The human heart consists of four chambers: the two upper chambers, which receive blood and are known as the atria, and the two lower chambers, which pump blood and are known as the ventricles. The left ventricle pumps oxygenated blood into the...
According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 1 percent of Americans suffer from schizophrenia, a chronic brain disorder characterized by distorted cognitive functions, hallucinations and disorganized speech. Schizophrenia has been...
Brain atrophy occurs with the loss of neurons or the connections between them. Some degree of atrophy is a normal part of aging, but pathological conditions, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, also feature atrophy as a symptom. Common...
Soy is an Asian plant found in a variety of foods, including tofu, miso and protein powder. It is often used in supplement form to treat hormonal imbalances, such as menopause, in women. Ongoing research is attempting to determine its exact...
Approximately one in 500 children develop hydrocephalus, excessive cerebrospinal fluid accumulation in the ventricles of the brain, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke states. Obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid drainage or...
Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a condition in which the brain structures called ventricles are abnormally enlarged. Ventricles are filled with fluid known as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); CSF flows throughout the brain and spinal cord....
The word "fit" has become virtually synonymous in popular culture with healthy. However, many fit people focus on becoming fit but do not pursue becoming healthy. Fitness doesn't automatically make you healthy, says Philip Maffetone, author of...
The heart consists of four chambers, the left and right atria and left and right ventricles. The lower chambers, the ventricles, pump blood to different parts of the body, with the left side sending oxygenated blood from the lungs out to the rest...
Radiation therapy is commonly used in treating tumors, says Merck. Unfortunately, radiation sometimes damages the nervous system. The severity of the damage depends on how much radiation was given, and for how long time, was the body exposed to...
Many forms of heart problems exist and the severity of symptoms depends upon the specific type of condition present. The U.S. National Library of Medicine reports that heart disease is the number one killer in the United States and is also a major...
The University of Washington states that cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid in the brain and spinal cord, has four major functions: transporting hormones, protecting the brain, removing waste and creating buoyancy. When too much cerebrospinal fluid...
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that one percent of the total population receives a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Paranoid schizophrenia is one of the five types of schizophrenia with characteristics specific to paranoid delusions...
Catatonic schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness in which reality appears to be distorted, according to the MayoClinic.com. It consists of extreme behavior such as the inability to speak, respond or move. Catatonic schizophrenics may stay in...
The most common genetic disorder, Down syndrome affects every 1 in 800 to 1000 births. The presence of an extra chromosome 21 causes Down syndrome. The chance of having an affected child increases as a women ages, though in most cases, the mother...
Steroids, or anabolic steroids, are synthetically produced drugs that are very similar to male testosterone hormones. Apart from enhancing tissue repair capabilities through protein synthesis, steroids also help in building the muscle mass of the...
Heart failure describes a condition in which the heart fails to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure usually develops over time due to conditions that interfere with the normal flow of blood through the heart. When the...
Congestive heart failure is the inability of the heart to pump an adequate amount of blood throughout the body. The heart has two pumps: a right ventricle and a left ventricle. The right ventricle pumps non-oxygenated blood to the lungs to become...
The effects of having X-rays while pregnant are well known. The fetus may experience severe defects when exposed to radiation. What many women don't know is that the damage done by radiation is a cumulative one. Therefore, it is vital that a woman...
A type of dementia, Alzheimer's disease most commonly affects people older than the age of 60, though MedlinePlus notes that a less common form of the disease can present much earlier. Patients with Alzheimer's disease have a progressive worsening...
"Your brain is a thinking organ that learns and grows by interacting with the world through perception and action," according to the Franklin Institute. Aging impacts the brain through an enlargement of ventricle spaces, a widening of the brain...
Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital heart problem which results in blood that is low in oxygen being pumped throughout the body. This can cause babies to be slightly blue in color, also known as cyanosis.
Rather than having a singular primary cause, schizophrenia is best understood as a combination of interacting factors that produce schizophrenic symptoms. Genetically speaking, schizophrenia runs in families. First-degree relatives have a...
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is characterized by increased resistance to blood flow throughout the body. According to the American Heart Association, or AHA, about 74.5 million Americans over the age of 20 have hypertension, and the cause...
Congenital heart diseases occur due to abnormal heart development before a child is born. According to Medline Plus, a website of the National Institutes of Health, congenital heart disease is the most common type of birth defect and is...
Cardiomegaly, or enlarged heart, occurs for multiple reasons. The heart may enlarge temporarily due to stressors such as pregnancy, according to the Mayo Clinic. Other problems with the heart may cause the muscle to weaken and enlarge. An enlarged...
The heart is made up of four chambers: the right and left atria and the right and left ventricles. Blood enters the heart in the right atrium and travels to the right ventricle, then to the lungs (via the pulmonary artery). Blood re-enters the...
The cardiovascular system is a term that describes your heart and its associated blood vessels--or circulatory system--which collectively pump oxygen-rich blood to your body and retrieve oxygen-depleted blood for replenishment in your lungs. As...
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Simply defined, heart disease is any process that caused the heart to work harder, or pump less efficiently. While heart disease can lead to a heart attack, heart disease should not...
While a person with hypertension or elevated blood pressure may experience few symptoms before significant health problems arise, there are numerous possible complications caused by chronic hypertension. According to the U.S. National Library of...
