MRSA is a methicillin-resistant (meaning resistant to certain antibiotic medications) strain of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococccus aureus bacteria normally live on the skin and in the nasal passages of healthy individuals. The...
All women experience some bleeding after childbirth, whether they deliver vaginally or by cesarean section. Bleeding that's heavier than normal, called postpartum hemorrhage, occurs in 5 to 15 percent of women, according to the American Congress...
Swine flu is the common name for the H1N1 flu virus, first identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in April 2009. Swine flu is classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization and, as of January 2010, has been...
The kidneys are "bean-shaped" and are located in the posterior part of the abdomen. The kidneys filter waste and toxins from the blood. They regulate blood volume and pressure by adjusting the rate of filtration. The kidneys are vital; diseases...
The National Association for Continence defines nighttime urination, or nocturia, as waking at night one or more times in order to urinate. Nocturia can occur at any age but is less frequent in people under the age of 60. Spasms or contractions of...
Kidney stones occur when minerals in urine become highly concentrated and form into crystals. Once a person has one kidney stone, there is a 70 to 80 percent chance of recurring kidney stones, according to the Kidney Stone Web Site. The occurrence...
Sodium is the principal positive ion found in your body fluids. A small amount of sodium is located inside your cells, but it is mostly confined to your extracellular fluids. Along with potassium and chloride, sodium is an important electrolyte...
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is essential for your health. Many animals can manufacture vitamin C in their cells, but humans must obtain it from their diet. Vitamin C's benefits and potential uses have been the subject of a great deal of...
Fluid retention and fatigue are common symptoms of renal failure, but sometimes there are no symptoms at all. Renal failure, or kidney failure, results when the kidneys lose their ability to filter body waste. Diabetes, hypertension and pregnancy...
Oropouche is a virus that infects humans in the Amazon River area and some parts of the Caribbean basin. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and biting midges, which pass on the virus from sloths, its animal reservoir, to humans. The virus is named...
Prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate gland. Acute bacterial prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome are the three forms of symptomatic prostate inflammation. The National Center for...
During pregnancy, a woman's body works hard to fill the needs of not one, but two separate individuals. Maintaining adequate hydration can be difficult to accomplish when dealing with morning sickness or a busy schedule. According to the American...
Thiazides are a type of diuretic, a class of drug that increases urination. In the kidneys, thiazides decrease sodium chloride absorption, resulting in forced removal of fluid from the body. According to the University of Kentucky Medical Center,...
Your daily urine output is an indicator of your current state of health. Excessive or decreased urine output can be a sign that you are drinking too little or too much water, or it could be a symptom of an underlying condition. According to...
Oxyfast is a brand name for the generic drug, oxycodone, which is used to relieve moderate to severe pain. Oxycodone is in a class of medications called opioid, or narcotic, analgesics. Narcotics can be habit forming and should only be used by the...
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is considered a "silent killer" due to its effects on the body that can increase the risk of serious events such as heart attack or stroke, often without symptoms. High blood pressure can develop over many...
Although you need more sleep during pregnancy, sleep eludes as many as 8 out of 10 pregnant women, Harvard Health Publications reports. Sleeplessness in pregnancy can have a negative impact on labor, notes the University of California School of...
If your doctor diagnoses you with high blood pressure, important first-line interventions include regular exercise, dietary modifications, alcohol moderation and weight reduction, if necessary. However, if these interventions do not yield...
Your kidneys are located below your ribcage behind your internal organs, just below your waist, one on either side of your spine. The kidneys are your body's filtration plant, straining fluid and waste and producing urine. Urine flows from your...
The kidneys are vital organs necessary for the excretion of waste products, secretion of hormones and regulation of fluid balance. Acute kidney failure, also called acute renal failure, can occur due to many causes. "Medical-Surgical Nursing"...
Approximately 8 percent of women develop urinary tract infections, or UTIs, during pregnancy, reported lead author John Dalzell, M.D., in "Urinary Tract Infections during Pregnancy," published in the American Family Physician on February 1, 2000....
Chronic kidney symptoms may be caused by kidney stones. These stones usually form when the volume of fluid in urine is decreased and salts and minerals accumulate in the kidney, instead of being dissolved into the urine. Kidney stones commonly...
Several conditions can cause decreased appetite and increased thirst. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC, increased thirst, also known as polydipsia, is a fairly common symptom. However, increased thirst coupled with...
Ibuprofen is an over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. This medication is generally used to treat mild or moderate pain due to inflammation, swelling, stiffness and even joint pain. Ibuprofen is also used to treat common aches...
Sodium functions as an electrolyte in the human body. It plays a role in normal blood pressure, regulation of blood volume, nutrient absorption, nutrient transport and maintenance of the cell membrane potential. The human body tightly controls...
Most studies involving salt--or sodium, for that matter--have examined its effect on blood pressure. People with a sensitivity to sodium often experience an increase in blood pressure as a result of a high-salt diet. But not much is known about...
Blood is pushed through arteries by a heart that beats. The action of pushing the blood creates a pressure that the blood exerts on artery walls. This is called blood pressure and is measured in two numbers. The first number is the systolic...
Vasopressin, also known as antidiuretic hormone, is secreted by the posterior pituitary. The hypothalamus in the brain regulates the secretion of vasopressin. Neurons in the hypothalamus are sensitive to changes in sodium concentration in the...
Kidney stones are tiny crystals that form in the urinary tract from minerals in urine. Even through they are commonly called kidney stones, the crystals can form anywhere in the urinary tract, including the bladder or the ureters, the tubes that...
