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Claudication, which is defined as reproducible ischemic muscle pain, is one of the most common manifestations of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) caused by atherosclerosis. Claudication occurs during physical activity and is relieved after a short rest. Pain develops because of inadequate blood flow.
Tendons are thick cords that join your muscles to your bones. When these tendons become irritated or inflamed, it is called tendinitis. This condition causes acute pain and tenderness, making it difficult to move the affected joint. Read more
A pheochromocytoma (fee-o-kroe-moe-sy-TOE-muh) is a rare, usually noncancerous (benign) tumor that develops in cells in the center of an adrenal gland. You have two adrenal glands, one above each kidney. Your adrenal glands produce hormones that give instructions to virtually every organ and tissue in your body. If you have a pheochromocytoma, an adrenal gland releases hormones that cause persistent or episodic high blood pressure. If left untreated, a pheochromocytoma can result in severe or life-threatening damage to other body systems, especially the cardiovascular system. Most people with a pheochromocytoma are between the ages of 20 and 50, but the tumor can develop at any age. Surgical treatment to remove a pheochromocytoma usually returns blood pressure to normal.
The spleen, a spongy, soft organ about as big as a person’s fist, is located in the upper left part of the abdomen, just under the rib cage. The splenic artery brings blood to the spleen from the heart. Blood leaves the spleen through the splenic vein, which drains into a larger vein (the portal vein) that carries the blood to the liver. The spleen has a covering of fibrous tissue (the splenic capsule) that supports its blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. The spleen is made up of two basic types of tissue, each with different functions: White pulp Red pulp The white pulp is part of the infection-fighting (immune) system. It produces white blood cells called lymphocytes, which in turn produce antibodies (specialized proteins that protect against invasion by foreign substances). The red pulp filters the blood, removing unwanted material. The red pulp contains other white blood cells called phagocytes that ingest microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses. It also monitors red blood cells, destroying those that are abnormal or too old or damaged to function properly. In addition, the red pulp serves as a reservoir for different elements of the blood, especially white blood cells and platelets (cell-like particles involved in clotting). However, releasing these elements is a minor function of the red pulp.
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.
When food is taken, it is broken down into smaller components. Sugars and carbohydrates are thus broken down into glucose for the body to utilize them as an energy source. The liver is also able to manufacture glucose. In normal persons the hormone insulin, which is made by the beta cells of the pancreas, regulates how much glucose is in the blood. When there is excess of glucose in blood, insulin stimulates cells to absorb enough glucose from the blood for the energy that they need. Insulin also stimulates the liver to absorb and store any excess glucose that is in the blood. Insulin release is triggered after a meal when there is a rise in blood glucose. When blood glucose levels fall, during exercise for example, insulin levels fall too. High insulin will promote glucose uptake, glycolysis (break down of glucose), and glycogenesis (formation of storage form of glucose called glycogen), as well as uptake and synthesis of amino acids, proteins, and fat. Low insulin will promote gluconeogenesis (breakdown of various substrates to release glucose), glycogenolysis (breakdown of glycogen to release gluose), lipolysis (breakdown of lipids to release glucose), and proteolysis (breakdown of proteins to release glucose). Insulin acts via insulin receptors.
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.
If you have multiple sclerosis (MS), you probably had several tests done before you received your diagnosis. There isn’t one test to diagnosis MS, so testing can vary. Doctors can use neurological exams, information about previous symptoms, blood tests, and spinal fluid tests. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan isn’t used to diagnose MS but rather to rule out other diseases. A diagnosis of MS requires more information than what a scan alone can give. By looking at more than one test or exam result, doctors can get a clearer picture of what’s going on in your body.
A facet joint injection is a relatively simple, straightforward procedure, and is usually performed in an office based procedure suite or in an ambulatory surgical center. As with many spinal injections, facet joint injections are best performed using fluoroscopy (live X-ray) for guidance to properly target and place the needle (and to help avoid nerve injury or other injury).
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
Red blood cells, which form one of the major constituents of blood, are characterized by the absence of nuclei, hence they are unable to undergo cellular division or generate new erythrocytes from old ones. This eventually leads to cell disintegration, which typically occurs 4 months after the fully developed red blood cells have been in circulation within the bloodstream. During the degeneration of the red blood cells, some components of the hemoglobin are excreted from the body while other parts are conserved.
Neonatal resuscitation skills are essential for all health care providers who are involved in the delivery of newborns. The transition from fetus to newborn requires intervention by a skilled individual or team in approximately 10% of all deliveries. This figure is concerning because 81% of all babies in the United States are born in nonteaching, nonaffiliated level I or II hospitals. In such hospitals, the volume of delivery service may not be perceived as sufficient economic justification for the continuous in-hospital presence of personnel with high-risk delivery room experience, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). [1] Perinatal asphyxia and extreme prematurity are the 2 complications of pregnancy that most frequently necessitate complex resuscitation by skilled personnel. However, only 60% of asphyxiated newborns can be predicted ante partum. The remaining newborns are not identified until the time of birth. Additionally, approximately 80% of low-birth-weight infants require resuscitation and stabilization at delivery. Nearly one half of newborn deaths (many of which involve extremely premature infants) occur during the first 24 hours after birth. Many of these early deaths also have a component of asphyxia or respiratory depression as an etiology. For the surviving infants, effective management of asphyxia in the first few minutes of life may influence long-term outcome. Even though prenatal care can identify many potential fetal difficulties ante partum, allowing maternal transfer to the referral center for care, many women who experience preterm labor are not identified prospectively and therefore are not appropriately transferred to a tertiary perinatal center. Consequently, many deliveries of extremely premature infants occur in smaller hospitals. For this reason, all personnel involved in delivery room care of the newborn should be trained adequately in all aspects of neonatal resuscitation. Additionally, equipment that is appropriately sized to resuscitate infants of all gestational ages should be available in all delivering institutions, even if the institution does not care for preterm or intensive care infants. Along with the necessary skills, the practitioner should approach any resuscitation with a good comprehension of transitional physiology and adaptation, as well as an understanding of the infant's response to resuscitation. Resuscitation involves much more than possessing an ordered list of technical skills and having a resuscitation team; it requires excellent assessment skills and a grounded understanding of physiology.
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.
Diabetic retinopathy involves changes to retinal blood vessels that can cause them to bleed or leak fluid, distorting vision. Diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetes and a leading cause of blindness among working-age adults.