What Is Angina?
Angina (an-JI-nuh or AN-juh-nuh) is chest pain or discomfort that occurs when an area of your heart muscle doesn't get enough oxygen-rich blood. Angina may feel like pressure or squeezing in your chest. The pain also may occur in your shoulders, arms, neck, jaw, or back. It can feel like indigestion. Angina itself isn't a disease. Rather, it's a symptom of an underlying heart problem. Angina is usually a symptom of coronary artery disease (CAD), the most common type of heart disease.
When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis (ATH-er-o-skler-O-sis).
Stable Angina Stable angina is the most common type. It occurs when the heart is working harder than usual. Stable angina has a regular pattern. If you know you have stable angina, you can learn to recognize the pattern and predict when the pain will occur. The pain usually goes away in a few minutes after you rest or take your angina medicine. Stable angina isn't a heart attack, but it makes a heart attack more likely in the future. Unstable Angina Unstable angina doesn't follow a pattern. It can occur with or without physical exertion and isn't relieved by rest or medicine. Unstable angina is very dangerous and needs emergency treatment. It's a sign that a heart attack may happen soon. Variant (Prinzmetal's) Angina Variant angina is rare. It usually occurs while you're at rest. The pain can be severe. It usually happens between midnight and early morning. This type of angina is relieved by medicine. Overview Angina occurs equally in men and women. It can be a sign of heart disease, even when initial tests don't show evidence of CAD. Not all chest pain or discomfort is angina. A heart attack, lung problems (such as an infection or a blood clot), heartburn, or a panic attack also can cause chest pain or discomfort. All chest pain should be checked by a doctor.
What Is Arthritis? Many people start to feel pain and stiffness in their bodies over time. Sometimes their hands or knees or hips get sore and are hard to move. These people may have arthritis (ar-THRY-tis).
Arthritis is an illness that can cause pain and swelling in your joints. Joints are places
where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee. Some kinds of arthritis can cause problems in other organs, such as your eyes, or in your chest. It can affect your skin, too. Some people may worry that arthritis means they won't be able to work or take care of their children and their family. Others think that you just have to accept things like arthritis. It's true that arthritis can be painful. But there are things you can do to feel better. This booklet tells you some facts about arthritis and gives you some ideas about what to do, so you can keep doing the things you want to do. There are several kinds of arthritis. The two most common ones are rheumatoid (ROO-mah-toyd) arthritis and osteoarthritis (AH-stee-oh-ar-THRY-tis).
Rheumatoid arthritis can make it hard to hold a pencil or a brush.
Rheumatoid arthritis happens when the body's own defense system doesn't work properly. It affects joints, bones, and organs--often the hands and feet. You may feel sick or tired, and you may have a fever. Other conditions can also cause arthritis. Some include:-
• Gout, in which crystals build up in the joints. It usually affects the big toe.
• Lupus (LOOP-us), in which the body's defense system can harm the joints, the heart, the skin, the kidneys, and other organs. • Viral hepatitis (VY-rul HEP-ah-TY-tis), in which an infection of the liver can cause
arthritis.
A sports injury to a knee when a person is young can lead to Osteoathritis years later.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. This is the form that usually comes with age and most often affects the fingers, knees, and hips. Sometimes osteoarthritis follows an injury to a joint. For example, a young man might hurt his knee badly playing football. Then, years after the knee has healed, he might get arthritis in his knee joint.
What Is Asthma? Asthma is a disease of the lung airways. With asthma, the airways
are inflamed (swollen) and react easily to certain things, like
viruses, smoke, or pollen. When the inflamed airways react, they get narrow and make it hard to breathe. Common asthma
symptoms are wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and chest
tightness. When these symptoms get worse, it's an asthma attack. Asthma symptoms may come and go, but the asthma is always
there. To keep it under control, you need to work with your
doctor and keep taking care of it.
What Is chronic obstructive pulmonary (PULL-mun-ary) disease?
COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary (PULL-mun-ary) disease, is
a progressive disease that makes it hard to breathe. "Progressive" means the disease gets worse over time. COPD can cause coughing that produces large amounts of mucus (a slimy substance), wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and other symptoms. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of COPD. Most people who have COPD smoke or used to smoke. Long-term exposure to other lung irritants, such as air pollution, chemical fumes, or dust, also may contribute to COPD.
In COPD, less air flows in and out of the airways because of one or more of the
following:
The airways and air sacs lose their elastic quality. The walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed. The walls of the airways become thick and inflamed (swollen). The airways make more mucus than usual, which tends to clog the airways.
The illustration shows the respiratory system and images of healthy alveoli and alveoli damaged by COPD.
