Monthly Archives: May 2012

Cystic Fibrosis Symptoms

What are the Symptoms of Cystic Fibrosis?

Cystic Fibrosis causes the body to produce thick secretions that particularly affect the lungs and digestive tract.

Lungs
Symptoms include a persistent cough, repeated chest infections, prolonged diarrhea and poor weight gain. These symptoms are not unique to Cystic Fibrosis.
Digestive system

Cystic Fibrosis affects the pancreas, which makes it difficult for people with CF to digest food. This can cause malnutrition, which can lead to poor growth and delayed puberty. In older patients, insulin production can become deficient due to increasing pancreatic tissue damage. Some develop CF related diabetes mellitus and their blood sugar levels are no longer controlled. This rarely happens to children with Cystic Fibrosis.

Common symptoms of diabetes include thirst, hunger, weight loss and excessive need to urinate.
Other Affected Organs
People with CF develop thin, brittle bone due to the nutritional and other problems involved with the disease. Bone disease in adults is because of the adverse effects of steroids taken to control lung disease.
In most men with CF, the tubes that carry sperm are blocked, which causes infertility. Because underweight women are more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles, the nutritional problems associated with CF may affect fertility. Women with CF do produce healthy, fertile eggs so effective contraception is necessary. Cystic Fibrosis does not cause sexual impotency.
Cystic Fibrosiscan cause the blockage of small ducts in the liver. This only happens to approximately 8% of people who have CF, but it is a serious health risk and may require liver transplantation. Continue reading →

HIV cure and treatment guidelines

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What are the key principles in managing HIV infection?

First of all, there is no evidence that people infected with HIV can be cured by the currently available therapies. In fact, individuals who are treated for years and are repeatedly found to have no virus in their blood experience a prompt rebound in the number of viral particles when therapy is discontinued. The decision to start therapy must balance the risk versus the benefits of treatment. The risks of therapy include the short- and long-term side effects of the drugs, as well as the possibility that the virus will become resistant to the therapy which can limit options for future treatment.

A major reason that resistance develops is the patient’s failure to correctly follow the prescribed treatment, for example, if the patient is not taking the medications at the correct time. If virus remains detectable on any given regimen, resistance eventually will develop. With certain drugs, resistance may develop in a matter of weeks, such as with lamivudine (Epivir, 3TC), emtricitabine (Emtriva, FTC), the drugs in the class of nonnucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) such as nevirapine (Viramune, NVP), delavirdine (Rescriptor, DLV), and efavirenz (Sustiva, EFV), and the integrase inhibitor raltegravir (Isentress, RAL). Thus, if these drugs are used as part of a combination of drugs that does not suppress the viral load to undetectable levels, resistance will develop rapidly and the treatment will lose its effectiveness. In contrast, HIV becomes resistant to certain other drugs, such as zidovudine (Retrovir, AZT), stavudine (Zerit, D4T), and protease inhibitors (PIs), over months. In fact, for some Protease Inhibitors whose effects are enhanced by giving them in combination with the ritonavir (Norvir, RTV) to delay their clearance by the body, resistance appears to be markedly delayed. These drugs are discussed in more detail in subsequent sections, but it is important to note that when resistance develops to one drug, it often results in resistance to other related drugs of the same class, it is called cross-resistance. Nevertheless, HIV-infected individuals must realize that antiviral therapy can be and typically is very effective as long as drug resistance has not developed even in patients with very low CD4 count and high viral load. Continue reading →

Melanoma Cancer: Causes and Risk Factors

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Melanoma:

Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease. Currently it is the sixth most common cancer in both males and females.

: melanoma

What is the cause and incidence of melanoma?

The melanoma develop when unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells (most often caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunshine or tanning beds) triggers mutations (genetic defects) that causes the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors. These tumors originate in the pigment-producing melanocytes in the basal layer of the epidermis. Melanomas often resemble moles; some develop from moles. The majority of melanomas are black or brown, but they can also be skin-colored, pink, red, purple, blue or white. Melanoma is caused mainly by intense, occasional UV exposure (frequently leading to sunburn), especially in those who are genetically predisposed to the disease. Melanoma kills an estimated 8,790 people in the US annually. Continue reading →

Hepatitis B: Hepatitis B tests

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What are tests for Hepatitis B?

Infection with hepatitis B is suspected when the medical history and the physical examination reveal risk factors for the infection or symptoms and signs that are suggestive of hepatitis B. Abnormalities in the liver tests (blood tests) also can raise suspicion; however, abnormal liver tests can result from many conditions that affect the liver. The diagnosis of hepatitis B can be made only with specific hepatitis B virus blood tests. These tests are known as hepatitis ‘markers’ or ‘serology.’

Markers found in the blood can confirm hepatitis B infection and differentiate acute from chronic infection. These markers are substances produced by the hepatitis B virus (antigens) and antibodies produced by the immune system to fight the virus. Hepatitis B virus has three antigens for which there are commonly-used tests – the surface antigen (HBsAg), the core antigen (HBcAg) and the e antigen (HBeAg). Continue reading →

HIV Testing

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How to diagnose HIV/AIDS?

HIV is most commonly diagnosed by testing blood or saliva for the presence of antibodies to the virus. These types of HIV tests aren’t accurate immediately after infection because body takes time to develop these antibodies — usually up to 12 weeks. In rare cases, it can take up to six months for an HIV antibody test to become positive.

A newer type of test checks for HIV antigen, a protein produced by the virus immediately after infection. This test can confirm a diagnosis within days of infection. An earlier diagnosis help people to take extra precautions to prevent transmission of the virus to others.

Tests to start treatment:

If you receive a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, several types of tests can help your doctor determine what stage of the disease you have. These tests include:

CD4 count. CD4 cells are a type of white blood cell that’s specifically targeted and destroyed by HIV. A healthy person’s CD4 count can vary from 500 to more than 1,000. Even if a person has no symptoms, HIV infection progresses to AIDS when his or her CD4 count becomes less than 200.
Viral load. This test measures the amount of virus in your blood. Studies have shown that people with higher viral loads generally have poor prognosis than do those with a lower viral load.
Drug resistance. This type of test determines if your strain of HIV is resistant to any anti-HIV medications. Continue reading →