Hepatitis medically refers to inflammation of the liver.  Hepatitis A is liver inflamed by viral infection called HAV which refers to one of many viruses that lead to hepatitis condition,

Description

Apart from Hepatitis A, there’s the B and C virus variant all of which are the most common afflicting mankind.  Unlike the two, Hepatitis A is not a chronic or long term liver ailment. Inflammation can be healed without long term damage and once healed, people develop antibodies to become immune to the disease and won’t contract it again for the rest of their lives.

Causes and Risk Factors of Hepatitis A

Inflammation of the liver has various pathologies. Viral infection, exposure to excess alcohol consumption, potent medication and chemicals, as well as immune system disorders can cause liver inflammation. Hepatitis A is caused by the HAV virus which tends to occur in epidemics or outbreaks.  Since the introduction of the HAV vaccine in the early 1990s, there were fewer incidences than before. In the US, as many as 1 out of 3 residents have HAV antibody which mean they have been exposed to it and won’t ever contract it again.

Hepatitis A is contagious and is found in human feces of people with the infection.  Transmission occurs in unsanitary surroundings when taking food or water that have been contaminated with Hepa A virus in a fecal-oral transmission.  The virus spread is fast. It can also be transmitted when eating raw or under-cooked foods, particularly shellfish collected from sewage-contaminated ponds, rivers or lakes.   While rare, it can also be transmitted through blood transfusion.

The risk of infection is highest in poor or developing countries and in areas where unsanitary conditions attend the preparation of food such as prisons, daycare centers and mental institutions.  People infected with HAV can infect others after about one week of infection. The following people have a high risk of getting HAV:

• Household members where one is infected
• Sexual partners where one is infected
• Officer workers in contact with someone in the office already infected
• Travelers, military personnel and medical missions stationed in unsanitary locations in developing countries
• Use of illegal or controlled substances
• Sodomy and fellatio practices between gay men

Symptoms of Hepatitis A

The known symptoms of Hepatitis A  tend to appear abruptly and usually last less than 2 months while some have been reported to take as long as 6 months. Recovery is usually complete.  The symptoms include

• Tiredness and fatigue
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal pain in the liver area, right side of the abdomen
• Low grade fever
• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes)
• Dark urine

In severe cases where extensive vomiting takes place, dehydration can occur and this causes the following symptoms

• Confused mental state and inability to concentrate
• Rapid heartbeat
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Urinating less frequently than usual

Diagnosis of Hepatitis A

There’s no need to prolong the symptoms when you suspect your liver is at risk.  Hepatitis A is curable. Nausea, vomiting and pain in the liver are enough to bring anyone to the doctor.  Confirmation of Hepatitis A is done with a blood test (IgM anti-HAV) which can detect the presence of antibodies to the Hepatitis A virus as well as the B and V variants as well.  If you are suffering from severe vomiting, blood electrolysis may be conducted.

Treatment of Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A has no specific direct medication and if not for the discomforting symptoms, is a self-limiting disorder that will go away even without treatment.  The usual treatment is meant to relieve the symptoms.

If you get in contact with someone you suspect is infected with HAV or end up eating in unsanitary conditions. There’s immediate treatment that is more preventive.  Taking immunoglobulin is effective for at most two weeks after exposure to HAV and has been shown to prevent people from getting the infection.

Immunoglobulin is often the first line of defense used to protect household or office contacts of someone with viral hepatitis, as well as by travelers, military staff and medical mission who need to fly to regions with known poor sanitation and high hepatitis A incidences. They can take it together with hepatitis A vaccines. GP

Anxiety is a psychological apprehension or feat that comes with physiological disorders. Anxiety disorders are serious mental illnesses that affect about 19 million American adults and as a group comprise the most common mental illness in the US. Children and teenagers are not immune to it.

Description

Anxiety disorders are chronic which can progressively worsen when left untreated.  While some level of anxiety is normal in many of the stressful events attending a busy lifestyle, such as sports competition, business deals, a first date, or a school presentation, the worst anxiety disorder can lead to suicidal tendencies or murderous proclivities.

Causes and Risk Factors of Anxiety

Anxiety can arise in many situations some of which normally attend a stressful event, like your first date, worries about an exam result or pre-employment screening, your wedding day, first school, etc.  It is often caused by anticipatory worries which may or may not be grounded in reality.  But severe anxiety attacks can be the result of certain medical condition like drug overdose and intoxication, drug withdrawal attach, heart conditions or even an asthma attack.  The following factors can triggers anxiety attacks

• Stress at work, school, road traffic conditions and at home
• Financial distress that can seem insurmountable, with the worst case resulting in suicides
• Deep-seated angst or hatred on anything or anyone.
• Suddenly losing your job when everything hangs on it with the fear of being thrown into the streets.
• Uncontrolled intake of caffeine from coffee and tea
• Emotional trauma like death in the family, being victimized in physical or sexual abuse, surviving a crime or natural disaster which can lead to post traumatic stress disorders
• Intoxication from overuse of cocaine or amphetamines
• Effect of medication that elevate thyroid levels
• An over active thyroid
• Post operative stress after undergoing major surgery
• Lack of air or oxygen in drowning situations or in high altitudes, emphysema and pulmonary embolism

