Medical Questions Archives - Healthhype

Dental Procedures & Surgery – Root Canal, Bridges, Implants

Dr. Chris — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:00:33 +0000

Dental surgery and related dental procedures are often feared to be painful experiences that can be avoided by attending to your dental needs. However dental surgery and related procedures are essential for : Maintaining the health and integrity of your teeth, gum and mouth. Restoring functioning of your teeth Preventing serious complications in the future. Improving the cosmetic appearance of the teeth and mouth. Understanding dental procedures often helps allay unrealistic fears surrounding dental surgery. Advances in pharmaceuticals, anesthesia, investigative and therapeutic techniques means that your dental procedure should be fairly painless and quick in the hands of a skilled dentist, periodontist or orthodontist. What is a tooth cavity? A tooth cavity is the destruction of the tooth structure due to lactic acid produced by bacteria in the mouth. Chipping and fractures of the tooth cause further damage to tooth structure. Cavities provide an ideal environment to trap food and allow bacteria to thrive while destroying greater portions of the tooth enamel (outer layer) and dentin (inner layer). Left unattended, the cavity will completely erode the tooth, cause a toothache or jaw pain or even complicate to form dental abscesses in the surrounding area. What is a tooth filling? A [...]

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Bowel Incontinence and Diarrhea in Stress – How to Prevent It?

Jan Modric — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:56:32 +0000

Sudden Stress and Bowel Incontinence It is known that strong fear, unpleasant surprise, pain, gross scene or other strong stimuli or feelings may cause temporary bowel incontinence – an inability to prevent the passage of the stool. Strong sensory stimuli may cause excitation of the vagus nerve and pelvic nerves (parasympathetic nerve) that stimulate large intestinal motility (peristalsis) and push the stool toward the anus. At the same time, depression of the sympathetic nerves may cause relaxation of the internal anal sphincter (the muscle that keeps the anus closed) resulting in the involuntary bowel movement. Described mechanism is a part of “fight or flight” or “combat or escape” response to stress, in which flight (parasympathetic) response has prevailed. Bladder incontinence may appear at the same time, since the passage of the urine is controlled by the same nerves as the passage of the stool (Picture 1). Picture 1. Autonomic nervous system (click picture to enlarge). Both the large intestine and the bladder are controlled by the sympathetic (red) and parasympathetic (blue) nerves. (source: Wikipedia.org) Chronic Stress and Diarrhea The same fight or flight mechanism as described above may take a role in a more prolonged stress. Nervousness before a school test, [...]

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Can Mushrooms Cause Diarrhea?

Jan Modric — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:38:11 +0000

Mushrooms, even edible ones, may cause diarrhea in some people. On the other hand, even some deadly poisonous mushrooms does not necessarily cause diarrhea, with the exception of the following (1): Amanita ocreata (Western North American destroying angel) Amanita phalloides (death cap) Clitocybe dealbata (ivory funnel) Hypholoma fasciculare (sulfur tuft) Lactarius torminosus (woolly milk-cap) Symptoms of mushroom poisoning may appear from 20 minutes to few hours after ingestion and may include: Diarrhea Vomiting Headache Hallucinations Cold sweat Fatigue Related Articles: Food Poisoning Common Food Allergies Virus Induced Diarrhea and Treatment Causes of Acute Diarrhea References: List of deadly fungi – with pictures (en.wikipedia.org)

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What Causes Blocked Nose in a Baby and Small Child?

Jan Modric — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:53:53 +0000

1. Nasal Congestion A common cause of blocked nose in a baby is an infection or allergy resulting in nasal congestion with purulent or watery discharge. 2. Enlarged Adenoid Glands Adenoid glands (pharyngeal tonsils) are located in the roof of the throat, behind the nose. They usually start to shrink after about age 5 and usually disappear until teenage years. Enlarged adenoid glands (adenoids) can be present from birth or can become temporary enlarged during an infection (adenoiditis), especially in early childhood. Symptoms are breathing through the mouth, snoring, difficult swallowing and throaty voice. When there is no infection, there is also no nasal discharge. A common complications are sinusitis and infection of the middle ear. If problems are constant, adenoids should be surgically removed (adenoidectomy). Sometimes adenoids are enlarged from no obvious reason and often shrink without treatment so pediatrician should be consulted about removal. 3. Inborn Defects of Nasal Cavity Deviated septum, cleft lip with cleft palate and other inborn errors may block the nose partially or completely. Surgical correction of cleft lip is usually performed between 3 and 6 months, and cleft palate between 12 and 14 months (1). 4. Cystic Fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (mucoviscidosis) is a genetic disorders of mucus affecting sweat and mucous glands resulting in production of [...]

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Tonsil Stones Removal & Pictures

Dr. Chris — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:44:08 +0000

What Are Tonsil Stones? Tonsil stones or tonsilloliths are compacted and calcified stones formed in the tonsillar crypts or crevices of the throat and most frequently in persons suffering from recurrent chronic tonsillitis. Most cases of tonsil stones do not hamper daily functioning or cause discomfort and a person may not even know that they have a tonsil stone. What Are the Tonsils? The tonsils are masses of lymphoid tissue on either side of the throat. Along with the adenoids and other lymphoid tissues, the tonsils form a protective ring around the back of the throat against invading pathogens. They are the first line of defense of our body and in their effort to protect the lungs and gut, they become infected themselves, resulting in tonsillitis. In childhood, when the other immune mechanisms are not as well developed, a child may have recurrent bouts of tonsillitis which becomes a predisposing factor towards developing a tonsil stone. How Does Tonsil Stone Form? Tonsillolith in Tonsillar Crypt Tonsil stones are formed when food particles get trapped in the deep tonsillar crypts and are acted upon by the digestive enzymes present in saliva. These food particles get broken down but some hard particles [...]

