Headache

Oh my aching head! Nearly everyone has had a headache. The most common type of headache is a tension headache. Tension headaches are due to tight muscles in your shoulders, neck, scalp and jaw. They are often related to stress, depression or anxiety. You are more likely to get tension headaches if you work too much, don't get enough sleep, miss meals or use alcohol.
Other common types of headaches include migraines, cluster headaches and sinus headaches. Most people can feel much better by making lifestyle changes, learning ways to relax and taking pain relievers.
Headaches can have many causes, but serious causes of headaches are rare. Sometimes headaches warn of a more serious disorder. Let your health care provider know if you have sudden, severe headaches. Get medical help right away if you have a headache after a blow to your head, or if you have a headache along with a stiff neck, fever, confusion, loss of consciousness or pain in the eye or ear.

Symptoms

• Tension-type headaches
  
• the pain is usually mild or moderate and is usually felt as a pressure (tightness) on both sides of the head,
  
• the pain is constant and pressing (can be described as a tight band around the head) and can build gradually throughout the day,
  
• the pain is not aggravated by routine physical activity,
  there may be a feeling of pressure behind the eyes and a tightening of the neck muscles,
  
• the headache is not associated with nausea or vomiting or an unusual sensitivity to light or sound,
  mostly they last a few hours or so, and
  
• the headache normally comes on during the day.
  
• Cluster headaches
  
• the pain is extremely severe but the attack is relatively short, lasting no more than an hour or two (often less than an hour),
  
• the pain starts quickly, without warning, and is often described as excruciating,
  the pain always affects one side of the head, is centred around one eye, and generally affects the same side in subsequent attacks (although it does move to the opposite side in some people), and
  inflammation and watering from the eye, and a blocked nose on the affected side of the face are common.
  
• The attacks of pain are clustered in groups (often 1 to 3 attacks per day, although there can be more) that usually last for a few weeks to a couple of months, and are usually followed by a pain-free gap for months or years (the average is one year). Although 10% of people have chronic cluster headaches where the attacks occur regularly without significant intervals without pain.
  
• The headaches often occur at the same time each day during a cluster, with many people saying that they are being woken within around 2 hours of going to sleep, at the same time each night. Or they are woken early in the morning. However, they can also occur during the daytime.

READ MORE - Headache

Diarrhea

What is diarrhea?

Diarrhea is loose, watery stools. A person with diarrhea typically passes stool more than three times a day. People with diarrhea may pass more than a quart of stool a day. Acute diarrhea is a common problem that usually lasts 1 or 2 days and goes away on its own without special treatment. Prolonged diarrhea persisting for more than 2 days may be a sign of a more serious problem and poses the risk of dehydration. Chronic diarrhea may be a feature of a chronic disease.
Diarrhea can cause dehydration, which means the body lacks enough fluid to function properly. Dehydration is particularly dangerous in children and older people, and it must be treated promptly to avoid serious health problems. See Dehydration.
People of all ages can get diarrhea and the average adult has a bout of acute diarrhea about four times a year. In the United States, each child will have had seven to 15 episodes of diarrhea by age 5.

What causes diarrhea?

Acute diarrhea is usually related to a bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection. Chronic diarrhea is usually related to functional disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease.

A few of the more common causes of diarrhea include the following:

Bacterial infections. Several types of bacteria consumed through contaminated food or water can cause diarrhea. Common culprits include Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, and Escherichia coli (E. coli).

Viral infections. Many viruses cause diarrhea, including rotavirus, Norwalk virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and viral hepatitis.

Food intolerances. Some people are unable to digest food components such as artificial sweeteners and lactose—the sugar found in milk.

Parasites. Parasites can enter the body through food or water and settle in the digestive system. Parasites that cause diarrhea include Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, and Cryptosporidium.

Reaction to medicines. Antibiotics, blood pressure medications, cancer drugs, and antacids containing magnesium can all cause diarrhea.

Intestinal diseases. Inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, Crohn’s disease, and celiac disease often lead to diarrhea.

Functional bowel disorders. Diarrhea can be a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome.