Symptoms of Anxiety

Anxiety attacks come with a variety of physiological manifestations or symptoms that include

• Phobic disorder or phobias are irrational fears of certain things like the fear of height and fear of spiders and will cause severe anxiety attach when confronted with their object of fear.
• Separation anxiety disorder present in children with parents undergoing separation and strongly anticipating what lies ahead for them which can result in problems that were not present before like degraded school performance, antisocial interpersonal problems and nutritional oversights.
• Obsessive compulsive disorder involves people whose habits have become their all-encompassing purpose in life and are severely distressed when they cannot engage in their hobbies or activities or when they become obsessed with germs so they continuously clean themselves with alcohol, etc.

The most common anxiety attacks fall under panic disorder with associated symptoms like

• Insomnia or the inability to sleep as stressful thought continue to hound the person at night

• Palpitation and rapid heart beat
• Sweating even in comfortable surroundings
• Trembling, numbness or tingling sensation
• Chest pain and a sense of being choked or the world closing in
• Nausea,  stomach upset and diarrhea
• Inability to think through and to concentrate
• General depression
• Hypervigilance and paranoia
• Chills and hot flashes
• Muscular tension

Symptoms like shortness of breath, palpitations, dizzy spells, fainting and general body weakness may be triggered by anxiety attack but should prompt immediate consultation with the doctor as they could be symptomatic of some other more serious medical ailment that have been triggered by anxieties.

Diagnosis of Anxiety

If the symptoms are clearly interfering with normal daily routines and functions, it is time to consult with your doctor even before the symptoms worsen to the point that normal life becomes a real challenge if not impossible.  Feelings of severe depression and suicidal tendencies require prompt attention and your doctor can refer you to the right psychiatric evaluation and treatment.

There are no set procedures for diagnosing anxiety and a careful reading of your medical history and routine lab exams can be made if medical causes are suspected. In most cases, a productive session with a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist or mental health professional is in order.

Treatment of Anxiety

Most of time, typical anxieties at homes can be overcome by refocusing one’s attention on other activities that interest the person to keep the mind busy elsewhere outside of the object of anxiety.  A talk with a psychiatrist can often allow a venue for releasing internal tensions and anxieties as well as being part of a support therapy group like anger management

If the cause is physiological, like an overactive thyroid, treatment can be directed at the cause.  If the cause is psychological, which is often the case, treatment can sometimes involve a head-on confrontation with the object or person causing the anxiety like having a moderated meeting with the person you hate or getting marriage counseling in a troubled marriage.

Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach, etymologically derived from the Latin gastricus meaning stomach, plus the suffix –itis to mean inflammation. It is not a single disease but has various conditions that share the same inflamed condition of the stomach lining.

Description

Gastritis is more a condition than a disease but all the conditions share the same irritation and/or inflammation in the stomach’s interior lining causing pain and discomfort in the abdomen medically termed as dyspepsia.  Its onset can be sudden but brief in the case of acute gastritis or long lasting in the case of chronic gastritis.  It can also be just a symptom of some other medical ailment.  It is a common medical problem where up to 10% of the people in the emergency rooms of hospitals suffering abdominal pains have either forms of gastritis.

Causes and Risk Factors of Gastritis

Acute gastritis figures commonly as a stomach upset following aspirin intake on an empty stomach or excessive alcohol consumption.  The helicobacter pylori bacteria commonly infect the stomach’s lining that leads to chronic gastritis.  The condition is often symptomatic of other illness and can be triggered by potent medication that irritates stomach lining, infections, stresses and surgical conditions.

Strong prescriptive medication can irritate the stomach lining especially when taken before meals or on an empty stomach.  The following can cause or increase the risk of getting gastritis:

• Aspirin
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs of NSAIDs such as naproxen and ibuprofen
• Steroids like prednisone
• Iron and potassium diet supplements
• Chemotherapy medication

Surgical and medical conditions can increase the risk as well such as

• Autoimmune diseases
• Pernicious anemia
• Chronic vomiting
• Physical and emotional stress
• Post-surgical procedures on the stock like endoscopy, appendectomy and other surgeries to remove part of the stomach or intestines

Accidental or deliberate swallowing of chemicals and objects can also cause gastritis:

• Corrosive acids and lye
• Alcoholic beverages, wines and liquors in excess
• Swallowed foreign object like clips, pins, etc.

Bacterial and viral infections are known to cause stomach irritation and inflammation.

• Parasites and worms
• Fungal or yeast infections from contaminated foods
• Tuberculosis
• Syphilis
• Bacterial infection from the H. pylori being the most common while other bacterial that cause pneumonia and bladder infections can cause gastritis as well.

