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Acquired brain injury may occur through the sudden onset of trauma, infection, lack of oxygen, strokes, and drug use episodes, or through prolonged alcohol or substance abuse, and tumours or degenerative neurological diseases. Two thirds of all people with this disease are over the age of 45. One third of those are over the age of 65, and the largest age group is between 40 and 49. The disease is higher in men than women. Acquired brain injury is any damage to the brain affecting a person physically, emotionally or behaviorally. It can happen at birth or later, from an illness or trauma, and can be called traumatic or nontraumatic, depending on the specific cause. There could be many possible causes of it including road accidents, assaults, falls and accidents at home or at work, stroke, brain tumor, haemorrhage, or viral infection such as meningitis.
The kidneys in your body filter your blood to remove the waste and water from blood, maintain your blood pressure, clean the blood and stimulate your bone marrows to produce blood. Therefore, the kidneys play a pivotal role in your day-to-day life. In acute kidney injury, your kidneys are damaged and cease to function properly. The complications that arise from acute kidney injury could range from minor loss of kidney function to complete failure of the kidneys. Although the name suggests that it is an injury due to a physical blow to the kidneys, it usually happens as a result of other serious illnesses. Acute kidney failure is often seen in older people with other complications. If diagnosed in the early stages, your doctor can treat you to avoid complications later on. In case of delayed diagnosis, the level of salts and chemicals in blood will be abnormally high, owing to malfunctioning kidneys. This will affect not only your kidneys, but also the functioning of other organs. In case of a complete kidney failure, it is necessary to provide external aid from a dialysis machine. If ignored, acute kidney injury leads to death.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer in which the white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets are attacked by bone marrow, which is a soft inner part of the bones. Without proper treatment, acute myeloid leukemia can be fatal, as it can spread very quickly to the blood and other parts of the body. Fever, fatigue, and bleeding are symptoms of the disease. Leukemia mainly targets the red and white blood cells and platelets. Acute myeloid leukemia is also known as acute myelocytic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, and acute non-lymphocytic leukemia. The disease can affect liver, brain, spinal cord, lymph nodes, and testicles
Adenoid hypertrophy (or enlarged adenoids) is the unusual enlargement of the adenoid tonsil. The inflammation is common in children, especially between age group 2-6 years. The enlargement of tissue can be either due to bacterial infection or physiological reason. Adenoids are lymph tissues, similar to tonsils located in the upper air way between the nose and back of the throat. Adenoids are a part of the immune system and help the human body fight against infection. Adenoids enlarge due to infection but normalize after the infection subsides. However, if they remain enlarged even after the infection has gone, it may create problems. One of the possible treatments is removing them from the body.
Agnosia is a neurological disorder which affects a single information pathway in the brain. This leads to disability in recognition of faces, voices, objects or places. However, people suffering from Agnosia can still interact with the world normally. As mentioned, Agnosia affects a single pathway when brain suffers certain damage. This pathway connects primary sensory areas that store knowledge and information. These primary sensory regions are mainly visual or auditory cortices. Agnosia is caused by lesions on the parietal or occipital lobes of the brain. There are different types of Agnosia, including Environmental Agnosia, Finger Agnosia, Integrative Agnosia and Topographical disorientation. The primary sensory regions are mainly visual or auditory cortices. Lesions on the parietal or occipital lobes of the brain cause Agnosia. These lobes are vital in storing schematic information and language. Strokes, head traumas, encephalitis, carbon monoxide poisoning, dementia or anoxia generally creates the lesions.
Allergic Rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, is one of the most common allergic conditions, and occurs when the nasal cavity is exposed to foreign particles such as pollens, dust, etc. The person starts sneezing or develops a running nose on breathing something which the immune system is allergic to. It is also referred to as seasonal allergies and is triggered by grass, pollen, dust and dirt in the air, and at times because of smoke and perfumes. Allergic rhinitis is not severe or fatal until accompanied by asthma or anaphylaxis, which can be significant. Drugs namely Antihistamines is used to treat this disease, and together with other drugs, they make up a fraction of over-the-counter drugs, and is prescribed every year.
It is a form of hair loss which is seen both in men and women. In men, this condition is called male-pattern baldness. Baldness in men is more well-defined in comparison to women. In men, starting above the temples, the hairline starts receding eventually, causing partial or complete baldness. While in women, it causes thinning of the hairs, and rarely leads to complete baldness. Androgenetic alopecia is caused due to prolonged effect of androgen on the hair follicles. In some cases it might also be due to other factors like seasonal changes, malnutrition, anemia, etc.
Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness and involve excessive fear or anxiety. Anxiety in particular also refers to anticipation of a future concern and is associated more with muscle tension and avoidance behavior. These disorders can cause people to avoid situations and places that might cause them to feel trapped, helpless, panicking, embarrassed, and scared. Job performance, school work, and personal relationships can be affected. Anxiety disorder is the most common of mental disorders affecting majority of population. For people who have it, worry and fear are constant and overwhelming. It is a serious mental illness, but proper treatment helps most people lead normal and productive lives.
Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness and involve excessive fear or anxiety. Anxiety in particular also refers to anticipation of a future concern and is associated more with muscle tension and avoidance behavior. These disorders can cause people to avoid situations and places that might cause them to feel trapped, helpless, panicking, embarrassed, and scared. Job performance, school work, and personal relationships can be affected. Anxiety disorder is the most common of mental disorders affecting majority of population. For people who have it, worry and fear are constant and overwhelming. It is a serious mental illness, but proper treatment helps most people lead normal and productive lives.
Bartter syndrome is a rare inherited congenital defect that affects the kidneys. It is caused by genetic mutations. Bartter syndrome is of two types – Neonatal Bartter syndrome and classic Bartter syndrome. The syndrome means that your kidneys are unable to reabsorb Sodium and you lose it in urine. If you have Bartter syndrome, you are likely to have hypokalemia or low potassium level, alkalosis or increased pH value of blood and low blood pressure. Although another disorder called Gitelman syndrome is closely associated, it is milder than Bartter syndrome. The main effects of the syndrome are loss of Sodium in urine, rise in the level of aldosterone hormone, potassium wasting (excessive removal of Potassium from the body), hypokalemic alkalosis (abnormal acid balance in blood), and loss of Calcium in urine.
Biliary Atresia is a rare disease of the liver and bile ducts mostly occurring in infants. The early symptoms of the disease start developing anytime between 2-8 weeks after birth. Bile is a liquid produced by the cells in the liver which helps digest fat. It also carries the waste from the liver to the small intestine for excretion. When an infant is suffering from biliary atresia, the bile flow from liver to gallbladder is blocked causing the bile to be trapped inside the liver, and damaging the liver cells. There are three main types of extrahepatic biliary atresia: Type I: Atresia is restricted to the common bile duct. Type II: Atresia of the common hepatic duct. Type III: Atresia involves the most proximal part of the bile ducts (>95% of all cases).
Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) or Biliary Tract disease is a state of failure of the bile ducts of the liver. A bile duct carries bile juice from the liver and gallbladder through pancreas to the small intestine. Bile is the fluid produced by the liver that helps in food digestion. It helps to get rid of worn out red blood cells, cholesterol, and toxins from the body. Bile is a dark green or yellowish brown fluid secreted by liver to digest food. A major part of bile is released by the small-intestine and rest is stored in the gall bladder. The symptoms of biliary obstruction depends on the cause of obstruction. The primary sign of this disease is presented by a sharp penetrating pain in the upper abdomen. This disease usually develops very slowly, and taking the right kind of medication can slow its progression.
Interstitial cystitis, popularly known as bladder syndrome, is the chronic condition that results in mild or severe pain and pressure in the bladder and sometimes causes pelvic pain. Your bladder is a muscular hollow organ, the function of which is to store urine. It expands when full and then passes signals to your brain to urinate, using the pelvic nerves as the channel of communication. The urge to urinate is thus created, under normal conditions. But if you have bladder pain syndrome, these signals get mixed up, thereby sending frequent signals to the brain for urination, even if the bladder is not full. The syndrome is more common in women rather than men. If left untreated, interstitial cystitis could result in some complications including decreasing of bladder capacity, reduced quality of life, emotional troubles and sexual intimacy issues.
Nipple discharge is the leakage of fluid from one or both the nipples. Post-pregnancy, it normally happens, due to lactation. However, when nipple discharge has blood in it or is unusual, it is a cause of concern and should be examined by a general practitioner. Discharge from one nipple can be caused by issues with that particular breast. Discharge from both the nipples is most likely the result of medications or an endocrine gland problem, and should be investigated.