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Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, or talks. If you have been exposed, you should go to your doctor for tests. You are more likely to get TB if you have a weak immune system. Symptoms of TB in the lungs may include A bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer Weight loss Loss of appetite Coughing up blood or mucus Weakness or fatigue Fever Night sweats
Many people report that inversion table therapy is a great way to stretch muscles and ligaments, reduce muscle spasms, and improve circulation. Stretching stimulates the lymph glands to increase the flow of lymphatic fluids; part of the body's waste disposal system. Similarly, cellular health depends on good blood circulation to deliver nourishment and remove waste. Inversion table therapy also helps to relieve motion sickness and stress. In addition, the body becomes more aware of its spatial orientation and balance when the inner ear is stimulated during inversion. Plus, it is not necessary for the body to be positioned completely upside down to gain benefits from inversion therapy! Unlike antigravity boots used with an inversion rack, an adjustable inversion table offers the flexibility to choose the most comfortable angle. Dialogue with Your Doctor Like anything that can affect your health, talk to your doctor before you start using an inversion table. This is important because certain medications and health conditions may make using an inversion table unsafe. Your doctor may recommend against inversion table therapy if you have obesity, a detached retina, fracture, glaucoma, heart condition (circulatory problem), hernia, implanted device, middle ear or eye infection, osteoporosis, are pregnant, or have a spinal injury. There may be other medical conditions not listed that your doctor may view as a contraindication.
An untreated hepatic abscess is nearly uniformly fatal as a result of complications that include sepsis, empyema, or peritonitis from rupture into the pleural or peritoneal spaces, and retroperitoneal extension. Treatment should include drainage, either percutaneous or surgical. Antibiotic therapy as a sole treatment modality is not routinely advocated, though it has been successful in a few reported cases. It may be the only alternative in patients too ill to undergo invasive procedures or in those with multiple abscesses not amenable to percutaneous or surgical drainage. In these instances, patients are likely to require many months of antimicrobial therapy with serial imaging and close monitoring for associated complications.
A Bone scan or bone scintigraphy is a nuclear scanning test to find certain abnormalities in bone which are triggering the bone's attempts to heal. It is primarily used to help diagnose a number of conditions relating to bones, including: cancer of the bone or cancers that have spread (metastasized) to the bone, locating some sources of bone inflammation (e.g. bone pain such as lower back pain due to a fracture), the diagnosis of fractures that may not be visible in traditional X-ray images, and the detection of damage to bones due to certain infections and other problems.
Nuclear medicine bone scans are one of a number of methods of bone imaging, all of which are used to visually detect bone abnormalities. Such imaging studies include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray computed tomography (CT) and in the case of 'bone scans' nuclear medicine. However, a nuclear bone scan is a functional test, which means it measures an aspect of bone metabolism, which most other imaging techniques cannot. The nuclear bone scan competes with the FDG-PET scan in seeing abnormal metabolism in bones, but it is considerably less expensive.
Nuclear bone scans are not to be confused with the completely different test often termed a "bone density scan," DEXA or DXA, which is a low exposure X-ray test measuring bone density to look for osteoporosis and other diseases where bones lose mass, without any bone re-building activity. The nuclear medicine scan technique is sensitive to areas of unusual bone re-building activity because the radiopharmaceutical is taken up by osteoblast cells which build bone. The technique therefore is sensitive to fractures and bone reaction to infections and bone tumors, including tumor metastases to bones, because all these pathologies trigger bone osteoblast activity. The bone scan is not sensitive to osteoporosis or multiple myeloma in bones, and therefore other techniques must be used to assess bone abnormalities from these diseases.
With so many antibiotics available, it isn't possible to list all of them here. But common antibiotics that are generally considered safe during pregnancy include penicillins (such as amoxicillin and ampicillin), cephalosporins (such as cephalexin), and erythromycin.
The liver regulates most chemical levels in the blood and excretes a product called bile. ... Production of bile, which helps carry away waste and break down fats in the small intestine during digestion. Production of certain proteins for blood plasma.
It used to be when a woman needed a hysterectomy she could expect full abdominal surgery with a long recovery time. Dr. Melissa Lee uses less invasive methods that can cut the patients downtime in half.