For some people with weak stomach linings to begin with, eating citrus fruits on an empty stomach can induce secretion of stomach acids that irritate the stomach with no other contents to digest.

Symptoms of Gastritis

The most complained-about symptoms are abdominal distress and pain that can include

• Persistent belching
• Abdominal bloating and feeling of fullness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Burning sensation in the upper belly

In more severe cases, you can expect blood streaks in the vomit, a bloody bowel and exceptionally foul smelling feces.  In addition, if you suffer any of the following, you need to check with your doctor right away

• Fever with abdominal pain
• Fainting spells
• Palpitation, rapid heart beat and unexplained sweating
• Vomiting with copious amounts of blood
• Chest pains
• Shortness of breath
• Pallor

Diagnosis of Gastritis

No lab tests can detect a diagnosis of gastritis and they are often not necessary.  If tests are undertaken, it is to eliminate medical conditions known to exhibit similar symptoms present in gastritis.  Often, a complete medical history habits and lifestyles as well as any medication you are taking are enough to make a confident diagnosis of gastritis. It is important that you tell your doctor how any drug is taken and what measures you’ve taken to address your gastritis condition.

Some clinical procedures that can confirm and rule out other medical conditions outside of gastritis can be done, such as:

• Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy:  Using a thin tube with a tiny camera inserted through your mouth to make a visual inspection of the stomach lining and may even take tissue samples called biopsy to rule out anymore serious conditions like ulcer or cancer.
• Blood test:  This test can rule out anemia if your vomit or stools has blood in them.
• Stool Test:  This can detect the H.pylori bacteria and show if there’s blood.
• ECG Test:  This is done if your gastritis complaint comes with irregular or rapid heart beat as well as chest pains.

Other tests can be prescribed like Urinalysis, and pregnancy tests, if warranted by the gastroenterologist.

Treatment of Gastritis

Gastritis treatment is commonly made to reduce stomach acid secretion which should relieve the symptoms and promote healing of the stomach lining.  Avoiding alcoholic beverages, coffee, tea and carbonated beverages also helps as well as abstaining from smoking.  Shifting to other medication you need to take but with less corrosive or irritating properties to the stomach lining as may be prescribed by your doctor.

Ascertaining the cause of your gastritis condition helps to narrow the treatment options.  Once the cause is removed, the condition disappears. Most mild to moderate gastritis symptoms can be treated at home with OTC drugs.  But a diagnosis from your doctor must first be obtained.

• If it is caused by the H.pylori bacteria, a prescription of antibiotics should help clear up the infection.
• Histamine or H2 blockers like Tagemet and Zantac work to block the release of stomach acids.
• For more severe cases, proton pump inhibitors or PPIs are powerful blockers that inhibit acid production in the stomach.
• Antiemetics are prescribed to control nausea and vomiting.

Glaucoma is an ophthalmic disorder afflicting the major optic nerve than progressively leads to blindness if not treated. It is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in one or both eyes afflicting 6 million people worldwide

Description

The optic nerve is responsible for receiving and transmitting light impulses from the retina to the brain so we perceive vision.  Glaucoma progressively damages the optic nerve with results starting with a loss of peripheral vision can gradually losing central vision, at which point complete blindness becomes inevitable. There are various types of glaucoma.  The two main types are:

• Angle-closure glaucoma:  the drainage canals within the eyeball are physically blocked.  It can be chronic (long lasting) or acute (sudden).  Acute cases are considered emergencies as blindness can occur within hours of its onset.  Chronic cases cause vision loss without any symptom.
• Open-angle glaucoma:  the drainage remain open but cause vision loss without symptoms.

Causes and Risk Factors of Glaucoma Symptoms

Glaucoma is often associated with increased pressure or intraocular pressure in the eye which leads to optic nerve damage.  But it can also happen to people with normal intraocular pressure and the onset of the disease can be attributed to poor regulation of blood supply to the optic nerve. The optic nerve is quite delicate, one the most delicate in the human body and is the most susceptible to high pressure that hardens the eyeball

Glaucoma is easily cured when detected early. But is considered as the “sneak thief of sight because without any early warning sign or symptom,  it does not allow early detection and will gradually cause the intraocular pressure to build up to eventually damage to the optic nerve.  Anyone is carries a risk to it but the following have more predisposition to it:

• Family history of glaucoma
• Older than 45 years
• Black racial ancestry
• History of increased intraocular pressure
• History of eye injury
• Use of cortisone steroids for the eye or to treat other ailments either orally or by injection.
• High degree of myopia or nearsightedness
• Farsighted people with narrow filtering angles in their vision which predisposes them to acute close angle glaucoma

Symptoms of Glaucoma Symptoms

More than half the 3 million people in the US afflicted with Glaucoma don’t know they have the disease.  That’s because they are in the early stages when symptoms are noticeable and the loss of side or peripheral vision is hardly material.  But once it sets in, other symptoms appear often related to sudden intraocular pressure such as

• Blurred vision
• Perception of halo around lights or lighted objects
• Severe pain in one eye or both
• Headache
• Abdominal pan
• Nausea and vomiting

Normal or low pressure/tension glaucoma is rarely understood as the optic nerve is damaged despite having normal intraocular pressures. Currently, this type of glaucoma is getting significant research attention to pinpoint its cause.

