FILIARIASI

Filiariasis

Filiariasis is a group of tropical diseases caused by thread-like parasitic round worms (nematodes) and their larvae. The larvae transmit the disease to humans through a mosquito bite. Filariasis is characterized by fever, chills,headache, and skin lesions in the early stages and, if untreated, can progress to include gross enlargement of the limbs and genitalia in a condition called elephantiasis. Approximately 170 million people in the tropical and subtropical areas of southeast Asia, South America, Africa, and the islands of thePacific are affected by this debilitating parasitic disease. Filariasis is occasionally found in the United States, especially among immigrants from the Caribbean and Pacific islands. While filariasis is rarely fatal, it is the second leading cause of permanent and long-term disability in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has named filariasis one of only six "potentially eradicable" infectious diseases. In all cases, a mosquito bites an infected individual then bites another uninfected individual, transferring some of the worm larvae to the new host. Once within the body, the larvae migrate to a particular part of the body and mature to adult worms. There are threetypes of filariasis: lymphatic filariasis affects the circulatory system that moves tissue fluid and immune cells (lymphatic system) and is the most common type, subcutaneous filariasis infects the areas beneath the skin and whites of the eye, and serous cavity filariasis infects body cavities but does not cause disease.

Lymphatic filariasis is caused by the adult worms living in the lymphatic vessels near the lymph nodes where they distort the vessels and cause local inflammation. In advanced stages, the worms can obstruct the vessels, causing thesurrounding tissue to become enlarged. In Bancroftian filariasis, the legs and genitals are most often involved, while the Malayan variety affects the legs below the knees. Repeated episodes of inflammation lead to blockages of the lymphatic system, especially in the genitals and legs. This causes the affected area to become grossly enlarged, with thickened, coarse skin, leading toa condition called elephantiasis. In conjunctiva filariasis, the worms' larvae migrate to the eye and can sometimes be seen moving beneath the skin or the white part of the eye (conjunctiva). If untreated, this disease can cause blindness. Symptoms vary, but filariasis usually begins with chills, headache,and fever between three months and one year after the insect bite. There mayalso be swelling, redness, and pain in the arms, legs, or scrotum. Areas ofpus (abscesses) may appear as a result of dying worms or a secondary bacterial infection. The disease is diagnosed by a patient history, a physical examination, and by screening blood specimens for proteins produced by the immune system in response to this infection. Early diagnosis may be difficultbecause, in the first stages, the disease mimics other bacterial skin infections.

Filariasis is treated with ivermectin, albendazole, or diethylcarbamazine toeliminate the larvae, impair the adult worms' ability to reproduce, and killadult worms. Much of the tissue damage may not be reversible. The medicationis started at low doses to prevent reactions caused by large numbers of dyingparasites. These medications can cause severe side effects in up to 70% of patients. These side effects can be controlled with antihistamines and anti-inflammatory drugs (corticosteroids). Rarely, treatment with diethylcarbamazinemay lead to a fatal inflammation of the brain (encephalitis). Other common drug reactions include dizziness, weakness, and nausea. Symptoms caused by thedeath of the parasites include fever, headache, muscle pain, abdominal pain,nausea and vomiting, weakness, dizziness, lethargy, and asthma. Reactions usually begin within two days of starting treatment and last between two and four days. No treatment can reverse elephantiasis. Surgery can remove surplus tissue, drain the fluid around the damaged lymphatic vessels, and ease massiveenlargement of the scrotum. Elephantiasis of the legs can also be helped byelevating the legs and using elastic bandages. The outlook is good in early or mild cases, especially if the patient can avoid being infected again. The disease is rarely fatal, and with continued WHO medical intervention, even gross elephantiasis is now becoming rare. The best way to prevent filariasis isto prevent being repeatedly bitten by the mosquitoes that carry the disease by: limiting outdoor activities at night, particularly in rural or jungle areas; wearing long sleeves and pants and avoiding dark-colored clothing that attracts mosquitoes; avoiding perfumes and colognes; treating clothing ahead oftime with permethrin (Duramon, Permanone); wearing DEET insect repellent, citronella or lemon eucalyptus to repel insects; if sleeping in an open area orin a room with poor screens, use a bed net to avoid being bitten while asleep; using air conditioning; and in highly infested areas, taking ivermectin preventatively. Scientists are working on a vaccine.

