This video: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine system disorder among women of reproductive age. Women with PCOS may have enlarged ovaries that contain small collections of fluid — called follicles — located in each ovary as seen during an ultrasound exam. Infrequent or prolonged menstrual periods, excess hair growth, acne, and obesity can all occur in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. In adolescents, infrequent or absent menstruation may raise suspicion for the condition. The exact cause of polycystic ovary syndrome is unknown. Early diagnosis and treatment along with weight loss may reduce the risk of long-term complications, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Kidney failure and transplant options One of the most serious complications of polycystic kidney disease is kidney failure. This is when the kidneys are no longer able to filter waste products, maintain fluid balance, and maintain blood pressure on their own. When this occurs, your doctor will discuss options with you that may include a kidney transplant or dialysis treatments to act as artificial kidneys. If your doctor does place you on a kidney transplant list, there are several factors that determine your placement. These include your overall health, expected survival, and time you have been on dialysis. It’s also possible that a friend or relative could donate a kidney to you. Because people can live with only one kidney with relatively few complications, this can be an option for families who have a willing donor. The decision to undergo a kidney transplant or donate a kidney to a person with kidney disease can be a difficult one. Speaking to your nephrologist can help you weigh your options. You can also ask what medications and treatments can help you live as well as possible in the meantime. According to the University of Iowa, the average kidney transplant will allow kidney function from 10 to 12 years.

Plastic Surgery Disasters

Infections can cause inflammation of the brain ( encephalitis). Viruses are the most common causes of encephalitis. Infections can also cause inflammation of the layers of tissue (meninges) that cover the brain and spinal cord—called meningitis. Often, bacterial meningitis spreads to the brain, causing encephalitis.

Encephalitis (en-sef-uh-LIE-tis) is inflammation of the brain. Viral infections are the most common cause of the condition. Encephalitis can cause flu-like symptoms, such as a fever or severe headache. It can also cause confused thinking, seizures, or problems with senses or movement. However, many cases of encephalitis result in only mild flu-like symptoms or even no symptoms. Severe cases of encephalitis, while relatively rare, can be life-threatening. Because the course of any single case of encephalitis can be unpredictable, it's important to get a timely diagnosis and treatment.

Claudication is pain caused by too little blood flow, usually during exercise. Sometimes called intermittent claudication, this condition generally affects the blood vessels in the legs, but claudication can affect the arms, too. At first, you'll probably notice the pain only when you're exercising, but as claudication worsens, the pain may affect you even when you're at rest. Although it's sometimes considered a disease, claudication is technically a symptom of a disease. Most often, claudication is a symptom of peripheral artery disease, a potentially serious but treatable circulation problem in which the vessels that supply blood flow to your legs or arms are narrowed. Fortunately, with treatment, you may be able to maintain an active lifestyle without pain.

Many women with hair loss suffer in silence, altering their hairstyle to hide thinning or patches. But the sooner you seek care, the better the chances of successfully treating it, says Mary Gail Mercurio, MD, associate professor of dermatology at the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. It's not as uncommon as you may think: As many as 5% of women under 30 and 60% of those older than 70 are affected, she says. At the recent meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in Miami Beach, Fla., Mercurio discussed common forms of hair loss in women and treatment options.

Chest pain is a frequent complaint of patients seeking urgent medical assistance, and accounts for an estimated 2-4 per cent of all A&E visits in the UK (Becker, 2000). Generally, acute chest pain should be considered cardiovascular in origin until proven otherwise and it is common in clinical practice to err on the conservative or ‘safe’ side when evaluating people with chest pain. Individuals with suspected ischaemic chest pain must be evaluated rapidly for several reasons: - Myocardial ischaemia, if prolonged and severe, can cause myocardial infarction (necrosis); - Treatment strategies that achieve myocardial salvage (thrombolytic therapy or primary coronary angioplasty) are available for patients with acute coronary syndromes and these treatments reduce morbidity and mortality;

Rotationplasty is a type of autograft wherein a portion of a limb is removed, while the remaining limb below the involved portion is rotated and reattached. This procedure is used when a portion of an extremity is injured or involved with a disease, such as cancer. Typically, the ankle joint becomes the knee joint.

