Diseases & Conditions Blog

Do you remember why you joined the gym? Can you recall the exact reason that compelled you to shed those extra kilos? Diets and exercises are begun for a variety of reasons. You may have decided to lose weight on your doctor’s recommendation to prevent future health problems. You may have realized that to avoid inheriting your family’s problems of diabetes and health diseases, weight loss is the only way. You may want to regain the stamina that you once had. You may be required to lose weight for an impending surgery. Or may just be looking forward to a great appearance.

Unfortunately, most people choose to lose weight for the wrong reasons. In this high pressure world of today, societal pressure plays a huge role in decision making. All the magazines that you subscribe to, all the radio channels that you hear and any television program that you see just reinforce your desire to lose to weight. Waif like models waltz down the runway. Glamorous movie stars talk incessantly about their diet. Actors work away maniacally to develop a ‘six-pack’ in record time. All in the name of looking good. Clothes are manufactured to fit these reed thin people. If your are overweight, you may have to walk from store to store in search of that one dress that you can carry off well. No one talks about health. The personality of the stars is such that you feel compelled to look at yourself in the mirror and examine each ounce of fat deposited on your abdomen, your arms and elsewhere. What you see horrifies you and you rush to the nearest gym and also starve yourselves.

What you fail to realize is that the standards that the stars set is not for everyone. They may be going through a rigorous regime to keep up their appearances, but they have the time to do it. You have a job to go to and a home to run- other priorities which take up most of your time. How do you find the balance?

And most importantly, is being thin equivalent to being healthy? Models frequently faint on the runways, overcome by hunger and sheer exhaustion. What you need to understand is that while appearance is fleeting, health is forever. You must not work yourself to lose weight just to look good. The ultimate aim should be to lead a healthy life.

What do Doctors call this Condition?

Doctors also call this condition chronic myelogenous leukemia and chronic myelocytic leukemia.

What is this Condition?

In chronic granulocytic leukemia (CGL), precursors to certain white blood cells called granulocytes multiply abnormally in the bone marrow, blood, and body tissues. It is most common in young and middle-aged adults (rare in children) and is slightly more common in men than women. In the United States, CGL accounts for roughly 20% of all diagnosed cases of leukemia.

There are two distinct phases of the disease: an insidious chronic phase, with anemia and bleeding abnormalities, and an acute phase (blastic crisis), in which myeloblasts (the most primitive granulocytic precursors) multiply rapidly. No cure exists for this disease - at least not yet.

What Causes it?

Experts believe that this disease is caused by an unidentified virus. It is notable that most people with CGL have a chromosomal abnormality called the Philadelphia chromosome, which may be caused by radiation and carcinogenic chemicals.

What are its Symptoms?

Typical symptoms include:

• anemia (marked by fatigue, weakness, decreased exercise tolerance, pallor, shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, and headache)
• a low platelet count, with resulting bleeding and clotting disorders such as retinal hemorrhage, blood in the urine, black tarry stools, bleeding gums, nosebleeds, and easy bruising
• an enlarged liver and spleen, with abdominal discomfort and pain.

Other common symptoms include tenderness in the ribs and sternum, low-grade fever, weight loss, loss of appetite, gouty arthritis, occasional prolonged infection and ankle swelling and, rarely, prolonged or constant erection of the penis.

How is it Diagnosed?

Lab tests, including chromosomal analysis, confirm a diagnosis of CGL. Blood tests usually reveal changes in white blood cells and other abnormalities. A test called bone marrow aspiration shows the effect of the disorder on bone cells. A computed tomography scan (commonly called a CAT scan) may identifY the organs affected by leukemia.

How is it Treated?

Even with chemotherapy, doctors have had little success in producing remissions in people with CGL. The goal of treatment during the chronic phase is to control the proliferation of white blood cells and platelets by giving drugs. The most commonly used oral drugs are busulfan and hydroxyurea. Aspirin is commonly given to prevent stroke if the person’s platelet count is especially high.

Other potentially helpful treatments include:

• radiation therapy of the spleen or removal of the spleen to increase the platelet count and limit the complications of spleen enlargement
• leukapheresis (selective leukocyte removal) to reduce the white blood cell count
• allopurinol, a drug that helps prevent excess uric acid in the blood, or colchicine, a drug that relieves gout caused by elevated uric acid levels
• prompt treatment of infections (chemotherapy may cause bone marrow suppression, which can lead to infection).

