Tension pneumothorax describes the progressive accumulation of air in the pleural cavity (normally a potential space) through a defect in the visceral pleura. This leads to positive pressure being maintained and increasing throughout the respiratory cycle causing vessels within the mediastinum to be compressed with catastrophic consequences if left untreated. Clinical signs include hypoxia, hypotension, tachycardia, reduced breath sounds and hyper resonance ipsilaterally, with tracheal deviation (away from the affected side) and distended neck veins being late clinical signs.

For this surgery, your doctor makes a large incision in the abdomen to expose the aorta. Once he or she has opened the abdomen, a graft can be used to repair the aneurysm. Open repair remains the standard procedure for an abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR).

On the rhythm strip, the QRS might be somewhat taller or wider. One commonly seen type of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia is torsades de pointes. Torsades and other polymorphic VT are advanced rhythms which require additional expertise and expert consultation is advised.

Medications to treat high blood pressure Thiazide diuretics. ... Beta blockers. ... Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. ... Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs). ... Calcium channel blockers. ... Renin inhibitors

Indications for endovascular repair of the iliac artery are: Stenosis or (short-segment) occlusion of iliac artery (TASC type A and B, TASC C lesions are controversial) with ipsilateral lower extremity ischemia (lifestyle-limiting, progressive claudication, rest pain, gangrene). Patients with asymptomatic aneurysm greater than 4 cm in diameter. An iliac aneurysm which has also increased in size by 0.5 cm in last six months. Symptomatic iliac artery aneurysms mandate endovascular (or open) repair regardless of size. Patients with long occluded lesions/poor run-off/acute limb ischemia are poor endovascular candidates.