Showing posts with label Medical terms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medical terms. Show all posts

Friday, July 06, 2007

Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome


Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) is an incurable and sometimes fatal flu-like neurological condition that is believed to have been caused by ingestion of L-tryptophan supplements. Similar to regular eosinophilia, it causes an increase in eosinophil granulocytes in the patient's blood.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Back to Back


Backward spinal curvature (lordosis) – accentuation of the normal concave shape of the lumbar area may be used to counterbalance a large abdomen or for other spinal deformities, hip or leg deformities. This stresses the low back and leads to low back pain.


Or:

Chronic constipation may lead to a condition called fecal impaction. This is a situation where the stool becomes hard and causes stoppage in the bowel. Five major factors can cause impaction: opioid pain medications, inactivity over a long period, changes in diet, mental illness, and long-term use of laxatives. Regular use of laxatives for constipation contributes most to the development of constipation and impaction. Repeated use of laxatives in higher and higher doses make the colon less able to signal the need to have a bowel movement.

Patients with impaction may have symptoms similar to patients with constipation, or they may have back pain (the impaction presses on sacral nerves) or bladder problems (the impaction presses on the ureters, bladder, or urethra). The patient's abdomen may become enlarged causing difficulty breathing, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and low blood pressure. Other symptoms can include explosive diarrhea (as stool moves around the impaction), leaking stool when coughing, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and dehydration. Patients who have an impaction may become very confused and disoriented with rapid heartbeat, sweating, fever, and high or low blood pressure.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Medical terms: Pleurisy

From Wiki:

Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs, which can cause painful respiration and other symptoms. Pleurisy can be generated by a variety of infectious and non-infectious causes. The effects of pleurisy can often be felt long after the condition has gone away.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Sympathomimetic

From: http://en.wikipedia.org

Sympathomimetic drugs are substances that mimic the effects of the hormone epinephrine (adrenaline) and the hormone/neurotransmitter norepinephrine (noradrenaline). They all raise blood pressure and are all weak bases.

Classical sympathomimetic drugs are amphetamines (including MDMA), ephedrine and cocaine, which act by blocking and reversing norepinephrine transporter (NET) activity. NET is a transport protein expressed on the surface of some cells that clears noradrenaline and adrenaline from the extracellular space and into cells, terminating the signaling effects.

Substances like cocaine also affect dopamine, and some substances like MDMA affect serotonin.

Norepinephrine is synthesized by the body into epinephrine, causing central nervous system stimulation. Thus, all sympathimimetic amines fall into the larger group of stimulants (see psychoactive drug chart). Many of these stimulants have therepeutic use and abuse potential, can induce tolerance, and possibly physical dependence.