Medical Blog

Painful Bladder Syndrome - Interstitial Cystitis

Interstitial cystitis refers to a type of chronic inflammation of the bladder that has no known cause.
What is going on in the body?

Interstitial cystitis causes pain in the bladder and surrounding pelvis. The bladder is chronically inflamed, or irritated. The cause is currently unknown, but many theories have been proposed.
What are the causes and risks of the condition?
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Painful Urination

Painful urination is any pain or discomfort that results when a person urinates. This pain can occur by itself or it can be associated with other symptoms.
What is going on in the body?

The urinary tract consists of several parts, each with a different function. The kidneys filter and remove waste products and water from the body and produce urine. Urine travels from the kidneys through two narrow tubes called ureters down to the bladder, where it is stored. When the bladder becomes full, it empties the urine through the urethra to the outside of the body.  Read more…

Premenopause - Perimenopause

Perimenopause refers to the time before menopause, that is, before a woman stops menstruating completely.
What is going on in the body?

Estrogen levels decrease during perimenopause. The levels gradually decline until a woman stops menstruating. Until then, a woman is in perimenopause. Perimenopause is also called premenopause. Egg production by the ovaries is falling, and estrogen is also diminishing. The production of progesterone also lessens, especially if a woman is no longer ovulating. These hormonal fluctuations vary from woman to woman. Both the amount of hormone produced and the timing of the decline can vary.
What are the causes and risks of the condition? Read more…

Senility - Dementia

Dementia is not a disease. It is a group of symptoms marked by gradual changes in brain function and the ability to think, reason, and remember. Serious changes in memory, personality, and behavior are the hallmarks of dementia.
What is going on in the body? Read more…

Stable Angina

Stable angina is pain, pressure, or a sense of heaviness in the chest beneath the breastbone. It is brought on by physical exertion and is relieved by rest. The discomfort or pain may also be felt in the left arm or shoulder, the neck, or the lower jaw. These are all areas of the body supplied by the same nerve that goes to the heart.
What is going on in the body? Read more…

Strep Throat

Strep throat is an infection of the pharynx caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes. The pharynx is the part of the throat between the tonsils and the larynx, or voice box.
What is going on in the body?
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Streptococcal Pharyngitis - Strep Throat

Strep throat is an infection of the pharynx caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes. The pharynx is the part of the throat between the tonsils and the larynx, or voice box.
What is going on in the body?

Strep throat is the most common of the many infections that are caused by group A streptococci, or GAS. The bacteria that causes strep throat makes a toxin that results in an infection in the throat and tonsils. A person can develop symptoms of strep throat from 1 to 6 days after being exposed to the bacteria. Symptoms in up to 40% of children may be too mild to diagnosis. Up to 20% of school-aged children may be carriers of the bacteria. These children will show no symptoms but can transmit strep throat to others.
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Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm

An aneurysm is an abnormal widening of a blood vessel. In this case, the blood vessel is in the aorta. This is the main blood vessel that supplies blood to the rest of the body. The thoracic aorta is the part of the aorta that travels through the chest.
What is going on in the body? Read more…

Type IIb Hyperlipoproteinemia - Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia

Familial combined hyperlipidemia is an inherited disease that causes high levels of cholesterol and/or triglycerides in the blood.
What is going on in the body?

This condition may cause high cholesterol, high triglycerides, or both. These are each two types of fat in the body. Normally, the liver makes a low amount of cholesterol. When a person has this disease, the liver produces too much cholesterol. Other problems occur with fat metabolism, too. These problems depend on which specific abnormal gene was inherited. Read more…

Unstable Angina Pectoris - Unstable Angina

Unstable angina is a condition more serious than stable angina and less serious than an actual heart attack. Stable angina is chest pain from a temporary decrease in oxygen to the heart that is caused by exertion and goes away with rest. A heart attack is a prolonged decrease in oxygen to the heart that results in permanent damage to the heart.
What is going on in the body?

Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is a condition in which fatty deposits, or plaque, form inside blood vessel walls. Atherosclerosis that involves the arteries supplying the heart is known as coronary artery disease. Plaque can block the flow of blood through the arteries. The tissues that normally receive blood from these arteries then begin to suffer damage from a lack of oxygen. When the heart does not have enough oxygen, it responds by causing the pain and discomfort known as angina.  Read more…