Other glaucoma causes include congenital where the onset appears right after birth or up to a year thereafter and are more common boys than in girls, affecting one or both eyes.  Childhood glaucoma can be traced to congenital predisposition.

Diagnosis of Glaucoma Symptoms

This type of glaucoma is often diagnosed with repeated examinations by an ophthalmologist or eye doctor who can determine the nerve damage as well as the visual field loss.

• Tonometry determines the pressure in eyeball
• Pachimetry determines the corneal thickness
• Gonisocopy examines the filtering angle and draining ability of the eye to ascertain susceptibility to sudden closure of the angle causing acute glaucoma attacks.  It also determines if there are abnormal blood vessels blocking the drainage of the aqueous fluid of the eye.

• Ophthalmoscopy is done to examine the optic nerve at the back of the eyeball and any damage to the optic nerve can be seen right away.

• Visual Field testing maps the visual areas a patient can see to determine early or late signs of glaucoma and its extent of damage to the optic nerve. These days, computer-aided assessment is used.

Treatment of Glaucoma Symptoms

While loss of vision caused by damage to the optic nerve is irreversible, glaucoma can be controlled or managed.  Treatment involves relieving intraocular pressure on the optic nerves to prevent nerve damage or at least arrest further nerve damage anywhere along its progressive path.   The most common treatment uses eye drops to relive open angle glaucoma in the US as the first level of treatment.

Various chemical formulations such as prostaglandin analogs, andrenergic agonists, carbon anhydrase inhibitors and parasympathomimetic agents or miotics are at the disposal of ophthalmologists to prescribe.

In contrast, European ophthalmologists go for laser surgery as the first level of treatment. With either laser or conventional surgery, the objective is to drain the eyeball’s aqueous fluid to relieve pressure on the optic nerve. The options for laser surgery include:

• Laser iridotomy on either narrow or closed angle glaucoma involved drilling a hole in the iris to drain the fluid.
• Laser trabeculoplasty is done on open angle glaucoma which does not cure glaucoma but open more option for more eye drops to work.
• Laser cilioablation is reserved for people with severe forms

Conventional glaucoma surgery also aims to lower intraocular pressures and involves

• Trabeculectormy, a microsurgical procedure that is most commonly done to lower in intraocular pressure
• Aqueous shunt or tube implants are artificial draining devices surgically implanted using microscopic tubes meant to lower intraocular pressures.
• Viscocanalostomy involved surgically removing a piece of the eye wall or sclera leaving just the thin tissue membrane through which aqueous fluid can be drained.  It less invasive but is also less effective.

Malaria is an infectious disease of the blood and is most prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical regions infested with mosquitoes carrying the malaria bacteria.

Millions of people are infected every year with a high mortality rate especially in underdeveloped tropical countries.  The disease has been all but stomped out in northern hemispheres with the US declared by WHO as a malaria-free country. But, there are still hundreds of reported cases each year, mostly from travelers retuning home from the tropics where they acquired it

Description

There are various species of the plasmodium parasite that causes malaria.  The most serious cases are caused by the Plasmodium falciparum that can be fatal if left untreated.  The rest, including the Plasmodium vivac, ovale and malariae cause milder malaria cases that are not fatal.

Causes and Risk Factors of Malaria

Malaria is transmitted from the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito commonly thriving in mosquito-ridden regions of tropical countries.  The mosquito carries the Plasmodium parasite bacteria which had it roots when the mosquito bit a person infected with it.  When the mosquito bites her next prey, the parasite is injected with the mosquito’s saliva and is carried by the bloodstream to the liver where the parasite starts to multiply within the red blood cells usually within weeks or even months from being bitten. Now you have the onset of malaria with the known symptoms that can lead to coma or death.

Symptoms of Malaria

In general, malaria causes high fever that comes and goes everyday or every other day depending on the type of malaria contracted from the Plasmodium bacteria.  The pattern of regularly returning fevers is classic for malaria but many people will show fever symptoms easily confused with a bout of influenza.  Headaches, nausea, chills, perspiration and body weakness are expected.  As the malaria worsens, the fevers seem to subside which can be mistaken as getting well but the infection can remain for years especially in people with repeated exposure to the infection and may even develop some immunity to certain malaria types.

The worst Malaria caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite exhibits hemolytic anemia (destruction of red blood cells) and leads to kidney failure, coma and eventual death. Malaria of this type is always treated as an emergency case as drugs that can work in other types are often resisted here.

