Friday, 21 December 2007
Asthma
Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory condition of the lung airways, whose cause is incompletely undrstood. It has three characteristics, air flow limitation which is ususally reversible, airway hyperresoponsiveness to a range of stimuli, and inflammation of the brochi.
Friday, 14 December 2007
Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a rapid, uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in one or both breasts. It is the most common type of cancer in women, but it is often cured when found early
The exact cause of breast cancer is not known. Some women with breast cancer have genetic risk factors called mutations in BRCA genes. You also have a higher risk of breast cancer if a member of your family, especially your mother, father, or sister, has breast cancer. However, many women who have breast cancer do not have any of these risks.
Female hormones and increasing age also play a part. The chances that you will develop breast cancer increase as you grow older. About 1 in every 7 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer if she lives to be 80.
If your doctor thinks you might have breast cancer, he or she will want to test the abnormal cells in the breast using a procedure called a biopsy. This is sometimes done by inserting a needle into the abnormal area and taking a few sample cells (needle biopsy). At other times the entire suspicious area will be removed through a small incision in your breast. The sample is then examined under a microscope by a pathologist to see if it contains cancer cells.
The most common symptom of breast cancer is a painless lump in the breast. However, early breast cancer is often found on a mammogram before a lump can be felt.
Other symptoms of breast cancer may not appear until the cancer is more advanced. These include:
1. A thickening in the breast or armpit.
2. A change in the size or shape of the breast.
3. Changes in the skin of the breast, such as a dimple or skin that looks like orange peel.
4. A change in the nipple, such as scaling of the skin, a nipple that turns in, or discharge or bleeding.
5. A change in the color or feel of the skin around the nipple (areola).
Many people believe that only women have breast cancer. But, although much less common, about 1% of all breast cancer occurs in adult men. Most men who are diagnosed with breast cancer are older than 65, but the disease can appear in younger men. For this reason, any breast lump in an adult male is considered abnormal.
The exact cause of breast cancer is not known. Some women with breast cancer have genetic risk factors called mutations in BRCA genes. You also have a higher risk of breast cancer if a member of your family, especially your mother, father, or sister, has breast cancer. However, many women who have breast cancer do not have any of these risks.
Female hormones and increasing age also play a part. The chances that you will develop breast cancer increase as you grow older. About 1 in every 7 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer if she lives to be 80.
If your doctor thinks you might have breast cancer, he or she will want to test the abnormal cells in the breast using a procedure called a biopsy. This is sometimes done by inserting a needle into the abnormal area and taking a few sample cells (needle biopsy). At other times the entire suspicious area will be removed through a small incision in your breast. The sample is then examined under a microscope by a pathologist to see if it contains cancer cells.
The most common symptom of breast cancer is a painless lump in the breast. However, early breast cancer is often found on a mammogram before a lump can be felt.
Other symptoms of breast cancer may not appear until the cancer is more advanced. These include:
1. A thickening in the breast or armpit.
2. A change in the size or shape of the breast.
3. Changes in the skin of the breast, such as a dimple or skin that looks like orange peel.
4. A change in the nipple, such as scaling of the skin, a nipple that turns in, or discharge or bleeding.
5. A change in the color or feel of the skin around the nipple (areola).
Many people believe that only women have breast cancer. But, although much less common, about 1% of all breast cancer occurs in adult men. Most men who are diagnosed with breast cancer are older than 65, but the disease can appear in younger men. For this reason, any breast lump in an adult male is considered abnormal.
Physiology of Heart
The heart is the muscular organ of the circulatory system that constantly pumps blood throughout the body. Approximately the size of a clenched fist, the heart is composed of cardiac muscle tissue that is very strong and able to contract and relax rhythmically throughout a person's lifetime.
The heart has four separate compartments or chambers. The upper chamber on each side of the heart, which is called an atrium, receives and collects the blood coming to the heart. The atrium then delivers blood to the powerful lower chamber, called a ventricle, which pumps blood away from the heart through powerful, rhythmic contractions.
The human heart is actually two pumps in one. The right side receives oxygen-poor blood from the various regions of the body and delivers it to the lungs. In the lungs, oxygen is absorbed in the blood. The left side of the heartreceives the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and delivers it to the rest of the body.
The heart has four separate compartments or chambers. The upper chamber on each side of the heart, which is called an atrium, receives and collects the blood coming to the heart. The atrium then delivers blood to the powerful lower chamber, called a ventricle, which pumps blood away from the heart through powerful, rhythmic contractions.
The human heart is actually two pumps in one. The right side receives oxygen-poor blood from the various regions of the body and delivers it to the lungs. In the lungs, oxygen is absorbed in the blood. The left side of the heartreceives the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and delivers it to the rest of the body.
Thursday, 13 December 2007
Death
Death is manifestated as the cessation of respiration and heart-beat caused by physiologec dysfunction, generally related to an illness or trauma that overwhelms the compensatory mechanisms of the body. Direct causes of death include respiratory failure (PCO2 accumulation an PO2 deficit) and hypovolemic, septic, or cardiogenic shock manifested as inadequate blood flow to the tissues depribes cells of their source of oxygen and biochemical exchange-the ultimate factor in their death.
Pain
Pain is the number one symptom or complaint that causes people to seek health care. It alters or compromises quality of life more than any other single health-realated problem. Despite more than 20 years of work by clinicians and profesional organizations, There have been only slight imporvements in pain management. Unrelieved and undertreated pain remains a major yet avoidable public health problem in the United Stated.
Everyone experiences pain at some pont in life. Although this is likely a universal experience, it is also a complex and private one. Because pain is such a personal experience, it is ery difficult to describe or explain to others. Many factors make it hared to understand and assess, including pychosociaal, cultural, and development factors; the influence of gender and environment; and the subjectivity of the pain itself. The amount of pain adn resposes to it vary from person to person , and therefore interpreting pain solely on action or behaviors can be misleading.
Everyone experiences pain at some pont in life. Although this is likely a universal experience, it is also a complex and private one. Because pain is such a personal experience, it is ery difficult to describe or explain to others. Many factors make it hared to understand and assess, including pychosociaal, cultural, and development factors; the influence of gender and environment; and the subjectivity of the pain itself. The amount of pain adn resposes to it vary from person to person , and therefore interpreting pain solely on action or behaviors can be misleading.
Friday, 7 December 2007
HIV
Retroviruses. Currrently designates the AIDS virus. There are two main types: HIV-1 causes HIV in North America, Central Africa and Western Europa, and Hiv-2 causing similar disease in West Africa. Cell-mediated immunity is copromised which leads to an increased susceptibility to opportunistic infection such as Pneumocystis carinii and unusual malignant diseases, e.g Koposi's sarcoma. Management involves the use of antiviral drugs, usually in combination to prevent resistance, and antimicrobial drugs to reduce to risk of opportunistic infection. The virus is spread by contact with blood and other body fluids. This may occur through sexual contact, drug users sharing equipment, accidental exposure, such as through needlestick injuries, or by the tranfusion of infected blood/blood products. Prophylactic treatmen-t is offered following occupational exposure, and to prenant women found to be HIV-positive to reduce the risk of transmission to the fetus -->acquried immune deficiency syndrome.
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