Mad-Cow Disease

Mad-Cow Disease was the scare of the 1990s.  With considerable media coverage and public fear, Mad-Cow Disease but one of many infectious disease scares of history.  Unlike many of the other scares, however, Mad-Cow Disease was one of exaggerated panic.  The disease is very rare in humans, with only a few reported cases per year.

The disease is caused by prions located in cattle.  Proteins are said to turn into prions due to the presence of some kind of virus.  Mad-Cow Disease causes sponge like holes in the central nervous system, or the brain.  It is tough to imagine, but any image of a sponge-like brain is enough to cause panic among the public.  Cattle contract the disease when they are fed products from other cattle with the mad cow disease.  When humans eat the meat, they often have a chance of contracting the disease as well.  It can only be transferred from human-to-human through an infected blood transfusion, tissue transplant, or infected surgical instruments.

The disease symptoms of Mad-Cow Disease can be very frightening, especially when compounded with the fact that there is no diagnosis or treatment for the disease.  It is almost impossible to diagnose, and as it is incurable, a diagnosis would be of little use.  While there is no cure, there are some available treatments to quell the disease symptoms.

Disease symptoms of Mad-Cow Disease may take from 2-8 years to incubate, leaving many who are infected unaware of their infection.  The rest of this article focuses on the disease symptoms of Mad-Cow Disease in humans:

- Earlier disease symptoms of Mad-Cow Disease include insomnia, anxiety, and depression.  As the brain begins its degeneration, patients may display a more withdrawn personality, and be confused more often than usual.  The inability to sleep is also common.  Involuntary muscle contractions are common and can be very painful.

- It is a common disease symptom to see the personality of the individual change drastically.  Their behavior, then, will also change.

- As the disease gets worse, the disease symptoms get worse as well.  Muscle coordination and control become troublesome.  The patient may also experience blurred vision and memory loss, common disease symptoms associated with the degeneration of the brain.  Patients suffering from Mad-Cow Disease may very well forget the names of people close to them, and eventually forget the names of common objects around them.

- In addition, the damage to the nervous system may cause a sensation in the extremities of the patient.

- Further disease symptoms include dementia, a prevalent mental illness characterized by a decline in the functionality of the brain.  Dementia may cause a loss of memory or change in personality and behavior.

- Patients will experience a loss of bodily functions.  Mental function also becomes almost impossible.

- In the final stage of disease symptoms, an individual may fall into a coma, eventually leading to death.  It may take 6-12 months to reach the final stage, after the first appearance of disease symptoms.

Symptoms of Crohn's disease

Crohn’s disease is a disorder that affects the digestive tract, anywhere from the mouth to the anus (usually the lower part of the small intestine).  It causes an inflammation in the digestive tract, and therefore causing swelling.  It is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that can strongly affect the quality of life for anybody who is infected.

The swelling can cause pain in the intestines and diarrhea, similar to other inflammatory bowel diseases.  Thus, Crohn’s disease can be hard to diagnose.  Patients between the ages of 20 and 30 are most likely to be diagnosed, and people of Jewish heritage are most at risk for Crohn’s disease.  While diagnoses are common, the cause of Crohn’s disease is still unknown to scientists.  There are theories as to how one develops Crohn’s disease, but none are concrete in their findings.  What is known is that Crohn’s disease affects the immune system, causing it to consider things such as food and healthy bacteria as foreign and dangerous.  As a result, the digestive tract may experience inflammation and subsequent discomfort and pain.

There are many symptoms of disease for Crohn’s disease, and some may be more severe than others.  These symptoms of disease may come suddenly or develop gradually.  As common with some other diseases, an individual with Crohn’s disease may have periods of remission where symptoms of disease are not present.

A few symptoms of disease to watch out for include:

1. Diarrhea

Cells in the intestine experiencing inflammation often secrete large amounts of water and salt that your colon cannot completely absorb.  This causes diarrhea, the most common symptom of disease for those infected with Crohn’s.  The intense intestinal cramping may also cause loose stool.  Obvious discomfort comes with diarrhea, but during times of remission, there may be no peculiar cases of diarrhea.

2.  Abdominal pain and/or cramping

Crohn’s disease may cause symptoms of disease that cause abdominal pain.  The inflammation and ulcers caused by Crohn’s can cause a build up of scar tissue in your bowels.  The swelling and scar tissue can impede the traveling of contents through your digestive track, causing pain and cramping.  If the cramping is severe, it may cause nausea and vomiting in the individual.