Diagnosis of Malaria

The malaria parasite is found on the blood; hence, a blood test can determine the malaria type.  Repeated testing may be necessary to confirm and a DNA test may also be prescribed.

Treatment of Malaria

If the type of infection cannot be ascertained, patients are first treated with IV quinine formula Q drugs. Malaria patients diagnosed with the P. falciparum parasite are first administered with Quinidine-based drugs which are essentially heart disease medication that kills malarial parasites. Next are the more potent chloroquine or mefloquine-based dugs but there is now widespread resistance to these especially in East Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America.

With milder cases of malaria, home treatment using oral OTC drugs and liquids are quite common.  In any home care regimen, the patient needs lots of liquids to prevent dehydration that could worsen the infection. Slightly more serious malaria cases can be treated with IV quinine drugs at home.  In the US, it is best that the initial treatment be done in a hospital to document the case, before spending the rest of the treatment at home.

Rheumatoid arthritis or RA is an autoimmune disorder that leads to chronic or long standing inflammation afflicting and possibly damaging the joints and surrounding tissues.

Description

It is an autoimmune disorder because the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the joints and tissues as if they were foreign matter. The inflammation is a direct consequence of this attack. While the condition is chronic lasting for years, patients have been known to enjoy long periods without the symptom.  But the disease is progressive with the potential to destroy the joints causing ambulatory and functional disability of the hands and limbs.

Causes and Risk Factors of Rheumatoid Arthritis

RA is a common rheumatic ailment affecting nearly 1.3 million in the US.  Men are three times more predisposed to it than women and the ailment usually starts after age 40 and before 60.

The causative factors leading to RA are generally unknown.  While infectious bacteria, virus and fungi have been suspected, none has been shown to have direct links. Environmental factors are also suspected but genetic inheritance show a more promising link.  Some families exhibit multiple RA afflictions among its members suggesting genetic roots. But it remains to this day as one active area for laboratory and clinical tests.

Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

RA symptoms come and go without treatment. But once the joint tissues are inflamed, the disease is active and can go into remission spontaneously or with treatment over a few weeks. People can go for months without the symptoms but when it relapses, it is called a flare.  Periods of remissions and flares vary between individuals.  The usual symptoms include

• Fatigue and loss of energy
• Loss of appetite
• Muscle and joint aches and stiffening
• Low grade fevers
• Reddened, swollen, tender and painful joints

The tenderness and pain experienced often comes symmetrically, meaning both sides of the body. Simple tasks like turning door knobs or opening jars can be a nightmare of pain.  Sometimes, the pain involves only a joint on one side of the body and mimics the symptoms of gout or simple joint infection.

Because of its chronic (long lasting) nature, RA has been known to result in joint deformities if not outright destruction as it erodes cartilages and weaken bones and the tissues around the joints effectively losing the function associated with the joint

Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Diagnosing RA involves eliminating bacterial infection common in gout patients and the doctor can perform arthrocentesis where the fluids in the joint get extracted with a syringe for lab analysis. Then there’s blood test and X-rays.

A blood test can reveal abnormal antibodies often found in the blood of people with RA but this is incomplete as only 80% of RA sufferers have blood containing the “rheumatoid factor.”  Another blood test used as a crude measure is the sedimentary rate test where the rate with which red blood cells settle to the bottom of a test tube can measure the joint inflammation.  A faster rate indicates RA,

The most telling diagnoses are X-rays to show the swelling of joint tissues as well as bone erosions typical in RA patients. The American College of Rheumatology has classified RA severity based on X-ray appearance of the joints.

• Stage 1:  No damage though signs of bone thinning are apparent
• Stage 2:  Slight cartilage damage with atrophy of surrounding muscles but no joint abnormality
• Stage 3: Evidence of cartilage and bone damage and deformity with extensive muscle atrophy
• Stage 4:  Sever osteoporosis around the joint with sever muscle atrophy and abnormality as well as  permanent fixation or ankylosis.

Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

There is no known cure for RA and the RA treatments available are there to relieve and reduce RA symptoms and prevent joint destruction and muscular atrophy around the joints.  Early medical treatment can help arrest the chronic situation with longer periods without the symptoms. Occasionally, cortisone medications are resorted to as injectibles into the joint during an arthrocentesis session to rapidly relieve the painful joint inflammation and reduce RA symptoms.

Optimal management of the disease involves a mix of joint-strengthening exercises, sufficient rest and symptom alleviation thru prescribed or OTC drugs.  The treatment is customized to the need of the sufferer including allowances for treatment of other ailments, if any.

Two classes of treatment are often employed using either fast acting drugs for fast relief and reduction of joint pain and inflammation, and slow acting drugs to improve chances of remission and forestall joint destruction but are not anti-inflammatory. The former are usually aspirin and cortisone-based while the latter are your methotrexate and Hydroxychloroquine based drugs.