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Blood Cancer

Every one of us must have heard of blood cancer but do we really have the familiarity with what is blood cancer? Chronic leukemia which is generally known as the blood cancer is the type of cancer that is initiated due to the excess of white blood cells in the body. It happens when the growth of red blood cells is restricted and the white blood cells are produced in greater amount causing disproportion in the blood cells. The white blood cells are responsible for the protection of organism against the infection, disease and bacteria. Leukemia is the excess of white blood cells in the body. When it continues to a longer duration, complexities and tumor formation begins.

The white blood cells are themselves a shield that protect the organism human being, animals and plants from the harmful cells entry in the body that may cause damage to the body functioning. When such a tool of immune system itself becomes abnormal the threats to the life of organism augment. Inside the bones of an organism, the soft tissues are found, named as bone marrow that is responsible for the production of various kinds of blood cells for the body. The red marrow inside the bone marrow produces the white as well as the red blood cells. These cells act as the defensive mechanism of immune system and prevent infections in the body. In blood cancer the bone marrow divides into small fregments and hence starts producing greater amount of white blood cells.
Once the white blood cells along with other types of cells are produced in the bone marrow, they start to enter the blood circulating in the body. When the bone marrow produces the extra white blood cells they spread in the whole body and start making body dysfunctional and generate pain. Sometimes, in blood cancer, the white blood cells which are being produced in larger amount do not leave the bone marrow and remain in the bone marrow this produces further complexity in the case. It also hinders the formation of healthy cells inside the bone marrow.
The over production of white blood cells negatively impacts the immune system functioning as it use white blood cells as a shield against the infections. This malignancy is called leukemia. When leukemia reaches higher stage it is called as chronic leukemia. The mostly adopted treatment for the blood cancer is chemotherapy that is to increase the composition of red blood cells in the body or to reduce the white blood cells. Due to the action of immune system against excessive white blood cells, swelling and formation of tumor may occur as a result of competition and inflammation process of defensive mechanism. Medical science is still researching to find out the reasons for increased production of white blood cells in the body and breakage of one marrow. But right now the reason for blood cancer can not be stated.
There are many patients of blood cancer across the world that makes it an important and critical type of cancer. One of the symptoms of leukemia can be the previous iron deficiency called as anemia. Anemia leading to blood cancer may make a person lazy and tired over long period of time. Yellowing is also a symptom of blood cancer where the patient becomes pail without any reason. Such a person faces numerous and recurring infection in the body that shows that his or her immune system has certain problem. The lymph glands of cancer patient, starts increasing that reveal that the person has blood cancer. Frequent sweating and catching up fever accompanied by weight loss also indicates blood cancer. The tests prescribed by the doctor may confirm the doubt if such symptoms are present.
The heavy bleeding pattern in the women also indicates anemia and the disturbance in the formation of white and red blood cells in the bone marrow. Headache and vision problem may also indicate the same. Nose pain and pail complexion must also be checked by the doctor as it can also be a sign of leukemia. Many blood cancer patients also complain abdominal pains.
It has been observed that the chronic lymphocyte leukemia is the most common form of blood cancer. In this type of cancer, the number of lymphocytes increases in the body. Lymphocytes are also a sub type of white blood cells. The abnormal amount of lymphocytes allows the formation of anti bodies, diseases and bacteria accumulation in the body. This hampers the health of the patient as his defensive ability against infections as well as against the minor illnesses gets spoiled. Moreover this type of cancer is not common in women as men are found in greater number as its infected patients.
A simple blood test and an x ray scan may help the diagnoses of the chronic lymphocyte leukemia, abbreviated as CLL in medical terms. The chemotherapy treatment is used after diagnosis for the patients who have extra inflamed lymph glands. Chemotherapy is done with the help of tablets and drugs that help in the recovery of bone marrow that produces white blood cells due to internal damage. Along with this radiotherapy is also used for reducing the lymph glands enlarged due to malignancy. The treatment of transplanting the bone marrow from the body is only adopted for the patients who are not too old but can not bear the pains of increased cancer intensity. It is also the most ordinary form of cancer found in the kids.
To mention the causes of leukemia is not easy but smoking can be one of its major reasons. In case chemicals like petrol or benzene gets inside the body may also generate this disorder of blood cells. The people suffering from anemia must take iron supplements along with healthy nutritious food to avoid the dangers of blood cancer. Most of the times the people suffering from the anemia catch blood cancer in later stage of life. Hence the treatment of anemia should be taken seriously as advised by the doctor.

