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Pericarditis is an inflammation of the lining surrounding the heart (the pericardial sac). Pericardial effusion is a collection of fluid in the pericardial sac. This fluid may be produced by inflammation. The cause of pericarditis in most individuals is unknown but is likely due to viral infection.
Most blisters caused by friction or minor burns do not require a doctor's care. New skin will form underneath the affected area and the fluid is simply absorbed. Do not puncture a blister unless it is large, painful, or likely to be further irritated. The fluid-filled blister keeps the underlying skin clean, which prevents infection and promotes healing.
Dysentery is an infection of the intestines causing diarrhoea that contains blood or mucus. There are two main types of dysentery: Shigellosis, or bacillary dysentery, is the most common type experienced in the UK, caused by the shigella bacteria. Amoebic dysentery, also called amoebiasis, is caused by a single-celled parasite called Entamoeba histolytica. This form of dysentery is more common abroad in tropical countries. This article focuses on amoebic dysentery, This is usually caused by poor hygiene or contaminated food or water. Amoebic dysentery is a notifiable disease, so your GP must let the local health authority know if you have contracted it. Causes of amoebic dysentery Once inside the body, amoeba clump together to form a cyst that is protected by the stomach’s digestive acid. When the cyst passes through the intestines it breaks open infecting the body. The amoebae burrow into the intestinal wall and cause small ulcers or abscesses. Cysts exit the body via faeces but are still able to live outside, which is how many people become infected. Severe dysentery is more common in developing countries due to compromised hygiene. You can get sick in a number of ways including: Eating contaminated food Drinking contaminated water Contracting dysentery from another infected person. Symptoms of amoebic dysentery Symptoms can appear as many as 10 days after exposure and infection by the parasite. Signs of infection include: Watery diarrhoea with blood or pus in it Nausea or vomiting Stomach pain High temperature Chills Bleeding from back passage (rectum) Weight loss Loss of appetite. Complications of amoebic dysentery If the parasite gets into your bloodstream it can spread to other parts of your body, including the liver. When this happens you run the risk of developing a liver abscess. Symptoms include: High temperature Weakness Cough Jaundice Nausea Loss of appetite Weight loss
Familial Mediterranean fever is an inflammatory disorder that causes recurrent fevers and painful inflammation of your abdomen, lungs and joints. Familial Mediterranean fever is an inherited disorder that usually occurs in people of Mediterranean origin — including Sephardic Jews, Arabs, Greeks, Italians, Armenians and Turks. But it may affect any ethnic group. Familial Mediterranean fever is typically diagnosed during childhood. While there's no cure for this disorder, you may be able to relieve signs and symptoms of familial Mediterranean fever — or even prevent them altogether — by sticking to your treatment plan.
Thoracentesis (THOR-ah-sen-TE-sis) is a procedure to remove excess fluid in the space between the lungs and the chest wall. This space is called the pleural space. Normally, the pleural space is filled with a small amount of fluid—about 4 teaspoons full.
Insulin resistance — also called syndrome X or metabolic syndrome— is so pervasive today that we evaluate nearly every woman who visits our clinic to determine her level of risk. Most are taken aback when they learn they either already have insulin resistance syndrome (or as I call it pre-pre diabetic) or are well on their way to developing it. Experts estimate that 25% of all Americans suffer from insulin resistance. We believe the percentage is much higher among perimenopausal women. Because insulin is one of the “major” hormones, it’s also impossible for your body to balance its “minor” hormones (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone among them) until your insulin metabolism is balanced first. To put it simply, if you have hot flashes and you are insulin resistant, it’s going to be nearly impossible to cure the hot flashes without first healing the insulin resistance. Cortisol is also a “major” hormone – to understand it’s role in hormonal balance, read our related articles on adrenal fatigue. The good news is that you can heal insulin resistance. This has been a primary focus of our practice at Women to Women for over a decade, and our approach has been quite successful. Throughout the website you will find simple solutions on how to begin to heal this problematic syndrome.
The majority of epileptic seizures are controlled by medication, particularly anticonvulsant drugs. The type of treatment prescribed will depend on several factors, including the frequency and severity of the seizures and the person's age, overall health, and medical history. An accurate diagnosis of the type of epilepsy is also critical to choosing the best treatment. Drug Therapy Many drugs are available to treat epilepsy. Although generic drugs are safely used for most medications, anticonvulsants are one category where doctors proceed with caution. Most doctors prefer to use brand-name anticonvulsants, but realize that many insurance companies will not cover the cost. As a result, it is acceptable to start taking a generic anticonvulsant medication, but if the desired control is not achieved, the patient should be switched to the brand-name drug.
Tests. This test tracks electrical signals from the brain. There are a number of blood tests that may be recommended as part of your epilepsy diagnosis and treatment. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan may be used to locate the part of the brain that is causing seizures.
Gastroparesis is a disorder affecting people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in which the stomach takes too long to empty its contents (delayed gastric emptying). The vagus nerve controls the movement of food through the digestive tract. If the vagus nerve is damaged or stops working, the muscles of the stomach and intestines do not work normally, and the movement of food is slowed or stopped. Just as with other types of neuropathy, diabetes can damage the vagus nerve if blood glucose levels remain high over a long period of time. High blood glucose causes chemical changes in nerves and damages the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to the nerves. - See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/gastroparesis.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/#sthash.rTgZiOuM.dpuf
Bariatric surgical procedures cause weight loss by restricting the amount of food the stomach can hold, causing malabsorption of nutrients, or by a combination of both gastric restriction and malabsorption. Bariatric procedures also often cause hormonal changes. Most weight loss surgeries today are performed using minimally invasive techniques (laparoscopic surgery). The most common bariatric surgery procedures are gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, adjustable gastric band, and biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch. Each surgery has its own advantages and disadvantages.
The easy experimental answer to this question is 264 hours (about 11 days). In 1965, Randy Gardner, a 17-year-old high school student, set this apparent world-record for a science fair. Several other normal research subjects have remained awake for eight to 10 days in carefully monitored experiments. None of these individuals experienced serious medical, neurological, physiological or psychiatric problems. On the other hand, all of them showed progressive and significant deficits in concentration, motivation, perception and other higher mental processes as the duration of sleep deprivation increased. Nevertheless, all experimental subjects recovered to relative normality within one or two nights of recovery sleep. Other anecdotal reports describe soldiers staying awake for four days in battle, or unmedicated patients with mania going without sleep for three to four days.
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.
Cancer starts when cells in a part of the body begins to grow out of control and can spread to other areas of the body. There are many kinds of cancer. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer. To learn more about how cancers start and spread, see What Is Cancer? Leukemias are cancers that start in cells that would normally develop into different types of blood cells. Here we will talk about acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has many other names, including acute myelocytic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, and acute non-lymphocytic leukemia. “Acute” means that this leukemia can progress quickly if not treated, and would probably be fatal in a few months. “Myeloid” refers to the type of cell this leukemia starts from. Most cases of AML develop from cells that would turn into white blood cells (other than lymphocytes), but some cases of AML develop in other types of blood-forming cells. The different types of AML are listed in “ How is acute myeloid leukemia classified?” AML starts in the bone marrow (the soft inner part of certain bones, where new blood cells are made), but in most cases it quickly moves into the blood. It can sometimes spread to other parts of the body including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), and testicles. Other types of cancer can start in these organs and then spread to the bone marrow. But these cancers that start elsewhere and then spread to the bone marrow are not leukemias. Normal bone marrow, blood, and lymphoid tissue To understand the different types of leukemia, it helps to know about the blood and lymph systems.
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.