"We were trained in more laparoscopic and minimally invasive cases so of course that's what I'm more comfortable with doing right now."
She sees a new generation of patients opting for laparoscopic surgery.
"Laparoscopy is the use of small cameras with small incisions and instruments that are guided by the hand, and you're able to see directly into the abdomen without actually fully opening the abdomen," says Dr. Lee, an obstetrician-gynecologist with Lee Memorial Health System.
Nowadays, even a large mass or uterus can be removed using the slender tools.
"There are multiple different laparoscopic instruments that you can use. Whether they're blunt dissections or just dissectors that hold and retract back or actual scissors or cutting instruments, there are multiple different options," says Dr. Lee.
While a standard abdominal hysterectomy requires a four to eight inch incision, the laparoscope needs only a quarter to half inch. It's enough to make a big difference in terms of recovery.
"They're able to get up and move around faster. They're able to recover faster, their pain level and their need for pain medicine is much lower," says Dr. Lee.
The laparoscopic procedure also cuts down on scarring and more importantly, shortens the hospital stay. The trend now is home within 24 hours.
"Where the patient is done early in the morning, they're doing well they're tolerating oral intake they're able to getup and move around. And those patients a lot of times will feel comfortable to go home that same nigh after a major surgery," says Dr. Lee.
New studies show women who've had a laparoscopic hysterectomy viewed their quality of life as better than those who had an open abdominal procedure, making this a good option for the right patient.
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Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we've been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.
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Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is the most common acquired heart disease in children in many countries of the world, especially in developing countries. The global burden of disease caused by rheumatic fever currently falls disproportionately on children living in the developing world, especially where poverty is widespread. RHD is a chronic heart condition caused by rheumatic fever that can be prevented and controlled. Rheumatic fever is caused by a preceding group A streptococcal (strep) infection. Treating strep throat with antibiotics can prevent rheumatic fever. Moreover, regular antibiotics (usually monthly injections) can prevent patients with rheumatic fever from contracting further strep infections and causing progression of valve damage. Consequences of rheumatic heart disease Acute rheumatic fever primarily affects the heart, joints and central nervous system. The major importance of acute rheumatic fever is its ability to cause fibrosis of heart valves, leading to crippling valvular heart disease, heart failure and death. The decline of rheumatic fever in developed countries is believed to be the result of improved living conditions and availability of antibiotics for treatment of group A streptococcal infection. Overcrowding, poor housing conditions, undernutrition and lack of access to healthcare play a role in the persistence of this disease in developing countries.
Primary biliary cirrhosis, sometimes called PBC, is a disease in which the bile ducts in your liver are slowly destroyed. Bile, a fluid produced in your liver, plays a role in digesting food and helps rid your body of worn-out red blood cells, cholesterol and toxins. When bile ducts are damaged, as in primary biliary cirrhosis, harmful substances can build up in your liver and sometimes lead to irreversible scarring of liver tissue (cirrhosis). Primary biliary cirrhosis is considered an autoimmune disease, in which the body turns against its own cells. Researchers think it is triggered by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Primary biliary cirrhosis usually develops slowly and medication can slow its progression, especially if treatment begins early.
A flail chest occurs when a segment of the thoracic cage is separated from the rest of the chest wall. This is usually defined as at least two fractures per rib (producing a free segment), in at least two ribs. A segment of the chest wall that is flail is unable to contribute to lung expansion. Large flail segments will involve a much greater proportion of the chest wall and may extend bilaterally or involve the sternum. In these cases the disruption of normal pulmonary mechanics may be large enough to require mechanical ventilation.
The Estech COBRA Fusion™ 150 Surgical Ablation System combines intuitive, real-time TCRF (Temperature Controlled Radiofrequency) energy control with proprietary Versapolar technology. Versapolar™ energy delivery is the first of its kind—an adaptable and effective platform that can deliver both bipolar and monopolar energy so that surgeons can easily and efficiently create reproducible transmural lesions with more flexibility, confidence and control.
A central venous catheter, also called a central line, is a long, thin, flexible tube used to give medicines, fluids, nutrients, or blood products over a long period of time, usually several weeks or more. A catheter is often inserted in the arm or chest through the skin into a large vein.