Blindness

Blindness is the condition of missing visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.

Various scales have been developed to explain the extent of vision loss and define "blindness”. Total blindness is the entire lack of form and visual light perception and is clinically recorded as "NLP," an abbreviation for "no light perception”. Blindness is normally used to describe severe visual impairment with residual vision. Those described as having only "light perception" have no more sight than the capacity to tell light from dark. A person with only "light projection" can tell the common direction of a light source.

In order to determine which people may need special assistance because of their visual disabilities, various governmental jurisdictions have formulated more difficult definitions referred to as legal blindness. In North America and most of Europe, legal blindness is defined as visual acuity (vision) of 20/200 (6/60) or less in the improved eye with best correction possible. This means that a officially blind individual would have to stand 20 feet (6.1 m) from an object to see it—with vision correction—with the same degree of clarity as a usually sighted person could from 200 feet (61 m). In many areas, people with average acuity who nevertheless have a visual field of less than 20 degrees (the norm being 180 degrees) are also classified as being legally blind. About ten percent of those deemed legally blind, by any measure, have no vision. The rest have some vision, from light perception alone to comparatively good acuity. Low vision is sometimes used to illustrate visual acuities from 20/70 to 20/200.

Hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus is due to a trouble with the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

CSF moves throughout pathways of the brain called ventricles. It also flows around the exterior of the brain and through the spinal canal. Higher-than-normal amounts of CSF can occur in the brain if the flow or combination of CSF is blocked, or if too much CSF is produced. The build up of liquid puts pressure on the brain, pushing the brain up against the skull and damaging or destroying brain tissues.

The symptoms depend on the cause of the blockage, the person's age, and how much brain tissue has been injured by the swelling.

Bacterial vaginosis

Bacterial vaginosis or vaginitis is an inflammation which occurs in the vagina and includes a number of strains of germ that cause bacterial vaginosis yeast infections and trichomoniasis. Many women wrongly believe that yeast infections are the most common type of vaginal infection but bacterial vaginosis is the most frequently occurring vaginal infection affecting from 10 percent to 64 percent of the female population at any given time.


Bacterial vaginosis occurs mainly during the reproductive years although women of all ages are susceptible to this infection that affects the vagina, urethra, bladder, and skin in the genital area.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a provocative illness of the lung. Normally, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid. (The alveoli are microscopic air-filled sacs in the lungs in charge for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere.) Pneumonia can result from a variety of causes, as well as infection with bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites, and chemical or physical injury to the lungs. Its cause may also be formally described as idiopathic—that is, unknown—when infectious causes have been excluded.

Typical symptoms connected with pneumonia include cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty in breathing. Diagnostic tools include x-rays and test of the sputum. Treatment depends on the basis of pneumonia; bacterial pneumonia is treated with antibiotics.

Pneumonia is a general illness which occurs in all age groups, and is a leading cause of death among the elderly and people who are chronically and terminally ill. . Vaccines to prevent certain types of pneumonia are available. The prognosis depends on the type of pneumonia, the appropriate treatment, any complications, and the person's fundamental health.

Anemia

Anemia (AmE) or anæmia/anaemia (BrE), from the Greek (Ἀναιμία) (an-aîmia) meaning "without blood," is defined as a qualitative or quantitative lack of hemoglobin, a molecule found inside red blood cells (RBCs). Since hemoglobin usually carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, anemia leads to hypoxia (lack of oxygen) in organs. Because all human cells depend on oxygen for survival, varying degrees of anemia can have a wide range of clinical consequences.

The three major classes of anemia include excessive blood loss (acutely such as a hemorrhage or chronically through low-volume loss), excessive blood cell destruction (hemolysis) or deficient red blood cell production (ineffective hematopoiesis).

Anemia is the most general disorder of the blood. There are several kinds of anemia, caused by a variety of underlying causes. Anemia can be classified in a range of ways, based on the morphology of RBCs, underlying etiologic mechanisms, and discernible clinical spectra, to mention a few.

