Asthma: Causes, Pathophysiology, Treatment

A disease characterized by variable, recurrent, reversible airway obstruction with intermittent episode of wheezing and dyspnea. It is associated with bronchial hypersensitivity and inflammation caused by various stimuli. Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood with 5% to 10% of school-aged children having symptoms of asthma. Asthma may develop on infants, but it…

Hypochondria: Symptoms & Treatment

Psychiatrist Berney Goodman, writes, “Hypochondria is an emotional disorder involving unremitting fears of illness and somatization symptoms that last for more than six months and cause significant disability” (34).  Hypochondria are much more psychological and people who suffer from don’t realize the disease is, as many may inaccurately describe it, “all in their heads.”  Hypochondria…

Diphtheria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae): History, Symptoms, Causes, Treatment

Corynebacteria are Gram-positive, aerobic, nonmotile, rod-shaped bacteria related to the Actinomycetes. They do not form spores or branch as do the actinomycetes, but they have the characteristic of forming irregular shaped, club-shaped or V-shaped arrangements in normal growth. They undergo snapping movements just after cell division which brings them into characteristic arrangements resembling Chinese letters.…

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Causes & Treatment

“Compulsive” and “obsessive” have become everyday words. “I’m compulsive” is how some people describe their need for neatness, punctuality, and shoes lined up in the closets. “He’s so compulsive is shorthand for calling someone uptight, controlling, and not much fun. “She’s obsessed with him” is a way of saying your friend is hopelessly lovesick. That…

Osteoporosis: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

Osteoporosis is a significant health problem that affects more than 25 million women in the United States and potentially 200 million worldwide. This disease is characterized by diminishing the structure of the skeleton (particular the “spongy” bone). This results in an increased risk of fracture. Osteoporosis develops silently over a period of years, eventually progressing…

Premature Infancy & Infants: Causes & Treatment

Premature babies, otherwise known as preterm babies, or preemies, are babies that are born earlier than the full-term of thirty-eight to forty-two weeks of pregnancy. These babies are generally born between the twentieth and thirty-eighth week. Almost 250,000 babies, nearly seven percent of newborns, are premature(Golant 4). Prematurity, even with all the advances in technology,…

Reye Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

Reye Syndrome is an extremely rare, non-contagious disease thought to be triggered by aspirin use.  The actual origin of the disease is unknown.  Reye’s Syndrome, occasionally called Reye-Jacobsen’s Syndrome, is known to follow any viral infection.  Two of the most common viral infections it precedes is influenza, “the flu”, and chicken pox.  A now-familiar warning…

Prader-Willi Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

with no known cure; causing mental retardation, short stature, low muscle tone, incomplete sexual development, and its main characteristic, the desire to eat everything and anything in sight.   Prader-Willi syndrome was first known as Prader-Labhart-Willi Syndrome after three Swiss doctors who first described the disorder in 1956. The doctors described a small group of kids…