Diseases & Conditions Blog

The white blood cells known as neutrophils act as the body’s first defense against infections. Normally the neutrophils are produced in the bone marrow and are released into the bloodstream. In agranulocytosis, most or all of the neutrophils are destroyed, and there is a severe reduction in the number of neutrophils that are circulating in the blood. The result of this reduction in circulating neutrophils is decreased resistance to infection.The disease is often caused by a drug that you are taking for some other disorder. It can also be caused by a viral infection or by an antibody, or normally protective biochemical in your blood, that you develop against your own white blood cells. The disease may be the first sign of leukemia or aplastic anemia (previous article).

What are the Symptoms?

The characteristic symptom of the disease is susceptibility to infection. This is especially true in the mouth and throat, where ulcers often occur. Sometimes, if you have agranulocytosis, infections such as pneumonia progress unusually rapidly and are extremely severe, or even fatal.

What Should be Done?

If you have had one infection after another, see your physician, particularly if you are taking a prescription, VI even a non­prescription drug. Some drugs are known to carry a particular risk of damaging bone mar­row, and your physician will be alert to this possibility. The doctor will probably arrange for a blood test. If the results show that you may have agranulocytosis, a bone marrow biopsy, in which a small amount of bone marrow is removed and examined, will be necessary before your physician can make a definite diagnosis.

What is the Treatment?

Your physician will probably instruct you to stop taking any drug in case it is the cause of the disorder. If the level of granulocytes in your blood is very low, you will probably be given an antibiotic drug to prevent infection. If you already have an infection, or if you have a fever, you will probably be given antibiotics intravenously right away.

In most cases, the outlook for complete recovery from agranulocytosis is very good. Either the drug or the infection causing the disease is eliminated and recovery begins. Cases caused by one of the types of leukemia or aplastic anemia are more complex and so are those in which a difficult-to-control infection develops.

What is this Condition?

Macular degeneration - atrophy or degeneration of the macular disk, located near the center of the retina - accounts for about 12% of all cases of blindness in North America and for about 17% of new cases. Among the elderly, macular degeneration is one of the leading causes of blindness.

Two types of age-related macular degeneration occur. The dry form is characterized by atrophic pigment epithelial changes and is most often associated with slow, progressive, and mild vision loss. The wet form causes rapidly progressive and severe vision loss.

What Causes it?

Age-related macular degeneration results from hardening and obstruction of the retina’s arteries, probably reflecting normal degenerative changes. No predisposing conditions have been identified. However, it may be hereditary.

What are its Symptoms?

The person notices a change in central vision, such as a blank spot in the center of the page when reading.

How is it Diagnosed?

An eye examination may reveal dramatic macular changes. In an angiogram of the eye, sequential photographs may show leaking vessels as a special dye flows into the tissues from the network of blood vessels behind the retina. An Amsler’s grid test reveals visual field loss.

How is it Treated?

Laser photocoagulation can reduce the incidence of severe vision loss in some people.

What can a Person with Age-Related Macular Degeneration do?

Be aware that special devices, such as low-vision optical aids, are available to improve your quality of life if you still have adequate peripheral vision.

What is this Condition?

Anorectal abscess is a localized accumulation of pus that results from inflamed tissues near the rectum or anus. Inflammation may produce a fistula - an abnormal tubelike passage in the skin - that opens into the rectum. This condition is far more common in men than in women, possibly because men wear coarser clothing, which may irritate the skin and interfere with air circulation.

What Causes it?

Inflammation and the resulting abscess typically begin with a scrape or tear in the lining of the anal canal, rectum, or skin that later be­comes infected. It may be caused by an injection for treatment of internal hemorrhoids; an enema tip; internal puncture wound from undigested sharp objects such as eggshells or fishbones; or by insertion of a foreign object. Muscle strains or an illness may start the abscess, but many abscesses develop without an obvious cause.

As pus develops, a fistula may form in the soft tissue beneath the muscle fibers of the sphincters (especially the external sphincter).

What are its Symptoms?

The person with an abscess feels a throbbing pain and tenderness at the infection site. A hard, painful lump develops on one side that makes sitting uncomfortable.

How is it Diagnosed?