TIA or Transient Ischemic Attack is a mini-stroke or more medically termed as a cerebro-vascular accident or CVA.

Description

TIA happens when some brain functions are impaired as a result of oxygen deprivation when blood circulation to a part of the brain is lost.  This is often temporary and if the blood supply is restored quickly enough, then the CVA symptoms are resolved and the impaired functions get restored.  This is why the stroke in the TIA is called transient.  The impaired brain functions are temporary.

Causes and Risk Factors of TIA

Loss of blood supply to portions of the brain results in a stroke.  Large portions deprived of blood over a long period can lead to coma or death. Loss of blood supply in certain regions, if not restored can cause permanent loss of the affected function controlled by that part of the brain.  In TIA, the loss of blood supply is transient and the impairment can resolve itself. The main cause of blood loss to the brain include

• Thrombosis: This is a blood clot that blocks the blood vessel feeding a part of the brain
• Embolism:  This is debris of blood clots carried by the blood vessel downstream to the brain.
• Atherosclerosis: A hardening of the arterial walls caused by fatty plaque formations can cause a rupture to cause blood clots to form.
• Atrial Fibrillation:  People with irregular heart beats can form flood clots t travel to the brain causing obstruction and loss of blood supply to that part.
• Aneurism: This is bleeding in the brain or brain hemorrhage where a blood vessel in the brain ruptures to spill blood into the brain matter either caused by a head trauma or unmanaged hypertension.  This condition often causes a more serious stroke or true stroke rather than a temporary one like a CVA.

You get increased predisposition to a stroke or CVA if you are chain smoker, have high blood pressure or hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol levels.

Symptoms of TIA

The location in the brain when the loss of blood supply occurs determines the symptom.

• If the blood supply coming from the carotid arteries is lost, there’s weakness and paralysis as well as numbness of either left or right side of the body. Either a limb is affected or the whole side.
• If the blood supply is lost on the left side of the brain where speech control is location, then speech is partially or wholly lost.  Vision can also be lost.
• A decrease in the blood supply from vertebral arteries to the base of the brain will cause a sudden collapse or uncoordinated walking.  That’s why a karate chop to the back of the neck can immobilize or render a person unconsious.
• A special TIA causing temporary blindness in one eye can happen when debris from the carotid arteries block the ophthalmic artery that supplies blood to the eyes.

Under all symptoms, the blood supply is often restored quickly to resolve the stroke, usually within a few minutes from the onset of the symptom.  But full restoration of the faculties and movement control may not happen until after 24 hours. Otherwise, if they are not restored, you are looking at a true stroke where the impairment is permanent.

Diagnosis of TIA

Since most of the symptoms are often resolved within a few minutes of suffering a TIA, there’s not much a doctor can work with to diagnose the ailment expect to get a good reading of the patient’s medical history as well the family history and get as much details from the patient and those who were around when the TIA occurred.  A physical exam with careful focus on a neurological aspect is done and includes

• Testing for alertness and mental focus
• Checking the eye for any abnormal movement as well as facial movement to evaluate cranial nerves
• Listening to the neck with a stethoscope for narrowing of blood vessels that often create abnormal sounds
• Checking on heart rhythm to rule out atrial fibrillation
• Checking stimulus responses to the arms and legs
• Checking for walking coordination and balance control.

A neurologist or doctor may want a more thorough evaluation and may prescribe the following tests:

• Electrocardiogram (EKG) to confirm heart rate
• Computerized tomography or CT San on the brain to reveal any bleeding
• Carotid ultrasound to detect any constriction in the carotids in the neck
• Complete blood tests
• A suspicion that the heart caused the TIA will required an echocardiogram or sound wave testing of the heart.

Treatment of TIA

A TIA incident opens up the possibility that another TIA or even a more serious stroke can occur down the road.  Treating TIA is really about preventing another TIA seizure or subsequent occurrence.  There’s no way to predict future seizure nor ascertain the extent, hence, a preventive regimen in important.

• Anti-platelet therapy:  Aspirin controls platelet accumulation and 325 mg intake daily can help prevent the condition that could restrict blood flow to the brain.  If the patient is already taking aspirin when the TIA happened, another anti-platelet drug is advised.
• Hypertension therapy:  There are always benefits to managing high blood pressure with a goal of achieving 80/120 levels with both an ACE inhibitor and a diuretic.
• Cholesterol control: Anything to lower the bad cholesterol or triglycerides can minimize the risk of any heart related diseases, including strokes.
• Lifestyle changes:  Reducing alcohol intake and eliminating smoking and managing your weight with the right diet as well as regular exercise will help reduce the risk of a stroke.