3.  Bloody stool

Blood in the stool is another common symptom of disease for Crohn’s.  The inflamed tissue may bleed due to contents moving through your digestive tract.  If the individual sees blood in the toilet, it may be symptoms of disease.

4.  Ulcers

Ulcers are symptoms of disease in the form of small sores that may form on the surface of the intestine.  These ulcers may grow into larger ulcers that are very painful and may grow infected.  If infected, these ulcers may need separate treatment from normal treatment of Crohn’s disease.  As Crohn’s affecs the entire digestive track, ulcers may also develop in the mouth.

5.  Lack of appetite

Since some of the symptoms of disease include abdominal pain and cramping, the inflamed walls of your bowels can kill appetite and cause weight loss.  Weight loss is also caused by the inability to digest and absorb food and nutrients, possibly making nutritional deficiency one of the symptoms of disease.

Crohn's Disease

Crohn’s disease is a disorder that can change the lifestyle of anybody inflicted by it.  It causes an inflammation of the digestive tract, anywhere from the mouth to the anus, and usually affects the lower part of the small intestine.  It is still unknown about what causes Crohn’s disease, but there have been several theories.  One theory is that the body’s immune system is out of whack, labeling healthy things as foreign and dangerous.  Unfortunately, scientists still can not determine whether the abnormal immune system is a cause or result of Crohn’s disease infections.

Swelling can cause pain and diarrhea, as it is an inflammatory bowel disease infection.  These disease infections cause swelling in the intestines.  Crohn’s disease is very similar to other inflammatory bowel disease infections and, therefore, can be tough to diagnose.

While Crohn’s disease affects the genders equally, it is not uncommon to see it run through the family, especially if the family has a history of inflammatory bowel disease infections.  It is estimated that 20 percent of those with Crohn’s disease have a blood relative with an inflammatory bowel disease infection, often a sibling or member of the nuclear family.  It is often diagnosed in people who are between the ages of 20 to 30.  Jewish people are also more at risk for developing Crohn’s disease, while African Americans are at decreased risk.

Common symptoms of Crohn’s disease include abdominal pain in the lower right area and diarrhea.  Subsequent symptoms include weight loss, arthritis, skin problems, fever, and rectal bleeding.  There are additional symptoms that are depending on the individual and severity of the disease infections.

There are a few complications that are often associated with Crohn’s disease.  Each of these complications can be detrimental to the overall health and comfort of the infected.  These complications are listed below:

1.  Common Complications

There are many complications associated with Crohn’s disease, the most common of which is the blockage of the intestine.  This blockage happens due to the thickening of the intestinal wall with swelling.

In addition, Crohn’s disease may cause sores that affect areas in surrounding tissues in areas around the sexual organs and rectum.  If these sores, or fistulas, become infected, they may require medication or even surgery.  The disease infection may also cause fissures, or small tears in the lining of the mucous membrane of the anus.

2.  Nutritional Complications

As Crohn’s disease affects the intestines, is it common to experience nutritional complications.  The individual may experience protein, calorie, and vitamin deficiencies. This may be due to the inadequate dietary intake that an individual may experience due to the disease infection’s association with food.  Mal-absorption may also be a problem, as well as intestinal loss of protein.

3.  Other complications

The disease infection may also create other complications.  Such complications include arthritis, skins problems, or inflammation in the eyes or mouth.  Kidney stones or gallstones may also appear due to disease infections.  These other complications may be resolved through the treatment of the digestive system, but may require separate treatment as well.

Heart Disease

Each type of heart disease has their own symptoms, and many of them are very different from each other.  Knowing the different heart disease symptoms may save your life, and at the very least, make it easier to treat your heart disease.  Heart disease symptoms may be as subtle as shortness of breath or dizziness or as serious as irregular heartbeats or fainting.  It is important to understand the different heart disease symptoms, as heart diseases can be very dangerous and possibly fatal.

If you can learn to recognize heart disease symptoms, you may be able to take action, as many different heart problems have similar early symptoms.  If you develop any of these heart disease symptoms, you should contact your doctor immediately for medical attention.

1.  Symptoms of Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease has a main disease symptom of angina, or chest pain.  Angina can be discomforting, heavy, pressuring, aching, or squeezing in your chest.  Other disease symptoms include shortness of breath, heart palpitations, nausea, dizziness, and sweating.

