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Showing posts from May, 2020

Arthritis - Causes, symptoms & diagnosis

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Arthritis is the swelling and tenderness of one or more joints, the main symptoms of arthritis are joint pain and stiffness, which typically worsen with age.  Types of arthritis: The most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis . Osteoarthritis causes cartilage -  the hard, slippery tissue that covers the edges of bones where joints are formed to break down. Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition where joints, beginning with the lining of joints are affected due to the immune system. Uric acid crystals are formed when there's too much uric acid in the blood, which can cause gout. Infections or underlying disease, such as psoriasis or lupus, can cause other types of arthritis in the patients.  Causes - In both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis damage of joints are found in different ways. Osteoarthritis The most common type of arthritis, osteoarthritis mainly involves wear-and-tear damage to a person's joint's ca...

Down's Syndrome - Causes, symptoms & diagnosis

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What is Down syndrome? Down syndrome (sometimes called Down’s syndrome) is a condition in which a child is born with an extra copy of their 21st chromosome — hence it lead to trisomy 21 this causes physical and mental developmental delays and disabilities. Many of the disabilities are lifelong, and they can also shorten life expectancy, people with Down syndrome can live healthy and fulfilling lives by taking support from their families, and others cultural institutions provides many opportunities to help overcome the challenges of this condition. What causes Down syndrome? When the baby’s cells develop, each cell is supposed to receive 23 pairs of chromosomes, for 46 chromosomes total. chromosomes are received equally from the mother, and from the father. In children with this syndrome, one of the chromosomes doesn’t separate properly, so the baby ends up with three copies, or an extra partial copy, of chromosome 21, instead of two. The extra chromosome causes ...

Health risks of smoking & tobacco

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Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and in turn leads to diseases and disorders. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also shows higher risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis. In adults secondhand smoke causes stroke, lung cancer, and coronary heart disease. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are at higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma, respiratory symptoms, and slowed lung growth, etc.  Cancer Smoking mainly causes lungs cancer and can pass cancerous cells to other part of the body, that may include: Blood Bladder  Trachea  Bronchus  Colon and rectum  Esophagus  Stomach  Kidney  Renal pelvis  Mouth & throat...

AI tools to fight Covid-19

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Artificial Intelligence  is an upcoming and useful decision-making tool to identify early infections due to coronavirus and also to help in monitoring the condition of the infected patients. Healthcare systems are in the crisis of this decision-making tool to handle Novel coronavirus infection and to get proper suggestions in real-time to avoid it's spread. Applying AI tools can help in identifying the high-risk patients, track spread of virus and in controlling the infection in real time. It can also be used to predict the future deaths using the current available data, and for population screening, medical help,  protocol and suggestions about infection control.General procedure of AI & Non-AI based applications can help general physicians in the hospitals to identify the Covid-19 symptoms. Main applications of AI in Covid-19 include: Early detection and diagnosis of the infection  - AI is helpful in the diagnosis of the infected cases with the help of m...

Health risks of poor menstrual hygiene

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May 28th is celebrated as World Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD) across the globe, it aims to raise awareness of the importance for women and girls to hygienically manage their menstruation. Menstrual hygiene plays a key role in every girl and woman's life, most of the women suffer from various diseases at some stages of life due to lack of proper hygiene practices during their periods. Theme of World Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020 is ' " Periods in Pandemic" . It helps to catalyse  a growing, global movement for Menstrual Hygiene Management and supports partnerships at global, regional, national and local levels, and also creates opportunities for advocacy for the integration of MHM into global, national and local policies, programmes and projects taken by government and health sectors. Even though several menstrual hygiene products like sanitary napkins, tampons, and menstrual cups are available; 88% of Indian women don’t use the most basic form of menst...

Diabetes - diagnosis & treatment

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Diagnosis of diabetes disease Diabetes is diagnosed by performing glucose tests to know the blood sugar levels of the patient. Fasting Plasma Glucose Test - This test is performed to know the blood glucose at least after the 8 hours of without eating, it helps in detecting diabetes and pre-diabetes in the person.  Plasma Glucose Result (mg/dL) Diagnosis 99 and below Normal (impaired fasting glucose) 100 to 125 Prediabetes 126 and above Diabetes Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) - This test is performed to know the blood glucose at least after the 8 hours of without eating and two hours after drinking glucose-containing beverage, that helps in detecting diabetes and pre-diabetes in the person. 2-Hour Plasma Glucose Result (mg/dL) Diagnosis 139 and below Normal 140 to 199 Prediabetes 200 and above Diabetes Random plasma glucose test - this test is recommended to know blood sugar levels without regard to the last meal taken by the patient. If a patient found...

