Health and Fitness

Overview Esophageal cancer is cancer that occurs in the esophagus — a long, hollow tube that runs from your throat to your stomach. Your esophagus helps move the food you swallow from the back of your throat to your stomach to be digested. Esophageal cancer usually begins in the cells that line the inside of the esophagus. Esophageal cancer can occur anywhere along the esophagus. More men than women get esophageal cancer. Esophageal cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Incidence rates vary within different geographic locations. In some regions, higher rates of esophageal cancer may be attributed to tobacco and alcohol use or particular nutritional habits and obesity. Symptoms Signs and symptoms of esophageal cancer include: 1. Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) 2. Weight loss without trying 3. Chest pain, pressure or burning 4. Worsening indigestion or heartburn 5. Coughing or hoarseness Early esophageal cancer typically causes no signs or symptoms. Causes I...

Overview With intermittent fever, the temperature is elevated but falls to normal (37.2°C or below) each day, while in a remittent fever the temperature falls each day but not to normal. In these two patterns the amplitude of temperature change is more than 0.3°C and less than 1.4°C Causes The most frequent infectious causes of intermittent fever are focal bacterial infections, mainly infections localised to canals like urinary or biliary ducts or the colon and also infections of a foreign material. Treatment Antipyretics like ibuprofen and paracetamol are used for fever and body aches. Antibiotics are also used for any underlying infection. For treating malaria, anti-malarial drugs like quinine, chloroquine and primaquine are given. What are the differential diagnosis of fever? The cause of fever can be classified as follows: infectious agent, neoplasm, immune or metabolic disorder, genetic abnormality of inflammasome functioning. The clinical course of fever may vary (continuous, rem...

Overview Q fever is a rare illness caused by the bacterium C. burnetii. You most commonly get it from inhaling dust contaminated by bodily fluids of infected animals. Chronic Q fever is a serious illness that can cause damage to your heart and other organs. You’re at higher risk for chronic Q fever if you have a history of heart valve or blood vessel issues. Why is it called Q fever? The “Q” in Q fever stands for query. It got the name “query fever” when people first started coming down with it (in the 1930s in Australia and the 1940s in the U.S.) because doctors didn’t know what caused it. So they had questions (or “queries”) about the cause of the fever. What are the symptoms of Q fever? Initial (acute) symptoms of Q fever are flu-like and start three to 30 days after exposure. Some people continue to have symptoms for over a year after their initial exposure, called Q fever fatigue syndrome (QFS). Others develop symptoms of a more serious infection called chronic Q fever. Symptoms o...

Overview Rabies is a deadly virus spread to people from the saliva of infected animals. The rabies virus is usually transmitted through a bite. Animals most likely to transmit rabies in the United States include bats, coyotes, foxes, raccoons and skunks. In developing countries, stray dogs are the most likely to spread rabies to people. Once a person begins showing signs and symptoms of rabies, the disease nearly always causes death. For this reason, anyone who may have a risk of contracting rabies should receive rabies vaccinations for protection. Symptoms The first symptoms of rabies may be very similar to those of the flu and may last for days. Later signs and symptoms may include: 1. Fever 2. Headache 3. Nausea 4. Vomiting 5. Agitation 6. Anxiety 7. Confusion 8. Hyperactivity 9. Difficulty swallowing 10. Excessive salivation 11. Fear brought on by attempts to drink fluids because of difficulty swallowing water 12. Fear brought on by air blown on the face 13. Hallucinations 14. Inso...

Overview Polio is an illness caused by a virus that mainly affects nerves in the spinal cord or brain stem. In its most severe form, polio can lead to a person being unable to move certain limbs, also called paralysis. It can also lead to trouble breathing and sometimes death. The disease also is called poliomyelitis. A vaccination effort throughout the world has led to only a small number of cases to occur around the world in recent years. But poliovirus still spreads within areas with low vaccination rates. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes travel notices of countries where there is a higher risk of polio. Countries at a higher risk of polio are generally in Africa, the Middle East, and southern and central Asia. Vaccinated adults who plan to travel to an area where polio is spreading should get a booster dose of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV). Immunity after a booster lasts a lifetime. Symptoms Most people infected with the virus that causes p...