Wheat Allergy

Wheat allergy, also known as wheat hypersensitivity is most generally a food allergy, but can also be a respiratory or contact allergy resulting from occupational exposure. Normally the allergy is limited to the seed storage proteins of wheat, some reactions are restricted to wheat proteins, while others can react across many varieties of seeds and other plant tissues. Wheat allergy may be a misnomer because there are many allergenic components in wheat, for example serine proteinase inhibitors, glutelins and prolamins and different responses are often attributed to different proteins. The most severe response is exercise/aspirin induced anaphylaxis recognized to one omega gliadin that is a relative of the protein that causes coeliac disease. Other more well-known system includes nausea, urticaria, atopy.

There are four main classes of seed storage proteins: albumins, globulins, prolamins and glutelins. Within wheat prolamins are known as gliadins and glutelins are called glutenins. These two protein groups form the standard glutens. Though gluten is a causative agent of Coeliac disease (CD), coeliac disease can be contrasted to gluten allergy by the involvement of different immune cells and antibody types and because the list of allergens extend beyond the classic gluten category of proteins.

Rabies Disease

Rabies (Latin: rabies, “madness, rage, fury” also “hydrophobia”) is a viral zoon tic neuroinvasive disease that causes sharp encephalitis (irritation of the brain) in mammals.

In non-vaccinated humans, rabies is nearly invariably fatal after neurological symptoms have developed, but prompt post-exposure vaccination may avoid the virus from progressing. There are only six known cases of a person surviving symptomatic rabies, and only one known case of survival in which the patient received no rabies-specific cure either before or after illness onset.

The disease is a Lyssavirus. This genus of RNA disease also includes the Aravan virus, Australian bat lyssavirus, Duvenhage virus, European bat lyssavirus 1, European bat lyssavirus 2, Irkut virus, Khujand virus, Lagos bat virus, Mokola virus and West Caucasian bat virus. Lyssaviruses have helical symmetry, so their infectious particles are about cylindrical in shape. This is typical of plant-infecting viruses; human-infecting viruses more generally have cubic symmetry and take shapes approximating regular polyhedra. Negri bodies in the impure neurons are pathognomonic.

Appendicitis

On the basis of experimental confirmation, acute appendicitis seems to be the end result of a primary obstruction of the appendix lumen. Once this obstruction occurs the appendix subsequently becomes filled with mucus and swells, rising pressures within the lumen and the walls of the appendix, resulting in thrombosis and occlusion of the small vessels, and stasis of lymphatic flow. Rarely, natural recovery can occur at this point. As the previous progresses, the appendix becomes ischemic and then necrotic. As bacteria begin to leak out through the dying walls, pus forms inside and around the appendix (suppuration).


The end result of this cascade is appendicle rupture causing peritonitis, which may lead to septicemia and finally death. Among the causative agents, such as foreign bodies, trauma, intestinal worms, and lymphadenitis, the amount of an obstructing fecalith has attracted attention. The prevalence of fecaliths in patients with appendicitis is much higher in developed than in developing countries, and an appendiceal fecalith is usually associated with complicated appendicitis. Moreover, fecal stasis and arrest may play a role, as demonstrated by a significantly lower number of bowel movements per week in patients with acute appendicitis compared with healthy controls.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis) is a general and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis most normally attacks the lungs (as pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, bones, joints and even the skin. Other mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium africanum, Mycobacterium canetti, and Mycobacterium microti can also cause tuberculosis, but these species do not generally infect healthy adults.

One third of the world's current population has been affectde by TB, and new infections occur at a rate of one per second. Not everybody infected develops the full-blown disease; asymptomatic, latent infection is most common. But, one in ten latent infections will progress to active disease, which, if left untreated, kills more than half of its victims

Paralysis Disease

Paralysis is the complete failure of muscle function for one or more muscle groups. Paralysis can cause loss of emotion or loss of mobility in the affected area.