During the acute phase of CGL, lymphoblastic or myeloblastic leukemia may develop. Treatment is similar to that for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A bone marrow transplant may produce long periods without symptoms in the early phase of illness but has been less successful in the acute phase.

What is this Condition?

A common venereal disease that affects both sexes, gonorrhea is an infection of the genitourinary tract (especially the urethra and cervix and, occasionally, the rectum, pharynx, and eyes. Untreated gonorrhea can spread through the blood to the joints, tendons, membrane, of the spinal cord and brain, and the interior membrane lining of the heart; in women, it can also lead to chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and sterility.

After adequate treatment, the prognosis for both men and women is excellent, although reinfection is common. Gonorrhea is especially prevalent among young people (between ages 19 and 25) and people with multiple sexual partners.

What Causes it?

Transmission of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the organism that causes gonorrhea, almost always follows sexual contact with an infected person. Children born of infected mothers can contract neonatal gonococcal conjunctivitis as they pass through the birth canal. Children and adults with gonorrhea can get this type of conjunctivitis by touching their eyes with contaminated hands.

What are its Symptoms?

Although many infected men may have no symptoms, after 3 to 6 days, some develop symptoms of urethritis, including painful urination and a pus-filled urethral discharge, with redness and swelling at the infection site. Most infected women remain symptom-free, but some develop inflammation and a greenish yellow discharge from the cervix - the most common gonorrheal symptoms in women. Other signs and symptoms vary according to the infection site.

Signs of neonatal conjunctivitis include swollen eyelids, conjunctival infection in both eyes, and a heavy pus-filled discharge 2 to 3 days after birth. Adult conjunctivitis, most common in men, causes conjunctival redness and swelling in one eye. Untreated gonococcal conjunctivitis can progress to blindness.

How is it Diagnosed?

A culture from the infected body part usually establishes the diagnosis by isolating the organism. A lab test called a Gram stain supports the diagnosis and may be sufficient to confirm gonorrhea in men. A culture of scrapings from the eye confirms gonococcal conjunctivitis.

How is it Treated?

For adults and adolescents, the recommended treatment for uncomplicated gonorrhea caused by N gonorrhoeae is Rocephin by intramuscular injection. Treatment of concurrent chlamydial infection may require Vibramycin taken orally. A single dose of Race ph in followed by E-Mycin for 7 days is recommended for pregnant women and those allergic to penicillin. Other drugs may be used to treat complications.

Drug therapy should be continued for 24 to 48 hours after improvement begins; usually a full week of antibiotics is required, although the doctor may switch to different medications to finish treatment.

Routine instillation of 1 % silver nitrate or llotycin drops into the eyes of newborns has greatly reduced the incidence of gonococcal neonatal conjunctivitis.

If you have aplastic anemia, your bone marrow’s production of blood cells decreases. This causes a reduction in the total number of cells in your bloodstream. This may occur gradually or suddenly. In most cases the cause of the problem cannot be identified. Sometimes the cause can be tentatively traced to exposure to a toxic substance such as benzene, certain substances used to dye hair, a drug taken for another disorder, or radiation. Most anticancer drugs produce similar changes in the bone marrow, but the condition usually improves when the drug is discontinued for awhile.

What are the Symptoms?

There are three main groups of symptoms. The decrease in production of red blood cells causes the symptoms of anemia . The decrease in production of granulocytes, a type of white blood cell, makes you more susceptible to infection. Finally, the decrease in platelet production leads to spontaneous bruising, red dots on the skin, and bleeding from the nose, mouth and other sites.

What are the Risks?

The main risks associated with aplastic anemia are infection and bleeding. Both of these may be severe enough to become life­threatening. You may improve spontaneousy or with treatment, but progressive failure of the bone marrow, worsening your condition, may also occur.

What Should be Done?

If you develop any of the symptoms described, see your physician at once. This is especially important if you are taking a drug or working with chemicals or radioactive materials. The physician will probably arrange for a blood test. If the test results show that aplastic anemia may be present, you may need to have a bone marrow biopsy, in which a small amount of bone marrow is removed and examined under the microscope. This examination should allow your physician to make a definite diagnosis.

What is the Treatment?

In cases where the disease is associated with a drug that is being taken for another problem, your physician will strongly consider stopping the drug and finding a suitable substitute. If there is any suspicion of continuing exposure to a toxic compound, you should remove yourself from contact with it.