In emphysema, the walls between many of the air sacs are damaged, causing them to lose their shape and become floppy. This damage also can destroy the walls of the air sacs, leading to fewer and larger air sacs instead of many tiny ones.
In chronic obstructive bronchitis, the lining of the airways is constantly irritated and inflamed. This causes the lining to thicken. Lots of thick mucus forms in the airways, making it hard to breathe.
Most people who have COPD have both emphysema and chronic
obstructive bronchitis. Thus, the general term "COPD" is more accurate.
What is Diabetes: Diabetes (or sugar sickness) is a condition of the body, where sugar is not used correctly to provide energy for living and growing. You develop diabetes when your body doesn’t produce enough insulin. Without insulin your body cannot get the energy it needs from your food. Normally, a gland called the pancreas makes insulin which carries the sugar in the blood into the cells. In diabetes, the pancreas fails to supply enough insulin, or the insulin doesn't work properly. There are two major types of diabetes: Type I, commonly called juvenile diabetes, and Type II, commonly called adult on-set diabetes. Both have similar symptoms but very different causes. Type I diabetes, usually diagnosed in childhood, is a disease whereby the body's own immune system attacks and kills the cells in the pancreas which produce insulin, leaving a person's body without insulin, and unable to regulate its blood sugar levels.
Type II diabetes is a disease that results when the body's cells become resistant to insulin. In
Type II diabetes, unlike in Type I, insulin is still produced by the body; it just isn't used correctly.
How would I feel or know if I have Diabetes? Although there may be no obvious symptoms and some people have no symptoms,
the following are common:
• • • Always thirsty Always tired Frequent urination
•
• • •
Unexplained weight loss
Itching Changes of vision (blurry) Slow healing cuts and bruises
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•
Numbness in hands and feet
These are all results of the body's inability to transport sugar (energy) from the bloodstream to the body cells.
What is epilepsy? Epilepsy is currently defined as a tendency to have recurrent seizures (sometimes called fits). A seizure is caused by a sudden burst of excess electrical activity in the brain, causing a temporary disruption in the normal message passing between brain cells. This disruption results in the brain’s messages becoming halted or mixed up.
What causes epilepsy?
Sometimes the reason epilepsy develops is clear. It could be because of brain damage caused by a difficult birth; a severe blow to the head; a stroke which
starves the brain of oxygen; or an infection of the brain such as meningitis.
Very occasionally the cause is a brain tumor. Epilepsy with a known cause is called ‘symptomatic’ epilepsy. For most people - six out of ten, in fact - there is no known cause and this is called ‘idiopathic’ epilepsy.
Describing seizure types
When making a diagnosis of epilepsy, the doctor may use one of the following terms: idiopathic, cryptogenic or symptomatic.
• Idiopathic means that there is no apparent cause. • Cryptogenic means that doctors believe there is likely to be a cause but they are unable to find it. • Symptomatic means that a cause has been found.
Generalised seizures involve epileptic activity in both halves of the brain. The person loses consciousness during the seizure.
Sometimes, the epileptic activity that starts as a partial seizure can spread to the rest of the brain. When this happens, the seizure is known as secondary generalised. What is status epilepticus? It is a seizure that lasts 30 minutes or longer, or a series of seizures without consciousness being regained inbetween. Status epilepticus can be convulsive or non-convulsive. Why is convulsive status epilepticus a medical emergency? During a long convulsive seizure, the body struggles to circulate oxygen efficiently. When this happens, the brain does not get enough oxygen and, over a long period of time, this can lead to brain damage. In rare cases status epilepticus can be fatal.
What is Hypercholesterolemia?
Hypercholesterolemia hardens and narrows blood vessels in various parts of the body, leading to fatal diseases such as chest
pains, heart attack and stroke. Blocked blood vessels in the
limbs can cause pain, ulcers, infections and gangrene.
What is hypertension / high blood pressure? High blood pressure is a disorder in which the pressure in the
arteries is too high. The medical term for blood pressure that
remains high over time is “hypertension”. High blood pressure is very common,
especially in middle-aged and elderly people.
Once it has developed it tends to last for life. High blood pressure
puts a strain on the heart and circulatory
system, which can ultimately cause damage to many parts of the body.
What is a myocardial infarction? Myocardial infarction (MI) means that part of the heart muscle suddenly loses its blood supply. Without prompt treatment, this can lead to damage to the affected part of the heart. An MI is sometimes called a heart attack or a coronary thrombosis. An MI is part of a range or disorders called 'acute coronary syndromes'.
What is a stroke? A stroke is when an area of the brain is deprived of its blood
supply - usually because of a blockage or burst blood vessel
- for long enough to cause vital brain tissue to die. It's essentially the same as what happens in the arteries leading
to the heart when someone has a heart attack, which is why
a stroke is now often described as a 'brain attack'.