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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Email this page to a friend Print Facebook Twitter Google+ Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common lung disease. Having COPD makes it hard to breathe. There are two main forms of COPD: Chronic bronchitis, which involves a long-term cough with mucus Emphysema, which involves damage to the lungs over time Most people with COPD have a combination of both conditions. Causes Smoking is the main cause of COPD. The more a person smokes, the more likely that person will develop COPD. But some people smoke for years and never get COPD. In rare cases, nonsmokers who lack a protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin can develop emphysema. Emphysema Other risk factors for COPD are: Exposure to certain gases or fumes in the workplace Exposure to heavy amounts of secondhand smoke and pollution Frequent use of a cooking fire without proper ventilation Symptoms Symptoms may include any of the following: Cough, with or without mucous Fatigue Many respiratory infections Shortness of breath (dyspnea) that gets worse with mild activity Trouble catching one's breath Wheezing Because the symptoms develop slowly, some people may not know that they have COPD.
Pain in the affected bone is the most common complaint of patients with bone cancer. At first, the pain is not constant. It may be worse at night or when the bone is used (for example, leg pain when walking). As the cancer grows, the pain will be there all the time. The pain increases with activity and the person might limp if a leg is involved.
A visual prosthesis, often referred to as a bionic eye, is an experimental visual device intended to restore functional vision in those suffering from partial or total blindness. In 1983 Joao Lobo Antunes, a Portuguese doctor, implanted a bionic eye in a person born blind.
Surgery to replace an aortic valve is done for aortic valve stenosis and aortic valve regurgitation. During this surgery, the damaged valve is removed and replaced with an artificial valve. The valve replacement is typically an open-heart surgery.
A blood transfusion is a routine medical procedure that can be lifesaving. During a blood transfusion, donated blood is added to your own blood. A blood transfusion may also be done to supplement various components of your blood with donated blood products. In some cases, a blood transfusion is done with blood that you've donated ahead of time before you undergo elective surgery. During a typical blood transfusion, certain parts of blood are delivered through an intravenous (IV) line that's placed in one of the veins in your arm. A blood transfusion usually takes one to four hours, though in an emergency it can be done much faster.
Dialysis patients need to choose their heart medicine carefully, as Canadian researchers say that some beta blockers are easily removed from the blood during treatment. Also, people who eat a Mediterranean diet may decrease their risk of developing kidney problems. Eboni Williams reports on the day's top health news.
Of the many factors that affect your compatibility with a man, one of the biggest (or smallest) is in his pants. As with humour, interests or habits, the wrong fit can leave you cold. Or traumatised. In a study of 1,661 penises, Dr Debby Herbenick, author of Sex Made Easy, found an almost nine-inch difference in erection size: from 1.6 inches to 10.2. And since absolutely nothing outside the package tells you what to expect with the package, you have to test compatibility the hard way. Sometimes you hit your jackpot, sometimes it's just fine, and sometimes he's the guy on either end of that erection spectrum. These writers have been there, so here's what they learned - and how you can deal (without the gasp reflex).
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is an umbrella term for a range of liver conditions affecting people who drink little to no alcohol. As the name implies, the main characteristic of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is too much fat stored in liver cells. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a potentially serious form of the disease, is marked by liver inflammation, which may progress to scarring and irreversible damage. This damage is similar to the damage caused by heavy alcohol use. At its most severe, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is increasingly common around the world, especially in Western nations. In the United States, it is the most common form of chronic liver disease, affecting an estimated 80 to 100 million people. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease occurs in every age group but especially in people in their 40s and 50s who are at high risk of heart disease because of such risk factors as obesity and type 2 diabetes. The condition is also closely linked to metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of abnormalities including increased abdominal fat, poor ability to use the hormone insulin, high blood pressure and high blood levels of triglycerides, a type of fat. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease care at Mayo Clinic Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic Symptoms & causes Aug. 23, 2016 Print Share on: Facebook Twitter References Related Magnetic resonance elastography Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Overview Symptoms & causes Diagnosis & treatment Diagnosis Treatment Departments & specialties Expertise & rankings Locations, travel & lodging Clinical trials Research Costs & insurance Preparing for your appointment Self-management More about In-Depth Multimedia Resources News from Mayo Clinic Advertisement
Pain in the upper thigh can be difficult to diagnose because this area of the body contains many muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This kind of pain may often be due to minor muscle injuries that are treatable at home. When the pain is intense or does not go away, however, it may signal a more serious problem. In this video, we examine some common causes of pain in the upper thigh, along with any symptoms that may occur alongside. We also take a look at the treatment options and how to prevent this type of pain.
Eye cancers can be primary (starts within the eye) and metastatic cancer (spread to the eye from another organ). The two most common cancers that spread to the eye from another organ are breast cancer and lung cancer. Other less common sites of origin include the prostate, kidney, thyroid, skin, colon and blood or bone marrow. Melanomas (choroidal, ciliary body and uveal) -Early stages has no symptoms (the person does not know there is a tumor until an ophthalmology examination). As the tumor grows, symptoms can be blurred vision, decreased vision, double vision, eventual vision loss and if they continue to grow the tumor can break past the retina causing retinal detachment.
Repairing a myelomeningocele in utero, rather than after birth, reduces the risk for fetal or neonatal death and the need for shunting by age 1 and substantially improves neurologic and motor outcomes. However, it is not without maternal and fetal risks. These are the findings, in a nutshell, of the long-awaited Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS), which were published online February 9 in The New England Journal of Medicine.