Your physician will probably treat anemia and hemorrhage, or bleeding, with blood transfusions, and infections with antibiotics, which are usually given intravenously for best results. If you do not have an infection, but your granulocyte count is very low, you still may be given an antibiotic to reduce the chance of infection.

If the disease is severe or if it is growing worse, a bone marrow transplant offers the best hope of recovery. However, the bone marrow transplant has its own hazards. There is also a medication available, but it helps only a few patients.

Infections of the outer ear canal may take one of two forms: a localized infection such as a bail or abscess, or a generalized infection that affects the whole lining of the canal. Ear infections can occur after swimming. Persistent, excessive moisture in the ear canal can make the canal more susceptible to infection. Polluted water from lakes and rivers can cause infection by direct contact. Another cause of both localized and generalized infections is scratching inside the ear to relieve itching or while attempting to remove wax.The first symptom of infection may be itching in your ear, usually followed by pain. Sometimes yellowish-green pus seeps from the ear, and this may relieve the pain. If the pus blocks your outer ear canal, you may lose some hearing. When you have this kind of ear infection, any movement of the head may cause pain in your ear.

Infections of the outer ear are most com­mon in young adults. If you do not get treatment for such an infection, it may spread and affect underlying cartilage and bone.

What is the Treatment?

Self-help: Take aspirin and place a warm, clean cotton pad or an electric heating pad over your ear to help relieve pain until you see your physician.

Professional help: The physician will probably look into your ear with an otoscope, and may take a sample of any pus. The sample will be sent to a laboratory to see what has caused the infection. Then the doctor will probably clean your ear with a suction device or a cotton-tipped probe. This usually relieves irritation and pain. Your physician may prescribe any number of drugs in the form of pills, capsules, ear drops or cream. A combination of gentle daily cleaning of the ear and the use of the prescribed drugs should clear up the condition.

Usually, if the condition is not improved by this treatment within three to four days, your physician will take further action. Armed with the results of the laboratory tests, the physician may prescribe an antibiotic that is especially effective against the particular organisms, usually bacteria, causing the infection. If the pain is severe, the doctor may also prescribe a painkiller.

You must keep the infected ear dry. This means no swimming, and wearing ear plugs or a shower cap in the bath or shower.

The infection may recur and need treatment for many months if the microbes causing the infection are fungi, or if you develop an allergy to them. If this happens, your physician will probably prescribe a steroid cream or ear drops.

What do Doctors call this Condition? -Soft chancre

What is this Condition?

Chancroid is a sexually transmitted disease marked by painful genital ulcers and swollen, possibly ulcerated, lymph nodes in the groin area.

This infection occurs worldwide but is most common in tropical countries. It affects men more often than women.

Chancroidal ulcers may heal by themselves and usually respond well to treatment if there are no secondary infections. A high rate of HIV infection has been reported among people with chancroid.

What Causes it?

Chancroid is caused by a bacterium and is transmitted through sexual contact. Poor hygiene may predispose men - especially those who are uncircumcised - to this disease.

What are its Symptoms?

After a 3- to 5-day incubation period, a small pimple erupts at the site of entry, usually the groin or inner thigh; in men, it may appear on the penis; in women, on the vulva, vagina, or cervix. Occasionally, it may erupt on the tongue, lip, breast, or navel. The pimple rapidly breaks out into an ulcer, becoming painful, soft, and foul-smelling; it bleeds easily and produces pus. It’s gray and shallow, with irregular edges, and measures up to 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) in diameter.

Within 2 to 3 weeks, lymph nodes in the groin area become swollen, creating pus-filled, inflamed nodes that may rupture into large ulcers or buboes. Headache and malaise occur in 50% of people with chancroid. During the healing stage, phimosis (narrowed orifice of the foreskin) may develop.

How is it Diagnosed?

Lab tests provide evidence of the disease but are not 100% reliable. A biopsy (removal and analysis of tissue) confirms the diagnosis but is reserved for resistant cases or cases in which cancer is suspected. Additional tests may be performed to rule out other sexually transmitted diseases that cause similar ulcers. Testing for HIV infection should be done at the time of diagnosis.

How is it Treated?

The treatment of choice includes the following drugs: Zithromax, E-mycin, or Rocephin. The safety of Zithromax for pregnant or breast-feeding women has not been established. Aspiration of fluid­filled nodes helps prevent spreading the infection.

What can a Person with Chancroid do?