Paralysis is most often caused by injure to the nervous system or brain, especially the spinal cord. Partial paralysis can also happen in the REM stage of sleep. Most important causes are stroke, trauma, poliomyelitis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), botulism, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Poisons that get in the way with nerve function, such as curare, can also cause paralysis. Many causes of this are varied, and could also be unidentified.

Paralysis may be localized, or generalized, or it may follow a certain instance. For instance, localized paralysis occurs in Bell's palsy where one side of the face may be paralyzed due to inflammation of the facial nerve on that side. Patients with stroke may be weak all over their body (global paralysis) or have hemiplegia (weakness on one side of the body) or other patterns of paralysis depending on the area of injure in the brain. Other patterns of paralysis occur due to different lesions and their sequelae.

Whooping Coughing

In adults, signs and symptoms of whooping cough may be similar to those of bronchitis, a respiratory infection that causes a nagging cough. Babies and infants with whooping cough may not whoop at all, or at least not as loudly as elder children do. Some children with whooping cough may experience choking spells and turn blue in the face as they oppose to breathe after extended coughing.

Severe coughing can result in tiny red spots caused by ruptures in blood vessels at the skin's surface (petechiae) in the upper body, since small areas of bleeding in the whites of the eyes. You may even bruise or break a rib if your coughing episodes are harsh. Coughing may be poor at night.

Dengue Fever

Dengue fever is a sickness caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. It is a severe illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with headache, fever, exhaustion, severe joint and muscle pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy), and rash. The presence (the "dengue triad") of fever, rash, and headache (and other pains) is mainly characteristic of dengue.

Dengue (pronounced DENG-gay) strikes people with low levels of resistance. Because it is caused by one of four serotypes of virus, it is possible to get dengue fever many times. Though, an attack of dengue produces immunity for a lifetime to that particular serotype to which the patient was exposed.

Dengue goes by new names, including "breakbone" or "dandy fever." Victims of dengue often have contortions due to the strong joint and muscle pain, hence the name breakbone fever. Slaves in the West Indies who contracted dengue were said to have dandy fever since the postures and gait.

Irregular Pulse

In medicine, a person's pulse is the throbbing of their arteries as an result of the heart beat. It can be felt in any position that allows for an artery to be condensed against a bone, such as at the neck (carotid artery), at the wrist (radial artery), behind the knee (popliteal artery), on the inside of the elbow (brachial artery), and close to the ankle joint (posterior tibial artery). The pulse rate can also be calculated by measuring the heart beats directly (the apical pulse).


Pulse is also used, though incorrectly, to denote the frequency of the heart beat, usually measured in beats per minute. Under certain conditions, including arrhythmias, some of the heart beats are ineffective, and the aorta is not stretched enough to create a palpable pressure wave. The pulse is too unequal and the heart rate can be (much) higher than the pulse rate. In this condition, the heart rate should be determined by auscultation of the heart apex, in which case it is not the pulse. The pulse shortfall (difference between heart beats and pulsations at the periphery) should be determined by simultaneous palpation at the radial artery and auscultation at the heart apex.

Nose Bleed

The nose is a part of the body rich in blood vessels (vascular) and is located in a vulnerable position as it protrudes on the face. As a result, trauma to the face can cause nasal damage and bleeding. The bleeding may be profuse, or just a minor complication. Nosebleeds can occur suddenly when the nasal membranes dry out and crack. This is general in dry climates, or during the winter months when the air is dry and warm from household heaters. People are more vulnerable to bleeding if they are taking medications which prevent normal blood clotting [warfarin (Coumadin), aspirin, or any anti-inflammatory medication]. In this condition, even a minor trauma could result in significant bleeding.

The occurrence of nosebleeds is higher during the colder winter months when upper respiratory infections are more frequent, and the temperature and humidity fluctuate more dramatically. In addition, changes from a bitter cold outside environment to a warm, dry, heated home results in drying and changes in the nose which will make it more vulnerable to bleeding. Nosebleeds also occur in hot dry climates with low humidity, or when there is a vary in the seasons.

