Osteoarthritis is a debilitating disease in which the cartilage wears away from the joint. This causes the bones of the joint to rub together. Weight loss can relieve pressure from joints. Reducing weight and increasing physical activity can help...
A pacemaker is a medical device that is inserted into the body in order to regulate abnormal heart rhythms. Pacemakers exert their therapeutic effect by emitting a a low electrical current that stimulates the heart muscle to contract. There are...
Gallstones affect 10 to 15 percent of Americans, and about 800,000 people a year have operations to remove their gallbladder because of gallstones, notes Gallstones.com. Gallstones are small stone-like substances made from bile pigment or...
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports group B Streptococcus is the leading cause of septicemia and meningitis in newborns. Septicemia is an infection of the bloodstream, and meningitis is an infection of the lining of...
Gallstones affect an estimated 20 million people in the United States. Gallstone formation (cholelithiasis) occurs in the gallbladder, a small pear-shaped organ beneath the liver that stores and releases bile into the intestinal tract. Most people...
The early stages of AIDS are extremely mild and are often mistaken for other illnesses. Once someone recovers from the initial stage of infection, she may go without symptoms for many years. During this time, there is damage occurring to her body,...
The devastating diagnosis of a brain tumor can terrify the most courageous individuals. But knowing the symptoms can alter the course of events with an early diagnosis. The Mayo Clinic's symptom list includes headaches, vision disturbances,...
The Academy of General Dentistry reports that 30 percent of Americans suffer from fever blisters, which are sometimes also referred to as cold sores or oral herpes. A fever blister usually ruptures spontaneously after four days, leaving behind a...
The two common types of herpes viruses are herpes simplex type 1 (or HSV-1) and herpes simplex type 2 (or HSV-2). HSV-1 outbreaks are usually found around the mouth as a fever blister or cold sore, according to the Mayo Clinic staff. HSV-2 is...
Meniere's disease refers to an inner ear disorder that causes episodes of vertigo, a spinning motion sensation, fluctuating hearing loss, pressure in the ear and ringing in the ear. Frequently, Meniere's disease only affects one ear, and it is...
The AIDS Education and Training Centers National Resource Center explains that a classification system for HIV exists to help clinicians track the progression of the HIV infection. Two types of classification systems exist: one from the Centers...
They may be as tiny as a grain of sand or as big as a golf ball. Gallstones, small stone-like substances composed of cholesterol or bile pigment, develop within the gallbladders of 10 to 15 percent of adult Americans. A million cases are diagnosed...
Nasal inflammation causes your immune system to release histamines and leukotrienes, with accompanying mucous and the irritation of a "runny nose." Antihistamines combat the production of histamines, which is often caused by allergic rhinitis....
According to the "Canadian Medical Association Journal," children experience many foot problems that may remain permanent if not corrected in time. Children need to be observed closely as they grow to make sure their feet are developing normally....
Too much exposure to the ultraviolet radiation of the sun can result in sunburn. Your skin will be red, hot and painful to touch. It may have blisters, and in a few days will start to peel. Sunburn increases your chances of skin cancer, sun damage...
Osteoarthritis of the knee is a painful degenerative joint disease and the most common type of arthritis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly half of adult Americans are at risk for developing the condition in one...
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 nightshade plant, a member of the herb family called solanceae, is the source for atropine, a heart medication used to treat symptomatic, irregular and slow heartbeats. Heart disorders that include a heart rate less than 60 beats per minute in...
Canker sores, or aphthous ulcers, may occur due to a variety of conditions such as a poor immune system, mouth injury from dental work, allergic reaction to bacteria in the mouth or helicobacter pylori bacteria. They can also be caused by human...
Osteonecrosis is a condition in which a bone loses its blood supply. This results in the bone dying and sometimes collapsing. Osteonecrosis can occur near joints, affecting the health of the joint as a whole. There are a variety of both surgical...
Depression can affect children, teenagers and adults. It's normal to feel sad every once in a while, but if you're plagued with feelings of sadness on a regular basis, you may be depressed.
Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have long prescribed Epimedium grandiflorum, also known by the more titillating name of horny goat weed, as an aphrodisiac. More recently, the herb has been showing up in herbal supplements that are...
Psoriatic arthritis refers to a painful condition of your joints that usually accompanies a serious skin disease called psoriasis. The Mayo Clinic states that symptoms of psoriatic arthritis include joint pain, swelling and warmth over your...
Lyme disease is an infection caused by the tick-borne Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. If untreated, Lyme disease progresses through three stages. During the first early localized stage, a characteristic rash appears at the site of the tick bite in...
Discs are the shock absorbers of the spine. Sandwiched between each vertebrae, they act as cushions. Healthy discs are composed of tough cartilage exteriors with a soft squishy interior, but as they age, discs can deform by flattening, stiffening,...
The H1N1 flu (or swine flu) was first identified in April 2009. It has since been reported in 208 countries, leading the World Health Organization to label the disease as a pandemic. One can prevent becoming infected with H1N1 by getting the H1N1...
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation states that whereas most illnesses are straightforward, HIV behaves with great subtlety. The University of California, San Francisco explains that from the moment it infects a person, HIV begins to neutralize his...
Anxiety is caused by multiple factors, including genes, stressful or traumatic events and your brain chemistry. Symptoms of anxiety include restlessness, worry, muscle and mental tension, nervousness, trouble falling asleep or staying asleep and...
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