Yeast is a microscopic fungus commonly of the Candida Albicans species responsible for a number of fungal infections called Candidiasis.  Most are specific to women such as viginitis or vaginal yeast infection. But they can also cause infection on the skin like diaper rush as well as nailbed infections

Description

Candidal infections are common in warm moist parts of the body like the vagina and the underarms.  The skin’s natural defenses can block yeast infection but a skin break or cut can bring the yeast to penetrate the skin and cause havoc. Adults can also suffer Candidal infections in the mouth and gums as well as under the breasts and lower abdomen or inner thighs and between skin folds especially among obese people.

Causes and Risk Factors of Yeast infection

Vaginitis is an inflammation of the vagina and is reported by around 75% of women but this can be caused by other bacterial infection such as gonorrhea and gardnerella apart from yeast.  Vaginal Candidiasis, however, is the more common. In addition, yeast can also infect the external female genital or the vulva which includes the labia and the clitoris to cause similar inflammation of these areas called Vulvitis.

Yeast infection affecting the vulva or vagina often occurs in women taking antibiotics to treat UTI or urinary tract infection, respiratory tract infection and other types of infection as well as taking in immunosuppressive drugs that allow the yeast commonly found in the vagina to multiply and take in new yeasts to irritate the vaginal lining to cause vaginitis.  Women with diabetes mellitus, who are pregnant or taking oral contraceptives have increased risks of getting vaginal yeast infection as well as those using douches or perfumed hygiene sprays.

This is not considered a sexually transmitted disease since yeasts are common in the vagina of normal healthy women.  However, men can develop skin irritation of the penis, especially the moist glans of the uncircumcised penis where the yeast can thrive after a sexual intercourse with one who is infected.

Symptoms of Yeast infection

In woman suffering from vaginitis, the symptoms are non-specific, meaning, other ailments can share the same symptoms.  But the most common is vaginal or vulval itching. Other symptoms include

• Burning sensation or soreness in the vulval/vaginal areas
• Pain during urination and/or sexual intercourse
• Vaginal discharge consisting of odorless whitish fluid like cottage cheese but is not always present
• Localized pain in the vulval area medically referred to as vulvodina

Diagnosis of Yeast infection

Vaginal yeast infection is indicated with the presence of cheese white discharge on the vaginal walls. Otherwise, the symptoms are non-specific and other ailments that cause the same symptoms need to be eliminated.  Confirming the Candidal infection requires a specimen from the affected vaginal area for microscopic evaluation.

Treatment of Yeast infection

Vulvitis and Vaginitis are commonly treated with antifungal medications applied topically in and around the affected vaginal and vulval areas.  The more commonly available antifungal topical creams are butoconazole (Femstat 3), Terconazole (Terazol 3), clotrimazole (Lotrimin) and miconazole (Monistat).  OTC topical treatment is quite common but sufferers should note that the symptoms are also present in other medical conditions like bacterial vaginosis, gonorrhea and Chlamydia and unless they get the right diagnosis, won’t get those symptoms eliminated.

Oral antifungal medications can also be used but are known to cause side effects such as headaches, abdominal pain and nausea.  They are also contra-indicated for pregnant women.

Salmonella infection can occur in humans and animals worldwide.  The most common infection occur as salmonellosis or more commonly known as salmonella poisoning which is a form of gastroenteritis that can afflict people in both third world and industrialized countries. It also triggers Typhoid fever after entering the gastrointestinal tract,

Description

The Salmonella bacteria were first isolated in 1885 by Theobald Smith from infected pigs and were named after D.E. Salmon, his lab director. Salmonella is a group of flagellated rod-shaped bacteria belonging to two species, the  S.enterica and the S.bongoi with over 2,500 serovars (the term used to identify different protein coats on each bacterium) and any of them can cause the dreaded Salmonella infection or poisoning.

Causes and Risk Factors of Salmonella Poisoning

Majority of the Salmonella bacteria enters the gastrointestinal tract from infected food and water.  For normal healthy people, it takes a lot of the Salmonella bacteria to cause infection as the stomach acids are known to kill the bacteria in large numbers.  But once the bacteria survives to reach the intestines, the Salmonella toxins Cytoxin and Enterotoxin will damage intestinal cells disabling fluid absorption which leads to diarrhea and serious dehydration.  Nevertheless, the immune system takes care of combating the bacteria which accounts for the low fevers in salmonella poisoning cases.

But even after the person recovers, some bacteria survives to be carried in the blood stream and enter the gall bladder where it remains and the bile secretions into the feces will contain the bacteria to make the person a carrier who can infect food especially if he is in the food processing business with unsanitary conditions.  The bacteria then get transmitted via the fecal-oral route.

Symptoms of Salmonella Poisoning

Salmonellosis is one of the major causes of gastroenteritis characterized by

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Fever

These are the common symptoms associated with food poisoning which is milder but can lead to dehydration and death if left untreated.  While other bacteria, parasites and virus like the E.coli Giarda and rotavirus as well as intake of mushroom toxins and pesticides can cause food poisoning, salmonellosis diagnoses occur in about 1.4 million cases in the US every year.