Polio attack Disease

Poliomyelitis, also Known as polio or infantile paralysis, is a highly infectious viral disease that may attack the central nervous system and is characterized by symptoms that range from a mild nonparalytic infection to whole paralysis in a matter of hours.

There are three known types of polioviruses (called 1,2, and 3), each causing a unusual strain of the disease and all are members of the viral family of enteroviruses (viruses that infect the gastrointestinal tract). Type 1 is the cause of epidemics and many cases of paralysis, which is the most severe symptom of the infection. The virus is generally a harmless parasite of human beings. Some statistics quote one in 200 infections as significant to paralysis while others state that one in 1,000 cases reach the central nervous system (CNS).

Cowpox Disease

Cowpox is caused by the cowpox or catpox virus, a part of the orthopoxvirus family, which also includes smallpox and vaccinia. The virus is supposed to be acquired by direct contact with an infected animal, most often a cat in the case of humans, with lesions occurring where the virus gains access through broken skin. Infection normally remains localized at the initial site of inoculation, though lymphatic spread in a sporotrichoid pattern and generalized skin infection have been reported.
Since, a member of the Orthopoxvirus family, cowpox is a large double-stranded DNA virus that replicates in cell cytoplasm. Viral particles bind to plasma covering receptors on host cells and then enter into the cytoplasm, where the viral genome is replicated and viral progeny are assembled. After new viral particles are assembled, the host cell lyses, releasing infectious virus, which can enter nearby cells.

Glycemic control

Glycemic control is a medical name referring to the typical levels of blood sugar (glucose) in a person with diabetes mellitus. Much verification suggests that many of the long-term complications of diabetes, especially the microvascular complications, result from many years of hyperglycemia (elevated levels of glucose in the blood). Good glycemic control, in the sense of a "target" for treatment, has become an significant goal of diabetes care.

Because blood sugar levels vary throughout the day and glucose records are imperfect indicators of these changes, the percentage of hemoglobin which is glycosylated is used as a proxy measure of long-term glycemic control in research trials and clinical care of people with diabetes. This test, the hemoglobin A1c or glycosylated hemoglobin reflects average glucoses over the previous 2-3 months. In nondiabetic persons with normal glucose metabolism the glycosylated hemoglobin is generally 4-6% by the most common methods (normal ranges may vary by method).

How To Avoid Cancer

It's the third major cause of death in Australia. And while death rates are coming down for some cancers, cancers are not easy to treat unless they're caught in the early stages. This is because by and large, we're still using surgery as the main treatment approach and when the cancer spreads, surgery is much less helpful.

But a lot of cancer is avoidable, according to a panel of experts who've reviewed the available scientific evidence about cancer, diet and exercise, and come up with some guidelines as to how we can lower cancer rates.
Over five years, scientists working for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) from nine universities in four countries looked at the existing research and published their findings in a report called Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer. There's a review of it and an editorial in last month's British Medical Journal by a professor of cancer research at Oxford University

Tips to Control High Blood Pressure

The heart, a muscle about the size of a fist, is one of the hardest functioning organs in our bodies. Over the way of an average life span, it beats about two and a half billion times without ever taking a break. The daily choices we make about how we live our lives determine our hearts' capability to function optimally.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the number one destroyer in the United States. More than 2,600 people die of heart disease each day, which translates into one cardiovascular death every 33 seconds.


Despite the significance and prevalence of heart disease, cardiovascular problems aren't inevitable. There are steps you can take -- eating a healthy, low-fat diet and getting plenty of exercise -- to decrease your risk. On the other hand, bad habits such as smoking and drinking too much alcohol overload our already busy hearts and cause them to break down.

Bone cancer

Bone cancer is caused by a trouble with the cells that create bone. More than 2,000 citizens are diagnosed in the United States each year with a bone tumor. Bone tumors occur most normally in children and adolescents and are less common in older adults. Cancer involving the bone in older adults is most normally the result of metastatic spread from another tumor.
There are various types of bone cancer. The most general bone tumors include osteosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, chondrosarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, fibrosarcoma, and chordoma