Archive for May, 2008

Whenever your brain receives more than one image from both of your eyes, then it can result in a vision defect, know as strabismus.

Most commonly, this condition is also known as cross eyes or squint eye.

Each of your eyes focuses on the same spot, but transmits a slightly different message to your brain. Your brain superimposes both the images and gives a depth and dimension to your vision.

Strabismus can cause blindness, if ignored!

Strabismus or cross eye is quite common in newborn infants. If your child is experiencing crossed or wandering of eyes, then he/she might get a different picture from each of their two eyes and the brain of your child tries to block out the picture from the weaker eye. In normal vision, both of your eyes focus in same direction at same time.

If you are unable to identify or fix the problem in the early age of your child, then your child’s brain gradually improves to ignore the picture blocked from weaker eye. This kind of vision loss due to strabismus or cross eyes, leads to most serious problem called amblyopia.

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Prostatitis is the most common infection which can affect almost 50% of men at any age.

It is the most common urological disorder in men over the age of 50.

So, it is very important for you to know more about this inflammation in order to avoid serious urological complications.

Prostatitis: This inflammation in your prostate gland mainly disturbs the functioning of the prostate gland. This gland mainly helps to produce fluid called semen, which is used to nourish and transport sperm.

Is prostatitis the only disorder of the prostate gland?

There is more than one type of prostatitis which can affect prostate gland. The four major disorders of prostatitis which can infect your prostate gland include:

Chronic bacterial prostatitis: This is the condition mainly associated with persistent prostatitis and underlying defect in the prostate gland. This is relatively most uncommon inflammation, which is mainly caused due to persistent bacterial infection in the urinary tract. The symptoms which you can experience if you have this type of infection include, low back pain, uneasiness in the perineum area and if the infection spreads to the bladder, then you can experience burning sensation on urination.

It is very essential for pregnant women to maintain a balanced diet with more nutrients and minerals.

Most of the birth defects in children are due to lack of essential nutrients during pregnancy [Prenatal vitamins].

Spina bifida is one of the neural tube defects which mainly affects the spinal cord of new born baby.

The neural tube is that embryonic structure, which ultimately develops into your baby’s brain and spinal cord and also the tissues which usually surround these important parts.

Under normal circumstances, this neural tube is developed in the early days or during the first month of your pregnancy.

Later the topmost part of this neural tube develops into brain of your unborn baby and the rest of the tube becomes the spinal cord of the baby. If your body lacks certain essential nutrients and minerals like folic acid, then there are chances for the spine to get split up resulting in spina bifida.

What is the importance of folic acid in the development of spina bifida?

Folic acid is a B-vitamin that your body essentially needs in making new healthy cells. If you have enough folic acid in your body before pregnancy or even during your pregnancy, it can possibly reduce the neural tube defects like spina bifida in your baby. It is very essential for you to take 400mg of folic acid daily in the food you take.

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that mainly starts in your lungs or lymph nodes.

If it becomes persistent, then it becomes more potent to affect any organ in your body including skin, nervous system, eyes, heart and also liver.

This inflammation mainly involves production of tiny lumps of cells in different organs of your body.

These lumps are mainly known as granulomas, because they look more like grains of sand or sugar. These granules like lumps are very small and can be visible only with a microscope.

The symptoms of sarcoidosis mainly depend on the organs that are affected by the inflammation. Some of you can develop the symptoms in specific part of your body like shortness of breath due to lung problems and others can experience vague symptoms. In certain cases, it doesn’t show any signs of the disease.

Early diagnosis can be helpful to prevent complications involved in sarcoidosis!

Sarcoidosis mainly affects your lungs and sometimes you will not feel the symptoms of the disease, until the disease is recognized in your regular chest x-ray. If the inflammation reaches the advanced stage, then it can end up with a cough, which persists for a long time and you can also experience shortness of breath.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart disorder in people who are advancing in age.

Whenever the chambers present in your heart lose coordination with one another, they start to beat irregularly and desperately, resulting in atrial fibrillation.

Due to this atrial fibrillation, your heart can experience rapid heart rate and poor flow of blood to other parts of your body.

If you have atrial fibrillation, then you are said to be at increased risk of developing blood clots in your heart, which can lead to heart stroke.

Whenever your heart experiences any changes like heart disease or high blood pressure [Lowering blood pressure], then it often results in atrial fibrillation. These episodes of abnormal rhythm in heart beat usually come and go but doesn’t cause any harm to the functioning of heart. Though atrial fibrillation is not a life-threatening problem for you, it can lead to several complications in your healthy life.

Atrial fibrillation mainly results in stroke!

The chaotic rhythm of your heart beat in atrial fibrillation mainly disrupts the blood flow and leads the blood to pool in your atria. As a result, the chance for the formation of blood clots in your heart increases. These blood clots, which are formed in your heart, mainly dislodge from your heart and reaches to your brain, due to which there can be blockage of atrial blood flow, causing a stroke in your heart.