The doctor can find the abscess with his or her fingers and by a visual exam. Usually it appears as a red, tender, oval swelling close to the anus. Sitting or coughing increases pain, and pus may drain from the abscess. Less often, the abscess covers a large area and the doctor can see a hard mass that bulges into the anal canal. An abscess higher in the canal may produce a dull, aching pain in the rectum, tenderness and, occasionally, a swelling and hardness the doctor can find with his or her finger.

An abscess high in the pelvis is rare, but it may be heralded by a fever and a tender mass. Sometimes the doctor will insert a scope to examine the area or order barium enema X-rays to rule out other problems.

How the Abscess Drains

If the abscess drains by forming a fistula, the pain usually goes away. The doctor sees the drainage and irritated skin where the fistula opens. If the infection is severe, the person may have chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, and feel generally uncomfortable.

How is it Treated?

Anorectal abscesses require surgery, with a local anesthetic, to drain the pus. If the abscess has formed a fistula, that must also be removed and then a drain inserted for 48 hours.

What can a Person with an Anorectal Abscess do?

after surgery, the person receives medication for pain relief and begins a recovery that takes 4 to 5 weeks for a common abscess and 12 to 16 weeks it it’s more involved. Cleaning the area regularly and gently will avoid another infection. The person also may need a stool­softening laxative, such as Hydrocil Instant or Metamucil, to avoic constipation, which might stress the incision.

What do Doctors call this Condition? Acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis

What is this Condition?

Acute glomerulonephritis is a relatively common inflammation of the glomeruli - tiny masses of capillary blood vessels that function to filter waste products from the blood. It affects people who have had a streptococcal infection of the respiratory tract or, less often, a skin infection such as impetigo.

Acute glomerulonephritis is most common in boys ages 3 to 7, but anyone can get it. Up to 95% of children and up to 70% of adults with acute glomerulonephritis recover fully. The rest may have serious complications, such as chronic kidney failure, within months.

What Causes it?

Acute glomerulonephritis is caused by an abnormal immune reaction, which produces clusters of antigen-antibody cells. The cell clusters become trapped in the glomeruli, inflaming them and interfering with their function. Sometimes this allows red blood cells and proteins to filter through, which can lead to uremic poisoning.

What are its Symptoms?

Acute glomerulonephritis begins within 1 to 3 weeks after the person has had an untreated sore throat. Symptoms include mild to moderate swelling, decreased urination, bloody urine, and fatigue. The person may have high blood pressure from sodium or water retention due to impaired kidney function. Symptoms may progress to congestive heart failure and fluid in the lungs.

How is it Diagnosed?

The doctor will ask about symptoms and any recent illness, then order lab tests, including urinalysis to assess kidney filtration, throat culture to check for Streptococcus, renal ultrasound to check for kidney enlargement, and biopsy of kidney tissue to confirm the diagnosis in a person with acute glomerulonephritis or assess the kidney’s status.

How is it Treated?

Treatment aims to relieve the person’s symptoms and prevent complications. The doctor will urge bed rest, fluid and dietary sodium restrictions, and correction of electrolyte imbalances (possibly with dialysis, although this is rarely necessary). The person may be given diuretics, such as Diulo or Lasix, to reduce fluid overload and blood pressure medicine, such as Alazine.

What can a Person with Acute Glomerulonephritis do?

If you are diagnosed with this serious kidney infection, your recovery, in the hospital and at home, will pass through several slow stages. It’s important to follow the doctor’s directions:

Follow a diet high in calories and low in protein, sodium, potassium, and fluids.

Stay in bed during the acute phase; then gradually resume normal activities as your symptoms subside.

If you must have dialysis, become familiar with the procedure.

If you have a history of chronic upper respiratory tract infections, immediately tell the doctor about any signs of infection (fever, sore throat).

Follow-up examinations are necessary to detect chronic kidney failure, especially if you are pregnant. To avoid complications, your blood pressure, urine protein level, and kidney function must be monitored for several months to detect any return of the disease. Your urine will need to be tested periodically. Other viral infections may cause bloody urine and the results of other urine tests may be abnormal for years to come.