Diabetes - types, symptoms & complications

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Diabetes affects the body's ability to produce or use of insulin hormone in absorption of glucose in the human body. Insulin acts as a key to transport energy to the cells, when the human body turns the food consumed into energy. If the small amount of insulin or no insulin. If insulin resistant,  too much sugar remains in blood. Blood glucose levels are higher than the normal glucose levels for diabetic persons. Three main types of diabetes are: Type-1 diabetes Type -2 diabetes Gestational diabetes Type - 1 diabetes: In this type of diabetes pancreas does not produce insulin, and is often diagnosed in children or teens, it can also be noticed in adults. This type is called as Juvenile diabetes Type - 2 diabetes: This occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or when the cells are unable to use insulin properly, which is called insulin resistance. This type  is diagnosed later in life, generally after the age of 45. Type - 2 diabetes is generally called...

Autism - Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment

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Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is said to be a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. People with this disease have problems in learning, understanding what others feel and talk. This disease is a minor problem or disability that needs full time care for the patient. Symptoms Though the severity and range of the symptoms vary from patient to patient. Common symptoms for this disease includes:  A lack of eye contact A narrow range of interests Doing  same work again and again,  repeating words or phrases, rocking back and forth, or flipping a lever High sensitivity for sounds, touches, smells, or sights that seem ordinary to other people Being not able to look at or listen to other people Being not able to look at things when another person points at them. Can not be held or cuddled properly Problem in understanding or using speech, gestures, fa...

Anemia - symptoms, causes, diagnosis & treatment

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What is anemia? Anemia is a condition where RBC count is decreased in the blood. In a normal blood test anemia is reported as low haemoglobin or hematocrit (the ratio of the volume of red blood cells to the total volume of blood). Haemoglobin helps in carrying oxygen to various parts of the body, by the deficiency of haemoglobin there would be deprived supply of oxygen to various parts of the body, that would lead to certain symptoms as mentioned below.  Symptoms   In the mild condition of disease one could not notice the symptoms but they may affect after severe conditions. symptoms generally include: Dizziness,  lightheadedness,  Fast or unusual heartbeat Headache Pain, including in your bones, chest, belly, and joints Growth problems for children and teens Shortness of breath Skin that’s pale or yellow Cold hands and feet Tiredness or weakness Types & causes  There are around 400 types of anaemia categorized into 3 grou...

Lungs cancer - types, symptoms, diagnosis & treatment

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Lungs are spongy vital organs present in the chest region that take in oxygen when a person inhales air and releases carbon dioxide when exhales. People who smoke have the higher risk of lung cancer, though lung cancer may be seen in people who never smoked. The risk of lung cancer increases with the length of time and number of cigarettes a person smokes. If a person who used to smoke earlier and quit smoking, may significantly reduce the chances of developing lung cancer.  Symptoms   This cancer type doesn't show any symptoms during early stages: These signs and symptoms mostly occur in the people with advanced stages of lung cancer. Signs & symptoms of lung cancer includes: Cough, that doesn't go away  Chest pain  Hoarseness  Bone pain  Coughing up blood  Shortness of breath  Headache Causes   Smokers are more likely to get lung cancers - smokers and in people who are exposed to smoke secondhand. It occurs in pe...

Meniere's disease - symptoms, treatment

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Meniere's disease is a non-suppurative disease of the inner ear characterized by the classical triad:  1) attacks of systemic labyrinthine vertigo attended with nausea and vomiting;  2) unilateral hearing loss;  3) noise in the involved ear. The disease was first described by Prosper Meniere, a French physician, in 1861. Attacks of vertigo occur amid complete health and are attended by nausea and sometimes vomiting. As a rule, noise in the affected ear intensifies during an attack. The patient feels as if his ear is stuffed or he is deafened. The objective sign of an attack is spontaneous nystagmus which disappears soon after the attack is abated. The patient loses his sense of balance during attacks and tries to assume a horizontal position, often with his eyes closed. Any attempt to change the position impairs the patient's condition and intensifies nausea and vomiting. Attacks can occur at any time of the day, but mostly at night time or in the morning. A ...