Interventional Nephrology is a new and emerging subspecialty of Nephrology that mainly deals with ultrasonography of kidneys and ultrasound-guided renal biopsy, insertion of peritoneal dialysis catheters, tunneled dialysis catheters as a vascular access for patients undergoing hemodialysis as well as percutaneous ...

The best way to prevent hepatitis A is through vaccination with the hepatitis A vaccine. Vaccination is recommended for all children age 12 months or older, for travelers to certain countries, and for people at high risk for infection with the virus. The hepatitis A vaccine is given as two shots, six months apart.

To identify an UTI, keep an eye out for the following symptoms: A burning feeling when you urinate. A frequent or intense urge to urinate, even though little comes out when you do. Pain or pressure in your back or lower abdomen. Cloudy, dark, bloody, or strange-smelling urine. Feeling tired or shaky.

High blood pressure and high cholesterol are the most common causes of these spasms. Approximately 2 percent of people with angina, or chest pain and pressure, experience coronary artery spasms. Coronary artery spasms can also occur in people who have atherosclerosis.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is very common and can affect people of any age. It affects men and women equally. It is a common cause of sudden cardiac arrest in young people, including young athletes. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs if heart muscle cells enlarge and cause the walls of the ventricles (usually the left ventricle) to thicken. The ventricle size often remains normal, but the thickening may block blood flow out of the ventricle. If this happens, the condition is called obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Sometimes the septum, the wall that divides the left and right sides of the heart, thickens and bulges into the left ventricle. This can block blood flow out of the left ventricle. Then the ventricle must work hard to pump blood. Symptoms can include chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, or fainting. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy also can affect the heart's mitral valve, causing blood to leak backward through the valve. Sometimes, the thickened heart muscle doesn't block blood flow out of the left ventricle. This is referred to as non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The entire ventricle may thicken, or the thickening may happen only at the bottom of the heart. The right ventricle also may be affected. In both obstructive and non-obstructive HCM, the thickened muscle makes the inside of the left ventricle smaller, so it holds less blood. The walls of the ventricle may stiffen, and as a result, the ventricle is less able to relax and fill with blood.

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely. So once you have HIV, you have it for life. HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body, making the person more likely to get infections or infection-related cancers. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS, the last state of HIV infection. No effective cure for HIV currently exists, but with proper treatment and medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If taken the right way, every day, this medicine can dramatically prolong the lives of many people with HIV, keep them healthy, and greatly lower their chance of transmitting the virus to others. Today, a person who is diagnosed with HIV, treated before the disease is far advanced, and stays on treatment can live a nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.

Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. Bone marrow transplant is the most widely used stem-cell therapy, but some therapies derived from umbilical cord blood are also in use...

The ACL is one of the four main ligaments within the knee that connect the femur to the tibia. The knee is essentially a hinged joint that is held together by the medial collateral (MCL), lateral collateral (LCL), anterior cruciate (ACL) and posterior cruciate (PCL) ligaments.

What does the placenta do? The placenta is an organ that develops in your uterus during pregnancy. This structure provides oxygen and nutrients to your growing baby and removes waste products from your baby's blood. The placenta attaches to the wall of your uterus, and your baby's umbilical cord arises from it. In most pregnancies, the placenta attaches at the top or side of the uterus.

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.

Esophageal atresia is an abnormality, or birth defect, of the esophagus that occurs early in pregnancy, as the baby is developing. The esophagus forms in the first few months of fetal life as a long, hollow, continuous tube joining the mouth to the stomach. In newborns with this birth defect, formation of this continuous esophageal tube is interrupted. esophageal-artresia-2In most cases, two separate tubes are formed, an upper (proximal) tube connected to the mouth and a lower (distal) tube connected to the stomach. This seperated tubes are sealed off creating a pouch on either side; the gap between these pounches can be short or very long. Saliva can accumulate in the upper pouch as it cannot drain into the stomach.