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What are HIV and AIDS

Lectron microscope image of HIV, seen as small spheres on the surface of white blood cells.

HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. CDC estimates that about 56,000 people in the United States contracted HIV in 2006.

There are two types of HIV, HIV-1 and HIV-2. In the United States, unless otherwise noted, the term “HIV” primarily refers to HIV-1. 

Both types of HIV damage a person’s body by destroying specific blood cells, called CD4+ T cells, which are crucial to helping the body fight diseases.

Within a few weeks of being infected with HIV, some people develop flu-like symptoms that last for a week or two, but others have no symptoms at all. People living with HIV may appear and feel healthy for several years. However, even if they feel healthy, HIV is still affecting their bodies. All people with HIV should be seen on a regular basis by a health care provider experienced with treating HIV infection. Many people with HIV, including those who feel healthy, can benefit greatly from current medications used to treat HIV infection. These medications can limit or slow down the destruction of the immune system, improve the health of people living with HIV, and may reduce their ability to transmit HIV. Untreated early HIV infection is also associated with many diseases including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, liver disease, and cancer.  Support services are also available to many people with HIV. These services can help people cope with their diagnosis, reduce risk behavior, and find needed services. 

AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection, when a person’s immune system is severely damaged and has difficulty fighting diseases and certain cancers. Before the development of certain medications, people with HIV could progress to AIDS in just a few years. Currently, people can live much longer - even decades - with HIV before they develop AIDS. This is because of “highly active” combinations of medications that were introduced in the mid 1990s. 

No one should become complacent about HIV and AIDS. While current medications can dramatically improve the health of people living with HIV and slow progression from HIV infection to AIDS, existing treatments need to be taken daily for the rest of a person’s life, need to be carefully monitored, and come with costs and potential side effects. At this time, there is no cure for HIV infection. Despite major advances in diagnosing and treating HIV infection, in 2007, 35,962 cases of AIDS were diagnosed and 14,110 deaths among people living with HIV were reported in the United States.

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All About Of Cancer

Cancer is a scary word. Almost everyone knows someone who got very sick or died from cancer. Most of the time, cancer affects older people. Not many kids get cancer, but when they do, very often it can be treated and cured.

What Is Cancer?

Cancer is actually a group of many related diseases that all have to do with cells. Cells are the very small units that make up all living things, including the human body. There are billions of cells in each person's body.

Cancer happens when cells that are not normal grow and spread very fast. Normal body cells grow and divide and know to stop growing. Over time, they also die. Unlike these normal cells, cancer cells just continue to grow and divide out of control and don't die when they're supposed to.

Cancer cells usually group or clump together to form tumors (say: too-mers). A growing tumor becomes a lump of cancer cells that can destroy the normal cells around the tumor and damage the body's healthy tissues. This can make someone very sick.

Sometimes cancer cells break away from the original tumor and travel to other areas of the body, where they keep growing and can go on to form new tumors. This is how cancer spreads. The spread of a tumor to a new place in the body is called metastasis (say: meh-tas-tuh-sis).

Causes of Cancer

You probably know a kid who had chickenpox — maybe even you. But you probably don't know any kids who've had cancer. If you packed a large football stadium with kids, probably only one child in that stadium would have cancer.

Doctors aren't sure why some people get cancer and others don't. They do know that cancer is not contagious. You can't catch it from someone else who has it — cancer isn't caused by germs, like colds or the flu are. So don't be afraid of other kids — or anyone else — with cancer. You can talk to, play with, and hug someone with cancer.

Kids can't get cancer from anything they do either. Some kids think that a bump on the head causes brain cancer or that bad people get cancer. This isn't true! Kids don't do anything wrong to get cancer. But some unhealthy habits, especially cigarette smoking or drinking too much alcohol every day, can make you a lot more likely to get cancer when you become an adult.