The infection itself is not life-threatening as it is self-limiting, meaning it goes away in a few days for normal healthy people.  However, the elderly and those with suppressed or impaired immune system may develop severe symptoms like sepsis and bacteremia.

Fever may accompany the infection and can last 7-10 days.  More virulent serovars identified as S.typhi can cause typhoid and paratyphoid fevers characterized by dangerously high fevers in excess of 100° F. Typhoid fever can lead to death if left untreated.

Diagnosis of Salmonella Poisoning

A culture test of the feces or urine samples of people suspected of Salmonellosis is the main diagnostic tool to confirm the infection.  Often, the diagnosis is prompted by an outbreak where a number of patients complain of the same symptoms in the same locality. But the symptoms can be caused by other food poisoning triggers and it will require a special culture testing media such a selective agar and stereotyping tests to correctly identity Salmonella from several other bacterial pathogens.

Treatment of Salmonella Poisoning

For normal healthy people contacting the infection, salmonellosis is self-liming and often resolves itself within 3-7 days without treatment.  But some doctors prescribe antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin for up to 2 weeks which can result in future drug resistant bacterial strain or can even prolong the infection.  However, elderly patients or those suffering AIDs or undergoing chemotherapy will require antibiotics to treat salmonellosis.

For typhoid fevers or enteric fevers with septicemia, antibiotics are commonly administered intravenously.  But it is important the particular test that identified the salmonella bacteria should also include tests to determine antibiotic drug resistance as the bacteria have been known to be resistant to multiple antibiotics.  The more effective antibiotics are fluoroquinolones and 3^rd generation cephalosporins.

An underactive thyroid gland is a medical condition called hypothyroidism when the hormone thyroxin in not sufficiently produced by the thyroid gland found in the neck to fall below normal levels required by the body to function normally. The condition afflicts some people as they grow old, usually from 35 onwards and four times more women suffer the disorder than men.

Description

The thyroxin hormone maintains the body’s metabolic rates to sustain normal body functions and active pace. With an underactive thyroid that produces less of the hormone, metabolism slows down or even grinds to a trickle so that everything in the body slows down. People with the condition suffer stunted growth and a small body whereas adults with the condition will generally have general body weakness and lethargic disposition.

Causes and Risk Factors of Underactive Thyroid

The most common trigger is an inherited condition called Hashimoto’s thryroiditis named after Dr. Hakaru Hashimoto who first described the condition in 1912.  It is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland that gets enlarged.  In addition, insufficient thyroxin production can be triggered by

Other causes are dysfunction of the thyroid gland due to disease of the gland itself or thyroidectomy, radiation therapy with radioactive iodine, and failure of the pituitary gland to produce thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).

A person risks suffering the condition as they grow older, over 50 in women and over 60 in men.  A chronic iodine deficiency as well as untreated goiter can lead to a dysfunction of the thyroid gland. A history of thyroid related disorders indicates a high risk as well as contracting diabetes, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.  A raised cholesterol level can also increase hypothyroid conditions.

Symptoms of Underactive Thyroid

The symptoms commonly associated with an underactive thyroid can also show in other medical ailments.  They often develop progressively and slowly becoming worse over time with continuously inadequate thyroid hormones. The most common symptom include

Tiredness and early fatigue

Puffy eyes and hands

Weight gain as a result of inactivity, constipation

Dry unhealthy skin, nails and hair

Hair loss in the eyebrows

Mental lethargy and memory lapses

Anemia,

Frequent bouts with depression,

High cholesterol levels

Fluid retention

Other symptoms with lesser commonality include

Irregular menstrual cycle

Infertility

Loss of libido

Hoarse voice

Carpal tunnel syndrome which results in numbing or pain in the hands

Non-treatment increase the risk of cardiovascular disease as a low thyroxin causes high cholesterol levels.

Prolonged non-treatment progressively results in cretinism characterized by

Constant drooling

Swayback

Pot belly

Stunted growth in children

Pregnant woman who develop hypothyroidism face increased risk of premature labor, pre-eclampsia, low birth weight and still birth.

Although rare, severe prolonged thyroxin deficiency can induce hypothyroid coma (Myxedema coma) that gradually sets in Diagnosis

Diagnosis of Underactive Thyroid

After a thorough check of a patient’s medical history to ascertain familial disposition to the condition, a physical and medical examination can reveal through blood tests the low T4 and a high TSH levels indicative of hypothyroidism. Palpitation of the larynx can reveal abnormal swelling or growth of the thyroid gland and subsequent blood tests can confirm the diagnosis.

Treatment of Underactive Thyroid

The condition often persists throughout one’s life and because hypothyroidism is deficiency of the thyroid hormone, its effective treatment involves thyroid hormone supplementation.  It can be natural using extracts from the thyroid glands of animals or pharmaceutically synthesized such as levothyroxine.