2.  Symptoms of a Heart Attack

Heart attacks are a leading type of heart disease that can be extremely unexpected and fatal.  If you are having a heart attack, or even suspect that you are having a heart attack, contact for emergency help immediately.  Some disease symptoms of heart attacks are discomfort in the chest, back, jaw, or arm, fullness, choking, sweating, and extreme weakness.  Rapid or irregular heartbeats may also be very common.

3.  Symptoms of Heart Valve Disease

The severity of heart valve disease is not dependent on symptoms.  You may have severe symptoms yet have minor valve disease.  Alternatively, you may have no symptoms yet have severe valve disease.  Some symptoms of heart valve disease may include shortness of breath, weakness or dizziness, discomfort in the chest, or palpitations.  More serious symptoms include the swelling of your ankles or feet or quick weight gain.

4.  Symptoms of Heart Failure

Similar to heart valve disease, heart failure symptoms are not indicative of the severity of heart failure.  Still, a few symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath during activity or rest, cough that produces white mucus, a quick weight gain, swelling, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeats, and chest pain.

5.  Symptoms of Congenial Heart Defects

Congenital heart defects are often diagnosed early in life, but many times are not diagnosed until adulthood.  Shortness of breath, inability to exercise, and symptoms of heart failure are all considered symptoms of heart defects.

6.  Symptoms of Heart Defects in infants and children

Heart disease symptoms are different in the case of heart defects, especially in infants and children.  Some symptoms of heart defects may be Cyanosis, fast breathing, poor weight gain, lung infections, or an inability to exercise.

7.  Symptoms of Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is potentially fatal, but many people living with it do not display symptoms, or display only minor symptoms.  Some of these disease symptoms include chest pain or pressure, heart failure symptoms, fatigue, swelling, and palpitations.

Lyme Disease

Living your life free of infectious diseases is nearly impossible.  Infectious diseases can be transmitted by many different means.  Coughing, sneezing, unprotected sex, and sharing of personal hygiene items may all cause the spread of infectious disease.  Fortunately, there are some steps that you can take to avoid contracting an infectious disease.  You can do so by washing your hands, covering when you sneeze or cough, and using protection during sex.  Some infectious diseases, however, are hard to detect and avoid.

Lyme disease is one type of infectious disease transmitted by the bite of ticks that are infected with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.  It is easily treated with a short course of antibiotics, but is hard to detect.  Doctors may often misdiagnose Lyme disease for another infectious disease, as many of is symptoms are very similar to the flu or other infectious diseases.  The telling symptom of Lyme disease is not all of the little symptoms that it might display, but the presence of a circular rash surrounding the area of the bite.

There are three stages of symptoms that result from untreated Lyme disease.  These three stages are:

1.  Early localized infection

This stage usually shows up 1 to 4 weeks after infection.  During this stage, Lyme disease sometimes causes a rash around the tick bite.  Over time, it grows and symptoms increase.  Some of the symptoms of early localized infection of Lyme disease are very similar to the flu, and include a lack of energy, headache, fever, chills, muscle and joint pain, and swollen lymph nodes.  At times, an individual may not notice symptoms at all during this stage.  It is during this stage that Lyme disease is hard to diagnose, as it looks like an infectious disease.

2.  Early disseminated infection

Appearing 1 to 4 months after infection, this stage of Lyme disease affects the skin, joints, nervous system, and heart of the infected.  As it is with many infectious diseases, Lyme disease needs to be detected and treated early, especially if symptoms are present and obvious.   Some symptoms of this stage may include being fatigued, additional skin rashes, poor memory, fainting, paralysis of the facial news, and rapid heartbeats.

3.  Late persistent infections

If Lyme disease is not treated, it can cause damage to your joints, nerves, and brain, up to years after you have been infected.  Some symptoms of this stage include: swelling in the joints (especially knees), numbness in the extremities, severe fatigue, nerve paralysis, and problems with your neurological functions.  If there was no detection of Lyme disease in the first stage, the infected may have first shown symptoms of the heart, nervous system, and joints.

tips:

- Avoiding infectious diseases is often up to your own behavior.  If you are conscientious about taking care of your body and avoiding infection, infectious diseases that are not controllable are your main concern.

- If you feel that you have been bit by a tick, check all around your body for a rash.  Early detection of infectious diseases can help you avoid the stress of developing symptoms.