Cervical cancer affects less than 1 percent of American women, although vaccines can bring this number down even more. The vaccine Gardasil was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June 2006. Another vaccine, Cervarix, was...
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that can be serious. TB infects the lungs and is spread from person to person via moisture released into the air when coughing or sneezing. Many people who become infected with the disease do not develop...
Leg paralysis is a total loss of movement in one or both of the lower extremities because of injury or disease. The damage that is present is applied to the specific nerves that supply power to the leg muscles. Specifically, nerve damage resulting...
According to the Harvard Medical School, a number of factors affect healthy nail growth. While an adult's fingernails grow an average one-tenth of an inch per month, for example, children's fingernails grow faster than adult nails and the growth...
Low blood potassium is a condition called hypokalemia. Approximately 98 percent of the body's potassium stores are located within cells in what is known as intracellular fluid, or ICF, according to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine." A...
Deficiencies in some vitamins are a risk factor for several chronic diseases, according to a clinical review published in the June 12, 2002, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study states that vitamin deficiencies are...
A stroke is a disruption in your brain's normal blood supply that can result in brain damage, as well as weakness or paralysis in various parts of the body, including your legs. If you develop leg paralysis or weakness in the aftermath of a...
Adenosine is a chemical in your brain and body that belongs to a class of substances called neurotransmitters. These substances support basic nervous system communication by carrying "messages" across the gaps between individual nerve cells....
Classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), or mad cow disease, is a prion disease. According to the CDC, prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), are a group of diseases that cause degeneration of the nervous system of...
Aqua Chi claims to be the leading seller of detox foot baths and spas in the United States. Purportedly, Aqua Chi's detox foot baths provide ionically charged water that helps your body "detoxify and heal." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration...
Rabies is a fatal viral encephalitis which accounts for 30,000 to 70,000 human deaths worldwide each year. It is transmitted primarily through bites or scratches from infected animals, but infection through inhalation and organ transplantation has...
Many of today's standard trampoline models feature a round or rectangular design. The difference between these two styles impacts much more than the trampoline's appearance however. Round and rectangular trampolines offer major differences in...
The internal carotid artery provides blood supply to most of the brain's cortex on one side, including the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes. Only the posterior parts of the brain are supplied by different arteries. The internal carotid divides...
Lyme disease is an illness that can occur after a deer tick bites a child. The California Lyme Disease Association says the illness is most common in boys ages 5 to 19. Although it also occurs in adults, 25 percent of Lyme disease cases occur in...
A neuroblastoma is a form of cancer that affects the nerve cells within the body. This rare form of cancer is diagnosed in approximately 650 patients each year, of which, 90 percent are under the age of 5, according to health officials with the...
Seizures--a symptom of epilepsy--are characterized by behavioral and physical changes (such as blackouts) caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The presentation of symptoms varies depending upon the type of seizure and part of the...
A mini stroke, also known as a transient ischemic attack or a TIA, occurs when the blood flow to the brain is blocked temporarily. It often causes symptoms that mimic those of a stroke; however, according MayoClinic.com, these symptoms completely...
Headaches are a ubiquitous problem and a common reason for doctor visits. Most headaches are benign, with no serious underlying cause. Often people have a particular pattern of headaches. They might become concerned if there's a change in the...
Carotid artery disease is a dangerous condition that can cause stroke and even death, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute or NHLBI. The two carotid arteries on each side of the neck are the main blood supply to the brain and...
Compartment syndrome is a complication of an existing injury, such as a significant muscle bruise or fracture. Bleeding and swelling of soft tissue increases the pressure within a limb. Loss of circulation, paralysis, reduced pulse and taut skin...
Multiple sclerosis is a disease that, over the long term, attacks your central nervous system. The components of the CNS are your optic nerves, spinal cord and brain. Symptoms may vary from milder problems such as limb numbness, to blindness or...
Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the United States, and organizations striving to make the game accessible for those with disabilities have been in place since the mid-1900s. The National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) is...
Macrovascular disease refers to atherosclerosis, or hardening, of the large arteries. Diabetes is a major risk factor for development of atherosclerosis, though the mechanism by which it does so is unclear. According to "Harrison's Principles of...
There are hundreds of diseases that can cause joint pain similar to that experienced by rheumatoid arthritis patients. Some conditions such as bursitis also cause inflamed, red or swollen joints but are not systemic. Rheumatoid arthritis and...
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection carried by infected ticks that can be transmitted to humans and animals bitten by these ticks. In the United States, an estimated 35,000 people developed Lyme disease in 2008, based upon information provided...
The residual effects of a stroke depend upon the immediacy and effectiveness of treatment and rehabilitation, according to the Brain Foundation. Full recovery may be limited by the type and severity of impairment, the location of the stroke and...
Apraxia is a brain disorder characterized by the loss of a learned, skilled movement. People with apraxia understand how to perform the movement and have a desire to perform the movement, but they cannot execute the movement. There are several...
Lyme disease is an illness that is transmitted to humans and other mammals from the deer tick. If Lyme disease is treated promptly with antibiotics, the patient usually recovers completely. In some cases, however, the disease and its symptoms can...
The power and ability to move one's legs stems from the interaction of two processes. These are the nerve signal that is sent to the muscles from the brain and passes via the spinal cord, and the muscle's intrinsic power to contract. Any...
Paralysis is a complete loss of strength or ability to move a particular limb or muscle group because nerves are affected or injured in some way. Watch this video to learn more about this condition and how to treat it.
Quadriplegia usually involves paralysis in all four limbs, though not always. Learn about how to cope with Quadriplegia in this video.