Finding Out About Cancer

It can take a while for a doctor to figure out a kid has cancer. That's because the symptoms cancer can cause — weight loss, fevers, swollen glands, or feeling overly tired or sick for a while — usually are not caused by cancer. When a kid has these problems, it's often caused by something less serious, like an infection. With medical testing, the doctor can figure out what's causing the trouble.

If the doctor suspects cancer, he or she can do tests to figure out if that's the problem. A doctor might order X-rays and blood tests and recommend the person go to see an oncologist (say: on-kah-luh-jist). An oncologist is a doctor who takes care of and treats cancer patients. The oncologist will likely run other tests to find out if someone really has cancer. If so, tests can determine what kind of cancer it is and if it has spread to other parts of the body. Based on the results, the doctor will decide the best way to treat it.

One test that an oncologist (or a surgeon) may perform is a biopsy (say: by-op-see). During a biopsy, a piece of tissue is removed from a tumor or a place in the body where cancer is suspected, like the bone marrow. Don't worry — someone getting this test will get special medicine to keep him or her comfortable during the biopsy. The sample that's collected will be examined under a microscope for cancer cells.

The sooner cancer is found and treatment begins, the better someone's chances are for a full recovery and cure.

Treating Cancer Carefully

Cancer is treated with surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation — or sometimes a combination of these treatments. The choice of treatment depends on:

• the type of cancer someone has (the kind of abnormal cells causing the cancer)
• the stage of the tumor (meaning how much the cancer has spread within the body, if at all)

Surgery is the oldest form of treatment for cancer — 3 out of every 5 people with cancer will have an operation to remove it. During surgery, the doctor tries to take out as many cancer cells as possible. Some healthy cells or tissue may also be removed to make sure that all the cancer is gone.

Chemotherapy (say: kee-mo-ther-uh-pee) is the use of anti-cancer medicines (drugs) to treat cancer. These medicines are sometimes taken as a pill, but usually are given through a special intravenous (say: in-truh-vee-nus) line, also called an IV. An IV is a tiny plastic catheter (straw-like tube) that is put into a vein through someone's skin, usually on the arm. The catheter is attached to a bag that holds the medicine. The medicine flows from the bag into a vein, which puts the medicine into the blood, where it can travel throughout the body and attack cancer cells.

Chemotherapy is usually given over a number of weeks to months. Often, a permanent catheter is placed under the skin into a larger blood vessel of the upper chest. This way, a person can easily get several courses of chemotherapy and other medicines through this catheter without having a new IV needle put in. The catheter remains under the skin until all the cancer treatment is completed.

Radiation (say: ray-dee-ay-shun) therapy uses high-energy waves, such as X-rays (invisible waves that can pass through most parts of the body), to damage and destroy cancer cells. It can cause tumors to shrink and even go away completely. Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for cancer. Many people with cancer find it goes away after receiving radiation treatments.

With both chemotherapy and radiation, kids may experience side effects. A side effect is an extra problem that's caused by the treatment. Radiation and anti-cancer drugs are very good at destroying cancer cells but, unfortunately, they also destroy healthy cells. This can cause problems such as loss of appetite, tiredness, vomiting, or hair loss. With radiation, a person might have red or irritated skin in the area that's being treated. But all these problems go away and hair grows back after the treatment is over. During the treatment, certain medicines can help a kid feel better.

While treatment is still going on, a kid might not be able to attend school or be around crowds of people — the kid needs to rest and avoid getting infections, such as the flu, when he or she already isn't feeling well. The body may have more trouble fighting off infections because of the cancer or side effects of the treatment.

Getting Better

Remission (say: ree-mih-shun) is a great word for anyone who has cancer. It means all signs of cancer are gone from the body. After surgery or treatment with radiation or chemotherapy, a doctor will then do tests to see if the cancer is still there. If there are no signs of cancer, then the kid is in remission.

Remission is the goal when any kid with cancer goes to the hospital for treatment. Sometimes, this means additional chemotherapy might be needed for a while to keep cancer cells from coming back. And luckily, for many kids, continued remission is the very happy end of their cancer experience.

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