Some people develop diarrhea after stomach surgery or removal of the gallbladder. The reason may be a change in how quickly food moves through the digestive system after stomach surgery or an increase in bile in the colon after gallbladder surgery.
People who visit foreign countries are at risk for traveler’s diarrhea, which is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Traveler’s diarrhea can be a problem for people visiting developing countries. Visitors to the United States, Canada, most European countries, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand do not face much risk for traveler’s diarrhea. See Preventing Traveler’s Diarrhea.
In many cases, the cause of diarrhea cannot be found. As long as diarrhea goes away on its own, an extensive search for the cause is not usually necessary.

READ MORE - Diarrhea

HIV/AIDS

• HIV/AIDS Symptoms
  Many people do not develop symptoms after getting infected with HIV. Some people have a flu-like illness within several days to weeks after exposure to the virus. They complain of fever, headache, tiredness, and enlarged lymph glands in the neck. These symptoms usually disappear on their own within a few weeks.
  Following initial infection, you may have no symptoms. The progression of disease varies widely among individuals. This state may last from a few months to more than 10 years.
  During this period, the virus continues to multiply actively and infects and kills the cells of the immune system. The immune system allows us to fight against the bacteria, viruses, and other infectious causes.
  The virus destroys the cells that are the primary infection fighters, called CD4+ or T4 cells.
  Once the immune system weakens, a person infected with HIV can develop the following symptoms:
  1. Lack of energy
  
• 2. Weight loss
  
• 3. Frequent fevers and sweats
  
• 4. Persistent or frequent yeast infections
  
• 5. Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
  
• 6. Short-term memory loss
  
• 7. Mouth, genital, or anal sores from herpes infections.
  
• AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. The definition of AIDS includes all HIV-infected people who have fewer than 200 CD4+ cells per microliter of blood. The definition also includes 26 conditions that are common in advanced HIV disease but that rarely occur in healthy people. Most of these conditions are infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and other organisms. Opportunistic infections are common in people with AIDS. Nearly every organ system is affected. Some of the common symptoms include the following:
  
• Cough and shortness of breath
  
• Seizures and lack of coordination
  
• Difficult or painful swallowing
  
• Mental symptoms such as confusion and forgetfulness
  
• Severe and persistent diarrhea
  
• Fever
  
• Vision loss
  Nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting
  
• Weight loss and extreme fatigue
  
• Severe headache with neck stiffness
  Coma
  
• People with AIDS are prone to develop various cancers such as Kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer, and cancers of the immune system known as lymphomas. Kaposi sarcoma causes round, brown, reddish or purple spots that develop in the skin or in the mouth. After the diagnosis of AIDS is made, the average survival time has been estimated to be 2-3 years.

READ MORE - HIV/AIDS

Anthrax

Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic lower vertebrates (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, antelopes, and other herbivores), but it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals or tissue from infected animals.
What are the symptoms of anthrax?

Symptoms of disease vary depending on how the disease was contracted, but symptoms usually occur within 7 days.
Cutaneous: Most (about 95%) anthrax infections occur when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin, such as when handling contaminated wool, hides, leather or hair products (especially goat hair) of infected animals. Skin infection begins as a raised itchy bump that resembles an insect bite but within 1-2 days develops into a vesicle and then a painless ulcer, usually 1-3 cm in diameter, with a characteristic black necrotic (dying) area in the center. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell. About 20% of untreated cases of cutaneous anthrax will result in death. Deaths are rare with appropriate antimicrobial therapy.
inhalation: Initial symptoms may resemble a common cold. After several days, the symptoms may progress to severe breathing problems and shock. inhalation anthrax is usually fatal.
Intestinal: The intestinal disease form of anthrax may follow the consumption of contaminated meat and is characterized by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract. Initial signs of nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever are followed by abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, and severe diarrhea. Intestinal anthrax results in death in 25% to 60% of cases.

How is anthrax diagnosed?
Anthrax is diagnosed by isolating B. anthracis from the blood, skin lesions, or respiratory secretions or by measuring specific antibodies in the blood of persons with suspected cases.

