Urosepsis is a bacterial infection of the blood that arises as a complication of an untreated urinary tract infection. Bacteria from the bladder can travel up into a patient's kidneys where it can enter the bloodstream, causing urosepsis---also...
Heat exhaustion is a serious condition that occurs when the body gets too hot due to hot weather or strenuous activity. To prevent its symptoms from worsening, prompt treatment should be administered. If ignored or left untreated, heat exhaustion...
Platelets are cellular fragments within bone marrow and tissues that play an important role in stopping active bleeding. Neonatal thrombocytopenia refers to a low number of platelets in a baby's blood. According to the book, "Hematology: Basic...
Acute fatty liver of pregnancy, or AFLP, is a pregnancy complication which occurs in conjunction with preeclampsia 50 percent of the time, according to Dr. Britt Drake of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It is also seen as a separate...
Heat stroke is a type of hyperthermia. It is a very serious condition that results in the body's internal temperature reaching a high, unhealthy and sometimes life-altering state. Heat stroke occurs when the body's internal core temperature...
According to The Merck Manual, there are 200,000 cases of septic shock with a 45 percent mortality rate every year. This means that 90,000 people die from septic shock yearly. Septic shock is a term used to describe severe sepsis or infection,...
Hypertension, or blood pressure that is higher than normal, is a common pregnancy complication. There are several types of hypertension in pregnancy. Hypertension can be chronic--occurring before pregnancy or early in pregnancy. Pregnancy-induced...
Leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells. One abnormal cell reproduces in the bone marrow without abiding by any regulations or controls. This results in a high number of abnormal clones. The abnormal white blood cells take over, crowd out...
Blood transfusions are prescribed for many reasons, including blood loss and abnormal blood counts. Although hospitals and clinics follow strict protocols for safe transfusion, mistakes by staff and bad reactions from patients to the blood...
Visit your doctor if you experience any of the warning signs of pre-eclampsia, eclampsia or HELLP syndrome: fatigue, upper abdominal pain, nausea with or without vomiting, severe headache, dizziness or double vision, hypertension, excessive...
Quinine is a drug that is primarily used for the treatment of malaria and is found naturally in the bark of the cinchona tree. Its exact method of action is not well understood, but it seems to accumulate in the red blood cells that have been...
Abnormally high levels of serotonin, a chemical that acts as a neurotransmitter, can cause serotonin syndrome. While supplementing your serotonin levels can decrease symptoms of depression, too much can be fatal. Serotonin syndrome can develop in...
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a life-threatening form of blood cancer that affects the production of specific white blood cells, according to the Merck Manuals. One type of AML is called acute monocytic leukemia, which is often called AMoL...
Platelets are blood cells that facilitate clotting. When platelet levels drop below the normal level of 150,000 per microliter, a person has thrombocytopenia. Platelets, the smallest blood cell, are actually cell fragments. Platelets clump...
Thrombocytes are platelets. They have the important job of helping the blood clot to stop someone from bleeding. They circulate throughout the bloodstream, and when a blood vessel is damaged, within seconds they are at the damaged area. Platelets...
A tooth abscess is a pocket of infected material resulting from an infection in the center of the tooth. Tooth decay is often the main culprit of a tooth abscess. Tooth decay causes openings in tooth enamel, allowing harmful bacteria, dead tissue...
Heat injuries are a significant cause of kidney failure. Heat injuries are generally grouped into two categories--classical heat stroke and exertional heat stroke. Of the two types, exertional heat stroke is more commonly associated with kidney...
A woman with elevated blood pressure in the third trimester can lead to serious consequences for the mother and baby, especially if the rise in blood pressure first occurs after 20 weeks. Gestational hypertension is known as pregnancy induced...
Toxemia is a complication of pregnancy that's also called pregnancy induced hypertension or preeclampsia. Toxemia is more common in women having their first child, and those with a history of of high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney disease;...
Normally, there is a balance between the formation of clots and their destruction. But there are times when that balance is not maintained. Cancer, infections, atherosclerosis, certain medications and injury can all cause blood clots to be formed....
Potassium permanganate is a strong chemical that is commonly used as a bactericidal and fungicidal in air wash systems, drinking water, and cooling towers. It is a strong oxidizing agent. Because of this, it can cause profound damage to the human...
An intussusception occurs when one part of the intestines folds into another part. According to Dr. Judith Sondheimer, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in "Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Pediatrics,"...
Rhabdomyolysis is a serious medical condition in which the muscle fibers breakdown. This action causes the release of a protein pigment called myoglobin into the blood stream. Myoglobin breaks down into compounds that are harmful to the kidneys....
An anticoagulant drug is one that helps prevent clotting or coagulation of the blood. Anticoagulants are often known as blood thinners, although they do not actually make the blood thinner but decrease the blood's ability to clot. Anticoagulants...
Herbalists may recommend the use of supplements of cranberry extract if you suffer from a urinary tract infection, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports. The organization recommends only using such a supplement if...
You may use cranberry extract supplements to help fight your urinary tract infection with your doctor's approval, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine notes. You also may use it to decrease burning sensations that may...
Heat stroke is much more severe than heat exhaustion and can be fatal. Any agent that reduces the body's ability to cool can quickly turn heat exhaustion into heat stroke. Cholinergic blocking agents and anti-cholinergic treatments limit sweating...
It's not unusual to be alarmed by the sight of blood, but unchecked bleeding can be downright terrifying. Fortunately, your body contains a number of proteins called human coagulation factors, or clotting factors, that aid in staunching the flow...
Though quinine has been used therapeutically since the 17th century, it has not lost favor as one of the first-line treatments for malaria. Quinine works by binding to the DNA of the malaria parasite, preventing its replication. With the infection...