Category: Diseases and Conditions

It has been suggested that HIV is said to have originated from a particular species of chimpanzee. This was stated at the most recent presentation at the 6th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Chicago in January 1999.

At the conference it was suggested that HIV had entered the human population through blood contact that occurred during hunting and field dressing of the animals. Findings at this conference provide the strongest evidence to date that HIV-1 originated in non human primates. Continue reading “How Did HIV Originate?”

AIDS and the Facts

What is AIDS ?

Aids is a sexually transmitted disease and to date no cure has been found to combat Aids.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome:

ACQUIRED
This means you get infected by it: It is passed on by one of these ways.

* Having sex with a person who is already infected with aids.
* Sharing a needle with someone that is taking drugs.
* Being born to a woman who has the aids virus.
* Drinking the breast milk of an infected woman.
* Having a blood transfusion that is infected with aids. The risk of blood transfusions passing on the aids virus is now very low risk due to the blood being screened very carefully. Continue reading “AIDS and the Facts”

Diarrhea, inflammation, and damage of the small intestine don’t ignore these symptoms. They could be a result of celiac disease.

A person suffering from celiac disease will have an absolute intolerance to gluten.

It is also called an autoimmune disease rather than an allergy because antibodies produced by the body attack the body’s tissues. Dietary gluten triggers an attack in sufferers of celiac disease. Oats, rye, wheat, and barley contain this protein. Continue reading “Understanding Celiac Disease”

Patients have diabetes when their blood sugar levels are very high. Over a period of time it can lead to the nerves or the blood vessels being damaged.

Should nerve damage occur the patient will lose any feeling in the skin, muscles, and bone of the feet and will be unable to realize that he has sores, or cuts, or blisters. As a result, ulcers and infection develop, which, in severe cases, if left untreated, can lead to amputation.

In addition, damaged blood vessels mean that feet do not receive enough oxygen or blood so the foot takes longer to heal. Continue reading “How Can a Diabetic Foot Be Take Care Of?”

No one knows what causes Parkinson’s disease (PD) only that it results from the degeneration of those nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. A neurotransmitter, dopamine stimulates the nerve cells that control the muscles in the body.

When the production of dopamine decreases, movement control and coordination is lost. PD sets in around the age of 60 but by the time symptoms manifest themselves most patients would have lost around 80% of their dopamine-producing cells.

It is not fatal but it is progressively degenerative. Men are more likely to be affected than women and Caucasians more than other races. Continue reading “What Is Parkinson’s Disease?”

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease in the USA after the famous baseball player; as Motor Neurone Disease in Australia and Britain; and Maladie de Charcot in France. It is a progressive neuromuscular disease that affects and weakens motor neurons.

These neurons are parts of the nervous system that link the brain to the skeletal muscles.

ALS sooner or later destroys these neurons as certain nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary movement like walking steadily deteriorate. With this the muscles controlled by these nerves weaken and atrophy, finally leading to paralysis. Continue reading “What Is the Prognosis for ALS?”

Experiencing burning or pain in your stomach? You could have a peptic or stomach or gastric ulcer.

It used to be thought that very spicy food frequently eaten and a stressful life led to a gastric ulcer. But now doctors are of the opinion that some bacterial infections and medications can cause these ulcers.

Gastric ulcers are open sores that come up on the inside stomach lining or upper small intestine or gullet. These ulcers are quite common and can be successfully treated over a few weeks. Continue reading “The Problem with Stomach Ulcers”

Friedrich’s Ataxia (FA) is a rare genetic disease that affects and damages the neurological system and causes problems with coordination and balance. Ataxia can affect the eyes, speech, fingers, limbs, and the whole body.

It is not considered fatal but it does progressively affect the body and can eventually affect the heart and lungs. (It is named after Nikolaus Friedrich who first diagnosed and described it.

It is the first kind of inherited ataxia that was differentiated from other kinds of ataxia.) People with FA will sooner or later need the help of a wheelchair or walker as they will not be able to walk without support. FA strikes men and women equally. Continue reading “Friedrich’s Ataxia A Neurological Disorder”

The HCV or hepatitis C virus is a major problem that affects the human liver. Those who are affected by it once will be continually affected by it for the rest of their lives because it defies the body’s immune defense system. The liver gets inflamed once this virus sets in and can lead to fibrosis and later cirrhosis.

The greatest danger is that it can lead to liver cancer or a liver transplant may be required. In the USA alone there are about 10 million people who carry the virus because it wasn’t detected as a threat till quite late in the 1980s.

Mainly, hepatitis C spreads through contact with blood that is infected, which may be through sharing needles to inject or straws to inhale drugs;

receiving a blood transfusion or organ that is infected by HCV;

being inadvertently in contact with an HCV-infected needle; using toothbrushes or razors that may have HCV-infected blood on them;

getting a tattoo or acupuncture with unsterilized paraphernalia; or being in constant physical or sexual contact with HCV-infected patients.

A woman with the virus can also pass it on to her baby at the time of delivery.

Continue reading “The Danger of Hepatitis C”

The sciatic nerve extends from the lower back and down the back of each leg. Sciatica is the pain you get when this nerve is pinched or pressure exerted on it in some way, usually by a herniated disc. No particular injury causes sciatica, it is mostly because of the wear and tear of the lower spine.

Sciatica can be pretty debilitating. It is a relentless pain and can affect one whole side of the lower back, buttock, thigh, leg, and foot. You will find it difficult to sit, and experience a shooting pain when you try to stand. The pain will be constant and may be accompanied by a lower backache as well.

Continue reading “Sciatica Demystified”