READ MORE - Anthrax

Anti Aging Discoveries - The Guide To Perfect Skin!

INTRODUCTIONS:
Tuberculosis is chronic granulomatous disease of human and other mammals caused by a group of closely related obligate pathogens, the mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, comprising M. tuberculosis. The human tubercle bacillus - M. bovis - the bovine tubercle bacillus, -agricanum - a heterogeneous type found principally in effuational Africa with properties intermediate between the former two species and M-microti-a rare cause of disease involves and other small mammals but attenuated for humans. Humans are the usual, but not unique, host of M. tuberculosis. M. bovis causes disease in cattle and also in badgers, deer, and other mammals. Humans are incidental hosts, usually acquiring infection by drinking contaminated milk although infection of farm workers may occur by aerogenous route. Human may transmit M. bovis to cattle but human to human is rarely reported (PDO D awis et al, 2003).
The annual tuberculosis infection rate or annual risk of infection is the best single indicator of the status and trend of tuberculosis in both developed and developing countries. It indicates the proportion of the population that will primarily infected or reinfected in the course of one year and is usually expressed as a percentage.
The risk of tuberculosis infection in developed countries is now very low, being less than 0.5% per annum in the majority, 0.1-0 % in most and less than 0.1% in a few countries. The risk of tuberculosis in these countries is declined by about 10% per year.
In developing countries much higher rates are found. The annual risk of infection for the richest and poorest countries is shown in following table. In most industrialized countries the annual rate of infection is now below 0.1% and continues decline by 10% per annum. In Africa, the annual risk of infection may be much as 2.5% or more, and in the present context of increasing tuberculosis, notification due to HIB epidemic is increasing rather than decreasing.

READ MORE - Anti Aging Discoveries - The Guide To Perfect Skin!

The Dummies Guide to Curing Heartburn

The term heartburn is used to describe a feeling that people get that isn't actually anything to do with their heart at all. That awful sensation that wells up in your chest isn't even remotely related to your heart; it actually starts in your gut. Heartburn or acid reflux as it's otherwise known starts with a problem with the control of the acid in your stomach.The pain you feel during a bout of heartburn is down to the acid from your stomach moving back up your throat towards your mouth. Now bearing in mind that the acid in your stomach is hydrochloric acid (strong enough to melt metal) your throat (your esophagus) is going to be severely irritated by this acid. It's actually burning away at your flesh which is what causes that intense pain in and around your chest.How often you actually get heartburn and how severe it is depends on a lot of factors such as stress and especially what types of foods you eat a lot. Spicy foods or foods that have a very high acid content are almost guaranteed to cause an attack of acid reflux; so if they're part of your diet you may want to cut them out totally. For some people heartburn is a just a passing nuisance pain. For other folks out there it's a constant battle against a painful problem they'd much rather get rid of.When you get an attack of heartburn the way it appears varies from person to person. Some people feel a burning sensation in their throat, some people can't stop burping and some others even begin to choke. Overall the most common sign of acid reflux is that nasty taste of vomit in the back of your mouth.So what causes this problem?Basically there's a valve in your stomach designed to keep the acid down there. Sometimes this valve gets jammed open and the acid in your stomach escapes and flows up towards your throat. This happens a lot when people are laying down - maybe having a nap after a meal. Heartburn itself can be made far worse by your diet - eating spicy foods definitely won't help.Is it treatable?Sure. There are dozens of treatments out there for heartburn/acid reflux and you'll be spoiled for choice when choosing one. Actually there's that many options out there just making the choice can be a headache. You have so many different over-the-counter treatments to choose from first. Dozens of them. Then you move into the territory of prescription treatments and all the "potential" side-effects that are tied to those. Some people even go as far as having surgery as a longterm solution for their reflux....which is a bit drastic no?If you're like me you probably prefer to go the "natural route" for treating a problem like this. Especially considering the fact that most acid reflux "cures" can only be used for 2 weeks and then you have to stop. Not really a cure is it?

READ MORE - The Dummies Guide to Curing Heartburn