Alzheimer's disease causes severe disruption in critical thinking, memory, judgment and social skills. The dementia of Alzheimer's occurs along with distinctive changes in the brain, including abnormal protein deposits of plaques and tangles. The...
According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, more than 22 million people in the United States have asthma--and the risk for asthma is greater if a relative also has the condition. Many factors can contribute to inflammation and...
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a group of cancer types that develop from white blood cells, also called lymphocytes. Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas can be slow-growing, or fast-growing and aggressive, and they can affect either the B-cells or T-cells of the...
Lung cancer can originate from any of the specialized cell types that help make up the lung, and generally fall into one of two categories: small cell lung cancer, or non-small cell lung cancer. Lung cancers can be caused by environmental factors,...
The human hairless (HR) gene is found on chromosome 8 and has been implicated in several hereditary diseases that result in permanent hair loss. The HR protein normally acts as a genetic manager, controlling the expression of other genes....
A genetic disorder is a medical condition caused by a mutation in an individual’s genomic makeup. Most genetic disorders are caused by a mutation in the DNA sequence of a single gene, gross breaks in individual chromosomes or the addition of...
Hair loss comes in many forms, but the type of hair loss most people inherit from their relatives through genetics is androgenic alopecia, commonly known as male pattern baldness. Although the term suggests that the condition affects only men,...
Every human being has 46 chromosomes, including two chromosomes (X ,Y) that determine gender. The Y chromosome is unique to males. Inheriting an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the father makes the child male. Because the Y...
Hereditary baldness, also known as androgenetic alopecia or AGA, is characterized by premature hair loss in men and women. A January 1995 article in the "The American Journal of Medicine" reports that the prevalence of hereditary baldness is...
Each cell within the human body contains thousands of genes, which collectively make up the genome. Specific sequences of chemicals called nucleotide bases link together to form long stretches of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, called chromosomes....
Autoimmune diseases run in families in two ways. If you have an autoimmune disease, you probably inherited the genetic susceptibility from your parents and could pass it down to your children. Similarly, within the extended family of autoimmune...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to several different lung conditions, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, among others, any of which ultimately damage the lungs so that breathing becomes difficult. Because it is not a...
Unlike some diseases that are controlled by a single gene, almost 20 known genes can be involved in developing type 1 diabetes. The complex interaction among them can affect whether a child is diabetic. The American Diabetes Association reports...
The skin is a complex organ made up of a number of tissue types, which work together to maintain the integrity of the skin and form a barrier between the environment and the rest of the body. Skin contains thousands of follicles, which contain...
An adrenal adenoma is a tumor growth of the glandular tissue within the adrenal glands, which are a pair of glands situated on top of the kidneys. The adrenal glands normally produce and secrete a number of hormones, which can then travel in the...