It is the most common hormonal disorder which affects all most 7% of women and is mainly characterized with obesity, unwanted excess hair growth and also irregular periods. This hormonal disorder can affect women in many different ways.

It has been estimated that almost one out of ten women are getting affected with this syndrome.

This is because most of the cases of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) remain undiagnosed and the main cause for this ovarian syndrome is still unknown. As the symptoms of PCOS vary from one female to another, it often becomes difficult to diagnose this ovarian syndrome accurately.

How PCOS can lead to several reproductive disorders?

The hormonal imbalance due to polycystic ovarian syndrome can lead to several reproductive problems. Some of them include:

1. Infertility: This is the most common reproductive problem linked with polycystic ovarian syndrome, in which your ovaries will not be able to release an egg during your monthly ovulation process.
2. Repeated miscarriagesth: Due to higher insulin levels in your body, you can experience this problem and it can be prevented by taking better prescribed insulin lowering medicine.

Rheumatic fever is a very rare but potentially life threatening inflammatory disease which usually results from untreated throat infection [Throat inflammation].

This inflammatory health condition is most common in children aged between 5 and 15. However, it can also be developed in adults and mainly causes severe damage to heart, brain, joints, spinal cord and also to your skin.

Never ignore a streptococcal throat infection!

Strep throat is considered as the main root cause for rheumatic fever. Many of you usually ignore throat infection, considering it as a minor problem. But, it is very important for you to know that the main root source for rheumatic fever is bacteria, which will host in your throat along with your throat infection.

If you are affected with rheumatic fever, then it can show all its potential effects to become a life threatening disease. You can experience painful and swollen joints; severe muscle aches and also fever, if you become a victim for rheumatic fever. For some people, a red lattice rash typically begins with in one or six weeks after a short period of strep throat. However, in some cases, this bacterial infection can be mild and becomes difficult for you to recognize.

Did you notice any discoloration and numbness of your finger tips and toes when exposed to cold temperatures or even in stress?

This condition is usually referred as Raynaud’s disease, in which the arteries that supply blood to your skin becomes narrow and also limits the circulation of blood in those affected areas like finger tips, toes, nose and also in ears.

Raynaud’s disease is more common in women when compared with others and it is also more common in people who live in colder climatic conditions.

The treatment for this disease usually depends on the severity and also on the presence of associated conditions.

Self care steps to reduce raynaud’s attack!

Here are some steps which will help you in treating raynaud’s disease and reduce the symptoms of raynaud’s attack. These steps help in preventing the numbness of your skin.

• Avoid smoking: Nicotine that is present in cigarettes reduces the temperature of your skin by constricting the blood vessels, leading to raynaud’s disease. Breathing second hand smoke can also worsen raynaud’s disease.

The incidence of stomach ulcers is high in the developing countries. About 4 million people in the United States suffer from stomach ulcer every year.

According to the estimates, approximately twenty million Americans develop at least one stomach ulcer during their lifetime.

Regardless of the popular long belief that stomach ulcers are due to spicy foods, acid, stress or lifestyle, the reality is that stomach ulcers develops due to infection of the stomach with a bacterium-Helicobacter pylori (H pylori).

Helicobacter pylori and stomach ulcers:

The bacteria “Helicobacter pylori” is contagious. It enters the body easily from an infected person via fecal-oral means or oral-oral means. Sources of contaminated water may also be a means of H. pylori transmission.

Stomach mucosa (the lining of the stomach) and small intestines have protection against the strong acid (gastric juice) produced in the stomach. Gastric juice is basically a powerful mixture of dietary enzymes and hydrochloric acid. Because of this strong acid, the stomach remains sterile.

The presence of spiral-shaped micro-organisms “helicobacter pylori” in the stomach weakens the protective mucosa and burrows through the lining. This way, the bacterium Helicobacter pylori enters and safely ensconces in the thick protective mucous layer, which prevent the acid from injuring the wall of the stomach.

Neuroblastoma mainly affects children. It is comparatively a rare form of cancer which affects the nervous system of your child.

It has been estimated that every year about 600 children will develop neuroblastoma.

Children below 10 years of age are more prone to this rare form of cancer. The cells of this cancer normally resemble more like primitive nerve cells found in newly developing embryo or fetus.

Neuroblastoma mostly begins in the nerve tissue of the adrenal glands in your child. These glands are more important in the production of hormones which mainly controls the heart rate and blood pressure in your child. These hormones are also responsible for controlling the blood sugar and also the way in which the body of your child reacts to stress.

Sometimes, there are chances for your child to develop neuroblastoma in their chest or also in nerve tissues near the spine or it can also develop in their spinal cord.

Possible manifestations associated with neuroblastoma:

When the neuroblastoma tumor presses on a nearby tissue or if it spreads the cancer to the bone [Preventing bone cancer], then it shows the following symptoms of cancer in your kid.