Four major blood vessels supply your brain with blood to provide it with essential nutrients and oxygen, There are the two carotid arteries in the front of your neck and the two vertebral arteries running up protective bony canals in the neck section of your spine, These major arteries join to form the brain’s vascular system, a roughly circular arrangement at the base of your brain. Branches from the circle supply blood to all its parts. Areas that depend on only a single branch are especially vulnerable to any disturbance in the flow of blood.The following articles deal with the principal ways in which the brain can be affected by defects in this system. These disorders, such as stroke, which are caused by inadequate blood supply or by bleeding in the brain tissue from diseased arteries, are serious ailments often marked by dramatic life-threatening attacks. Professional care is urgently needed for anyone who has an attack of this kind.

What is this Condition?

Hirsutism is the excessive growth of body hair in women and children. Usually, hair grows in an adult male distribution pattern. This condition commonly occurs spontaneously but may be associated with various underlying diseases. The prognosis varies with the cause of the disorder and the effectiveness of treatment.

What Causes it?

Primary hirsutism probably stems from a hereditary trait. In most cases, the person has a family history of the disorder.

Causes of secondary hirsutism include endocrine abnormalities, such as dysfunction of the pituitary gland (acromegaly, precocious puberty) or dysfunction of the adrenal gland (Cushing’s disease, Cushing’s syndrome, or congenital adrenal hyperplasia). It may also be related to ovarian lesions (such as polycystic ovary disease) and to use of certain drugs, such as Loniten, androgen steroids, or testoster­one.

What are its Symptoms?

Hirsutism typically causes enlarged hair follicles as well as enlargement and excessive pigmentation of the hairs themselves. People usually seek medical help because of excessive facial hair growth.

The pattern of hirsutism varies widely, depending on the person’s race and age. An elderly woman, for example, commonly shows increased hair growth on the chin and upper lip. In secondary hirsutism, other signs of masculinization may appear - deepening of the voice, increased muscle mass, increased size of genitalia, menstrual irregularities, and decreased breast size.

How is it Diagnosed?

To diagnose primary hirsutism, the doctor may look for a family history of hirsutism, menstrual abnormalities, and signs of masculinization. Results of a pelvic exam are normal.

Tests for secondary hirsutism depend on symptoms that suggest an underlying disorder.

How is it Treated?

At the person’s request, treatment of primary hirsutism consists of eliminating excess hair by scissors, shaving, depilatory creams, or removal of the entire hair shaft with tweezers or wax. Bleaching with hydrogen peroxide also may be satisfactory. Electrolysis, a slow and expensive process, can destroy hair bulbs permanently, but it works best when only a few hairs need to be removed .

Hirsutism from elevated androgen levels may require low-dose Decadron, oral contraceptives, or antiandrogens. These drugs vary in effectiveness.

Treatment of secondary hirsutism varies depending on the nature of the underlying disorders

Extradural hemorrhage occurs when blood vessels in the dura mater, the outermost of the three meninges, or membranous layers that cover the brain, rupture. Blood then flows outwards over the surface of the brain, between the dura mater and the skull. The problem usually results from a head injury that causes some of the blood vessels in the outer surface of the dura mater to burst . Because these vessels are large, a substantial amount of blood leaks into the space between the dura mater and the skull. The symptoms of an extradural hemorrhage are likely to appear within 24 hours of the injury (see also Subdural hemorrhage and hematoma, previous article). Even if the original injury seemed trivial when it happened, the symptoms are not. They include a sudden severe headache; nausea, often culminates in vomiting; and increasing drowsiness, all of which ultimately to unconsciousness and death

What are The Risks?

Head injuries are very common, but only about ten per cent of them require hospital admission, and only one to two percent cause extradural hemorrhage as a complication. This disorder creates an emergency situation, however, because pressure on the brain mounts as more and more blood floods into the narrow space between brain and skull.

What Should be Done?

If you or anyone in your presence shows symptoms of an extradural hemorrhage, get medical help fast, especially if there has been a blow to the head within the past several hours or the last day. Unless the person is treated promptly, there is a danger of permanent brain damage or even death. The person will be admitted to the hospital immediately for diagnostic tests and general treatment for head injury . If tests indicate the presence of extradural hemorrhage, surgery will be necessary to stop the bleeding. The operation involves removing a portion of skull bone to release leaked blood and permit the surgeon to repair ruptured blood vessels. When the operation is done promptly, it usually results in complete recovery from all problems.