Don’t apply lotions, creams, or oils on or near your genitalia or on other lesion sites. Avoid sexual contact until healing is complete (usually about 2 weeks after treatment begins). Wash your genitalia daily with soap and water. If you’re an uncircumcised man, you should retract the foreskin for thorough cleaning.

One of the most widely publicized diseases, AIDS is marked by progressive weakening of the immune system, which makes a person vulnerable to opportunistic infections and unusual cancers. The syndrome was first defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1981. Since then, the agency has revised its definition of AIDS, most recently in 1993.Homosexual and bisexual men who are sexually active witl1 many partners have the highest risk for contracting AIDS. Other high-risk groups include intravenous drug users and hemophiliacs, especially those who’ve been treated with Factor VIII (one of the blood clotting factors) concentrate. Most recently, heterosexual partners and children of persons with AIDS or of those in high-risk groups and persons receiving multiple blood transfusions have been added to the high-risk category. Drug therapy and prevention and treatment of common opportunistic infections can delay the natural progression of HI V infection and prolong survival.

To reduce the risk of contracting AIDS, public health advocates recommend following safe sex practices, such as condom use.

What Causes it?

AIDS is caused by a retrovirus called human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The retrovirus strikes cells bearing a substance called the CD4 antigen. This antigen serves as a receptor for HIV and lets it enter the cell. HIV prefers to infect CD4+ cells, which are white blood cells that are sometimes called helper cells. But it may also infect other cells. including certain digestive tract cells, uterine cervical cells, and neuroglial cells, a type of nerve cell.

After HIV invades a cell, it reproduces. Recent research shows that in the first weeks after infection, HIV is extremely active. It eventually causes profound illness by hindering the immune system’s ability to fight disease.

The infection process takes three forms:

• immunodeficiency - opportunistic infections and unusual cancers

• autoimmunity - the body’s reaction against its own tissues

•neurologic problems - AIDS dementia, a brain condition known as HIV encephalopathy, and peripheral nerve disorders.

Transmission Modes

HIV is transmitted by intimate sexual contact, especially during rectal intercourse that injures the mucous membranes; by transfusion of contaminated blood or blood products (this risk has diminished thanks to routine testing of all blood products); by sharing of contaminated needles; and by transmission from an infected mother to her fetus (by cervical or blood contact at delivery and in breast milk). Mounting evidence suggests that HIV is not transmitted by casual household or social contact.

What are its Symptoms?

Some people with AIDS lack symptoms until they suddenly develop an opportunistic infection or the purple skin lesions of Kaposi’s sarcoma, one of the cancers associated with AIDS.

But more often, they have nonspecific signs and symptoms, such as fatigue, afternoon fevers, night sweats, weight loss, diarrhea, or cough. Soon after these appear, they typically develop several infections at the same time.

In children with AIDS, the time between exposure to HIV and appearance of symptoms seems to be shorter (an average of 8 months). Signs and symptoms resemble those of adults with AIDS, except for those related to sexually transmitted disease. Finally, in children, the most common manifestation and cause of death isn’t Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, as in adults, but diffuse interstitial pneumonitis.

How is it Diagnosed?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a diagnosis of AIDS is confirmed by the presence of an opportunistic infection with lab evidence of HIV infection and a CD4+ T-cell count of less than 200 cells per microliter.

How is it Treated?

Currently, no cure exists for AIDS. However, the drug Retrovir (known as AZT) is used alone or along with other drugs, such as Hivid, to inhibit HIV reproduction. Videx may be used if a person can’t tolerate AZT or no longer responds to it.

Supportive measures aim to reduce the person’s risk of infection, treat existing infections and cancers, maintain adequate nutrition, and provide emotional support.

Additional Drug Treatment

Although drugs can eliminate many of the organisms that cause opportunistic infections, these infections tend to recur once drug treatment stops. The drug of choice for P. carinii pneumonia is oral or intravenous Bactrim or Septra. If this treatment fails or if toxicity occurs, the person may be given NebuPent or Pentam 300. However, this drug may cause liver problems, a rapid pulse, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, and rashes.

To treat Kaposi’s sarcoma, the person may receive chemotherapy drugs, such as Oncovin and VePesid. Unfortunately, aggressive treatment of this cancer makes infection more likely. An interferon alfa drug is also being used to treat Kaposi’s sarcoma. Radiation and laser therapy can relieve, but not cure, local Kaposi’s lesions.

To treat retinitis, the person may receive Foscavir or Cytovene.

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.