Meningitis has been described in ancient texts. Hippocrates described meningitis in his work. Tuberculous meningitis was first described by Edinburgh physician Sir Robert Whytt in a posthumous report that appeared in 1768. However, the link with Tubercle bacilli that also causes tuberculosis took another 100 years to discover. History of the organisms causing meningitis Meningitis outbreak was first recorded in […]
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When radiation therapy is used to treat cancerous cells in the body, it is important to measure the dose correctly to avoid unnecessary damage to normal cells in the body. Radiation is not selective to tumor cells and targets any cells that are in the process of replication when the therapy is applied, which accounts for the importance of the […]
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DNA is vital for all living beings – even plants. It is important for inheritance, coding for proteins and the genetic instruction guide for life and its processes. DNA holds the instructions for an organism's or each cell’s development and reproduction and ultimately death. Human cells normally contain 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46 chromosomes in each […]
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West syndrome or West's Syndrome is an uncommon to rare epileptic disorder in infants. West syndrome was named after the English doctor and surgeon William James West (1793-1848), who lived in Tonbridge. In 1841 he observed this type of epilepsy in his own son, James E West, who was approximately four months old at the time. He published his observations […]
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Oxygen therapy can be a life saving treatment for patients with hypoxia and several other conditions. In most countries, the law states that oxygen should never be withheld from a patient. However, in some clinical scenarios, the administration of oxygen therapy can do more harm than good. Some of the adverse side effects of oxygen therapy are described below: Oxygen […]
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Nicotine is a highly toxic chemical. While in rats, a dose of 50 mg per kg is lethal, in mice the median lethal dose is around 3 mg per kg weight. In humans, the median lethal dose is 0.5 to 1.0 mg/kg or around 40 to 60 mg in an average human. This low lethal dose makes nicotine more toxic […]
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Prostate specific antigen or PSA is one of the markers of prostate cancer. PSA is normally produced by the prostate gland and mixes with sperm to form semen. PSA helps make semen fluid, allowing sperm to swim freely. Small amounts of PSA are also detectable in the blood. Normal levels A blood PSA level of below 4 ng/mL is considered […]
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Supportive therapy is the main approach to managing pancreatitis, but the exact therapeutic approach depends on how severe the symptoms are. Acute pancreatitis usually requires hospital treatment, while the chronic form of the condition will cause symptoms that vary form person to person, depending on the underlying cause. Acute pancreatitis Pain relief (usually morphine) is administered to ease abdominal pain. […]
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As members of the same class of drugs, al l opioids are similar in chemical nature. These chemicals may be derived naturally from the opium plant or synthesized in the laboratory. The different types of opioids include: Naturally occurring opioids These are alkaloids that are present in the resin of the poppy or opium bulbs and include morphine, codeine and […]
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While the coronavirus pandemic has been a nerve-wracking time for people of all walks of life, pregnant folks have had extra anxiety — worrying about their health and that of their fetus while navigating increased risks due to their pregnancy. Former Olympian Shawn Johnson East, taking lexapro after pregnancy who is pregnant with her second child, shared on Monday that […]
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