Posted on April 1st, 2009
Polio is a contagious viral illness that in its most severe form causes paralysis, difficulty breathing and sometimes death.
The poliovirus resides only in humans and enters the environment in the feces of someone who’s infected. Poliovirus spreads primarily through the fecal-oral route, especially in areas where sanitation is inadequate. Poliovirus can be transmitted through contaminated water and food or through direct contact with someone infected with the virus. Polio is so contagious that anyone living with a recently infected person is likely to become infected too. Although people carrying the poliovirus are most contagious seven to 10 days before and after signs and symptoms appear, they can spread the virus for weeks in their feces.
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Posted on March 23rd, 2009
Also called pleuritis, pleurisy typically causes sharp pain, almost always when you take a breath.
Pleurisy occurs when the double membrane (pleura) that lines your chest cavity and surrounds each of your lungs becomes inflamed.
A double layer of membranes called pleura separate your lungs from your chest wall. One layer of the pleura overlies each lung. The other layer lines the inner chest wall. The layers are like two pieces of smooth satin rubbing against each other with almost no friction, allowing your lungs to expand and contract when you breathe without any resistance from the lining of the chest wall.
Pleurisy occurs as a complication of a wide variety of underlying conditions. Relieving pleurisy involves treating the underlying condition, if it’s known, and taking pain relievers.
Posted on March 5th, 2009
Cryptosporidium was first pinpointed as a cause of gastrointestinal disease in 1976, and was found in the 1980s to be a common cause of diarrhea in people infected with HIV. Cryptosporidium infection (cryptosporidiosis) is a gastrointestinal disease whose primary symptom is diarrhea. The illness begins when a tiny one-celled parasite enters your body and travels to your small intestine. Cryptosporidium, which means “hidden spore,” then begins its life cycle inside your body — burrowing into the walls of your intestines and then later being shed in your feces. In most healthy people, cryptosporidium infection produces a bout of watery diarrhea and resolves within a week or two. For people with a compromised immune system, it can become life-threatening without proper treatment.
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Posted on March 2nd, 2009
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infections acquired by sexual contact. You can catch sexually transmitted diseases any time you have unprotected sex with a partner who is already infected. The organisms that cause sexually transmitted diseases may pass from person to person in blood, semen or vaginal fluids.
It’s possible to contract sexually transmitted diseases from people who seem perfectly healthy — people who, in fact, aren’t even aware of being infected. That’s because many sexually transmitted diseases cause no symptoms, at least at first. The symptoms of several sexually transmitted diseases are also easy to mistake for those of other conditions, so the correct diagnosis may be delayed.
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Posted on February 21st, 2009
Syringomyelia is the development of a fluid-filled cyst (syrinx) within your spinal cord. Over time, the cyst may enlarge, damaging your spinal cord and causing pain, weakness and stiffness, among other symptoms. If left untreated, syringomyelia symptoms may worsen, in some cases requiring surgery.
If syringomyelia isn’t causing any problems, monitoring the condition may be all that’s necessary. But if you’re bothered by symptoms, you may need surgery.
In some people, syringomyelia can become a progressive disorder and lead to serious complications. In others, there may be no associated symptoms and no intervention necessary.
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