Vaginal discharge serves an important housekeeping function in the female reproductive system. Fluid made by glands inside the vagina and cervix carries away dead cells and bacteria. This keeps the vagina clean and helps prevent infection. Most of the time, vaginal discharge is perfectly normal. The amount can vary, as can odor and hue (its color can range from clear to a milky white-ish), depending on the time in your menstrual cycle. For example, there will be more discharge if you are ovulating, breastfeeding, or are sexually aroused. The smell may be different if you are pregnant or you haven't been diligent about your personal hygiene. None of those changes is cause for alarm. However, if the color, smell, or consistency seems significantly unusual, especially if it accompanied by vaginal itching or burning, you could be noticing an infection or other condition. What causes abnormal discharge? Any change in the vagina's balance of normal bacteria can affect the smell, color, or discharge texture. These are a few of the things that can upset that balance:

A wart is a skin growth caused by some types of the virus called the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV infects the top layer of skin, usually entering the body in an area of broken skin. The virus causes the top layer of skin to grow rapidly, forming a wart. Most warts go away on their own within months or years.

How do you make a working human heart? Scientists can turn stem cells into beating heart cells, but getting them to organize into a 3D heart requires a scaffold. At the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Harald Ott and his team are reusing the scaffold that nature provides. They’re stripping away all the living cells from dead hearts, before filling in the leftover matrix with healthy new cells. In this video, Brendan Maher finds out how the technique could be used to develop parts of the heart, like the aortic root and valve, for transplant.

Millions of sperms are deposited into the vagina during sexual intercourse. The sperms make their way through the cervix into the uterus and then on to the fallopian tubes. As they swim along this way their numbers decline. Only a few hundred sperm will get close to the egg. During the trip, sperm prepare themselves to meet the egg by subtle alterations of their heads and movement patterns. Once inside the fallopian tube, the sperm attracts the egg by releasing a chemical. The egg is surrounded by a protective covering called the zona pellucida, which allows only one sperm to penetrate it. Once inside the egg, the head of the fertilizing sperm releases its genetic contents, which fuses with the nucleus of the egg. Fertilisation is now complete. Sperm are able to survive for 2-3 days within the female's reproductive tract. The length of the time that a woman's egg can be fertilized by a man's sperm ranges from 12-24 hours.

Bone cancer symptoms. Possible symptoms of bone cancer include: Bone pain: Pain is the most common sign of bone cancer, and may become more noticeable as the tumor grows. Bone pain can cause a dull or deep ache in a bone or bone region (e.g., back, pelvis, legs, ribs, arms).

Intramuscular (IM) injection Tutorial for Nurses Video

In as many as 80% of cases, doctors don’t find the exact reason for a curved spine. Scoliosis without a known cause is what doctors call “idiopathic.” Some kinds of scoliosis do have clear causes. Doctors divide those curves into two types -- structural and nonstructural. In nonstructural scoliosis, the spine works normally, but looks curved. Why does this happen? There are a number of reasons, such as one leg’s being longer than the other, muscle spasms, and inflammations like appendicitis. When these problems are treated, this type of scoliosis often goes away.

Acute bronchitis and pneumonia share many of the same symptoms, and some people with acute bronchitis are at risk for getting pneumonia. Although acute bronchitis usually goes away within a few weeks, pneumonia can be a serious condition, especially in older adults. The following table outlines some differences between acute bronchitis and pneumonia. There are variations in symptoms of both conditions, so if you think you might have pneumonia, always check with your doctor.

This is how the real brain looks like. Very flexible like Jelly!

Megacolon, as well as megarectum, is a descriptive term. It denotes dilatation of the colon that is not caused by mechanical obstruction.[1, 2] Although the definition of megacolon has varied in the literature, most researchers use the measurement of greater than 12 cm for the cecum as the standard. Because the diameter of the large intestine varies, the following definitions would also be considered: greater than 6.5 cm in the rectosigmoid region and greater than 8 cm for the ascending colon. Megacolon can be divided into the following 3 categories: Acute megacolon ( pseudo-obstruction) Chronic megacolon, which includes congenital, acquired, and idiopathic causes Toxic megacolon

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of vertigo — the sudden sensation that you're spinning or that the inside of your head is spinning. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo causes brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is usually triggered by specific changes in the position of your head. This might occur when you tip your head up or down, when you lie down, or when you turn over or sit up in bed. Although benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can be a bothersome problem, it's rarely serious except when it increases the chance of falls. You can receive effective treatment for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo during a doctor's office visit

New-born baby having a bath

This video shows how the hypodermic needles are made

Hardware removals are among the most commonly performed surgical procedures worldwide. Current literature offers little data concerning postoperative patient satisfaction. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the patients’ point of view on implant removal. watch to learn more.

Retinoblastoma is an eye cancer that begins in the retina — the sensitive lining on the inside of your eye. Retinoblastoma most commonly affects young children, but can rarely occur in adults. Your retina is made up of nerve tissue that senses light as it comes through the front of your eye. The retina sends signals through your optic nerve to your brain, where these signals are interpreted as images. A rare form of eye cancer, retinoblastoma is the most common form of cancer affecting the eye in children. Retinoblastoma may occur in one or both eyes.

Shut the front door: Scientists have finally found the perfect breasts. No, they weren't hiding in the Amazon or roving solo across the Sahara (although we have no doubt there are women in both the Amazon and the Sahara who have magnificent mammaries); it turns out these perfect breasts were hiding in a plastic surgeon's office this whole time! Now, before you get all worked up, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) would like you to know that the super-fake looking plastic breasts of yore are not actually what people think are most attractive now. According to a study published in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—which involved asking over 1,300 people to look at pictures of naked boobies and rank them by hotness (stop laughing, this is serious research!)—people preferred a more "real" and "normal" look from their silicone, with the ideal breast shape having a 45:55 ratio. People said the best chests have 45 percent of the fullness above the nipple line and 55 percent of the fullness below, in a slightly teardrop shape. Researchers noted this preference remained consistent across gender, racial, and ethnic groups with the 45:55 ratio favored by 87 percent of women in their 30s, 90 percent of men, and 94 percent of plastic surgeons.

Finger metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint collateral ligament sprains should not be overtreated. First-degree sprains may require a brief period of protection, usually consisting of buddy taping for 2-3 weeks. Second-degree sprains are immobilized in mid flexion for 3 weeks. Finger MCP joint hyperextension injuries may be treated by gently flexing the proximal phalanx and immobilizing the MCP joint in 30° of flexion for 2-3 weeks. A dorsal extension-block splint protects the healing volar plate while allowing active flexion of the finger. Early protected motion minimizes postinjury stiffness. Thumb MCP joint hyperextension injuries ("locked MCP joint") are immobilized in 20° MCP joint flexion for 3 weeks.

The removal of a clot is called an embolectomy. An embolectomy might be done during a surgery. Or it might be done with a minimally invasive procedure that uses a catheter (a thin tube that is guided through a blood vessel). This type of treatment for pulmonary embolism is used only in rare cases.

A meningioma is a tumor that arises from the meninges — the membranes that surround your brain and spinal cord. Most meningiomas are noncancerous (benign), though rarely a meningioma may be cancerous (malignant). Some meningiomas are classified as atypical, meaning they're neither benign nor malignant but, rather, something in between.

Meet Toby, the baby who was born premature at 24 weeks. He may be small, but he's definitely a fighter! Share his story.