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What is an Abscess?

Dr. Chris — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:25:28 +0000

Abscess Definition An abscess is a collection of pus which can occur in tissues, organs or confined spaces in the body. Abscesses may lie superficially, like a boil just underneath the skin or deep within the body like a lung abscess. In most cases, an abscess is caused by bacteria and is the body’s mechanism to wall off the site of infection. Although an abscess can resolve spontaneously it often needs to be treated medically and surgically. Failure to do so could lead to serious complications depending on the site where the abscess is located. Abscess Causes The body’s immune system quickly responds to an infection at any site. Some immune cells that are present at the location start fighting off the infection at the site while large numbers of immune cells travel via the bloodstream to site of the infection. These immune cells then destroy the bacteria and become walled off between the layers of tissue. Connective tissue further contributes to this walling off process. Pus then accumulates at the site with inflammation extending to the surrounding tissues. The pus within the abscess is composed of leukocytes (white blood cells), dead and decomposing cells and the causative microorganism. Although any [...]

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Edema (Swelling) and Anasarca (Generalized Body Swelling)

Dr. Chris — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:30:57 +0000

Edema Definition Edema is the medical term for excessive fluid accumulation within the interstitial space (between cells) or within the cavities of the body. This does not include fluid within the bladder or in the gastrointestinal tract (gut). Edema may be localized, affecting only one organ or area of the body or it can be generalized where it affects many areas or the whole body simultaneously. Edema Pathophysiology Fluid in the body exists within cells (intracellular fluid), within the tissue space between cells (interstitial fluid), within the blood vessels (blood) or lymphatic vessels (lymph or lymphatic fluid). This fluid is not just water but there are also cells, nutrients, electrolytes and waste products existing with water in these areas. Two forces are responsible for maintaining the fluid in specific areas or ‘pulling’ and ‘pushing’ fluid into other areas. These forces are known as hydrostatic pressure and osmotic pressure. Hydrostatic pressure is the force that pushes fluid from an area of high pressure to low pressure. Osmotic pressure is the force that draws fluid from an area of low electrolyte concentration to one of a higher electrolyte concentration. Fluid within our blood vessels are at a higher pressure than the fluid [...]

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What is Anterior and Posterior?

Dr. Chris — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:30:04 +0000

This article is solely intended to assist readers with a basic understanding of the terms anterior and posterior. It is not intended to be used as an educational resource and may be oversimplified. Meaning of Anterior Anterior is the anatomical term for indicating that an organ or structure is towards the front of the body. It is usually used to indicate the position in relation to another organ or structure and may mean that it is ‘in front of’ another organ or structure. For example – in a person who is standing erect, the tip of the nose is anterior to the eyes meaning that the nose tip is in front of or located before the eyes. The term anterior may also be used to indicate ‘towards the head’ because isolating the front and rear (posterior) orientation may be misleading in certain situations, especially in certain animals. To prevent ambiguity, anterior is regarded as the position towards the front or in front of another organ or structure when a person is in the standard anatomical position for humans (refer to picture) which is standing erect, with the feet together, upper limbs slightly away from the sides of the body with [...]

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What is Acute, Subacute and Chronic?

Dr. Chris — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:36:29 +0000

Meaning of Acute Acute is the medical term to describe the nature of a disease, sign, symptom or condition. It refers to an illness that is of a sudden onset or of a short duration. Acute can also be used as an adjective to describe a severe state of a condition. Often the term acute is used in contrast to the medical term chronic. In this case the difference lies between an illness that is short lived (acute) compared to an illness that is long term or persistent (chronic). For example : Acute pain refers to pain that may have come on suddenly and is only present for a few days or even weeks. If the pain persists and is ongoing, it will be considered as chronic. Meaning of Chronic Chronic refers to any condition, disorder or disease that is ongoing. It is often thought to be permanent and while many chronic diseases are permanent, some can eventually resolve and disappear altogether. More correctly, chronic refers to a time frame of 3 months or more. However, this time frame may actually be shorter is some cases. Chronic conditions do not necessarily have to persist at all times. In other words [...]

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What are Analgesics? Opioid and Non-Opioid Painkillers

Dr. Chris — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:57:41 +0000

What is an analgesic? An analgesic is any type of drug that relieves pain although this may only be a partial relief at times. It should not be confused with anesthetics that block pain and other impulses in the nerves to a degree that there is numbness. Analgesics are commonly referred to as painkillers or pain-killers and is among the more widely used type of drug in the modern pharmacy of today. The term ‘analgesic’ encompasses many class of drugs, all of which relieve pain to varying degrees and different mechanisms. What is pain? In most instances, pain serves as the body’s warning signal to alert you of damage or impending damage to living tissue. Inflammation is the body’s response to tissue injury and one of the symptoms of inflammation is pain. The release of different chemicals associated with inflammation irritates the pain receptors, known as nocioceptors, which leads to pain. Similarly, damage or irritation of the nerve can also lead to pain even when the surrounding tissue is intact. The pain receptors have a certain threshold level which once reached, then allows the pain impulses to reach the brain. This ensures that the human body is not constantly in [...]

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