.

What is the disease?

Myocardial or Cardiac infarction or Heart attack may be defined as infarction (death) of an area of the heart muscle, usually as a result of occlusion or blockage of a coronary artery (vessel supplying the heart with oxygen rich blood). Infarction occurs as a result of a sudden insufficiency of blood supply either due to some obstruction, pressure, clot or the artery twisting upon itself which in turn produces an area of necrosis (death of cells, tissue, or part of the organ). Death of the heart muscle often causes chest pain and electrical instability of the heart muscle tissue resulting in a malfunction or sudden death.

Cause

A heart attack is caused by the formation of a blood clot on a cholesterol plaque located on the inner wall of an artery that supplies the heart (coronary artery). Cholesterol plaque is caused by deposits of cholesterol in the artery walls and is a process that begins as early as in the late teens. Over the period of time, the accumulation of cholesterol plaque causes thickening of the artery walls and resultant narrowing of the arteries; a process called asatherosclerosis. Smoking, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and diabetes can accelerate plaque formation. Ultimately, atherosclerosis causes significant narrowing of the coronary arteries to the extent that the blood supply to the heart muscle is compromised. During exercise or excitement, the narrowed coronary arteries cannot increase the blood supply to meet the increased oxygen demand of the heart muscle. When the heart muscle is thus deprived of blood oxygen, a condition called ischemia results. When the narrowing in the artery becomes critical, angina (heart pain) may result leading over time to a heart attack.Occasionally the surface of the cholesterol plaque in the artery may rupture (tear away), which leads to the formation of blood clot on the surface of the plaque, which then completely occludes blood flow in the vessel and results in a heart attack. The cause of this “plaque rupture is largely unknown, but contributing factors may include cigarette smoking, elevated cholesterol, elevated levels of blood catecholamines (adrenaline), high blood pressure, and other mechanical and biochemical forces.Unlike angina (heart pain), death of the heart muscle from a heart attack is permanent.

• People with thalassemia major may experience the following:
  
• Paleness
  
• Headaches
  
• Fatigue
  
• Shortness of breath
  
• Jaundice
  
• Spleen enlargement
  
  Diagnosis of Thalassemia

The diagnosis of thalassemia trait and thalassemia major is made from microscopic examination of the blood, which shows many small, pale red blood cells, and from other blood tests that show reduced levels of adult hemoglobin in the blood.

Treatment of ThalassemiaThalassemia trait
Normally, there are no treatments recommended. However, the doctor may suggest taking iron medication if they feel it is necessary.

Thalassemia major

The primary treatment is regular blood transfusions, usually every four weeks. In addition to the blood transfusions, doctors recommend injections of Desferal to help the body flush out the extra iron created by the new blood. The injections are given under the skin from a small pump 5 to 7 nights a week.
Additionally, splenectomy (removal of the spleen), bone marrow transplants and chelation therapy are being researched as possible treatments for thalassemia.

Questions To Ask Your Doctor About Thalassemia

How can having the thalassemia trait affect a person's life?Children's lives?

Do you recommend genetic counseling if a couple is planning on having children?

Is a thalassemia carrier more likely to get other diseases?

Is a thalassemia carrier physically or mentally weak?

Can thalassemia trait turn into thalassemia major?

• yellowing of the skin and eyes, known as jaundice
  
• fever
  
• nausea, vomiting, and lack of appetite
  
• abdominal pain (on the upper right side)
  
• light-colored bowel movements
  
• dark-colored urine
  

The incubation period (how long it takes between the time a person becomes infected and symptoms first appear) for hepatitis varies depending on the type a person has. A person may not feel any different than before, or may notice these symptoms anywhere from 15 days to 4 months after getting the disease, depending on the type of hepatitis.

How Is Hepatitis Diagnosed and Treated?

A blood test is usually needed to determine if a person has hepatitis.
Doctors don't prescribe medications to treat hepatitis A; they usually recommend a person rest until any fever and jaundice are gone and the person's appetite has returned to normal. It is also important to stay well hydrated by drinking lots of fluids. Hepatitis B and C can sometimes be treated with medications, although some forms of medication used to treat hepatitis C are only approved for use in adults. Although treatments for hepatitis B and C are becoming more effective, a cure cannot be guaranteed.

Protecting Yourself

There are vaccines available to protect people against hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Today, all children in the United States are routinely vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth, and against hepatitis A between the ages of 1 and 2 years. People who are traveling to certain parts of the world where sanitation isn't very good also benefit from immunization against hepatitis A. Sometimes, if a person has been recently exposed to hepatitis A or B, a doctor may recommend a shot of immune globulin containing antibodies against the virus to try to prevent the person from coming down with the disease.

• In addition to the vaccinations against hepatitis A and B, there are other steps for protecting yourself against hepatitis virus infection:
  
• Avoid unprotected sexual intercourse. Not only does unprotected sex put you at risk for hepatitis B and C, but also for many other sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy.
  
• Avoid intravenous drug use and sharing of drug paraphernalia. Hepatitis is only one of the life-threatening infections you can get by sharing contaminated needles.
  
• Wash your hands before handling food and after using the bathroom. Washing your hands thoroughly is one of the simplest, most important ways to prevent the spread of any infection, including hepatitis.
  
• If you are thinking about getting a tattoo or piercing, be sure the shop sterilizes needles properly. Poorly sterilized or nonsterile needles put people at risk for hepatitis B or C.
  
• Don't share toothbrushes or razors. Hepatitis can be transmitted through sores or cuts.
  
• Avoid eating raw shellfish (such as clams or oysters). You could put yourself at risk for hepatitis A if the shellfish was harvested from contaminated water.
  
• Hepatitis infection can be serious, but knowing what puts you at risk can help protect you.

• Tension-type headaches
  
• the pain is usually mild or moderate and is usually felt as a pressure (tightness) on both sides of the head,
  
• the pain is constant and pressing (can be described as a tight band around the head) and can build gradually throughout the day,
  
• the pain is not aggravated by routine physical activity,
  there may be a feeling of pressure behind the eyes and a tightening of the neck muscles,
  
• the headache is not associated with nausea or vomiting or an unusual sensitivity to light or sound,
  mostly they last a few hours or so, and
  
• the headache normally comes on during the day.
  
• Cluster headaches
  
• the pain is extremely severe but the attack is relatively short, lasting no more than an hour or two (often less than an hour),
  
• the pain starts quickly, without warning, and is often described as excruciating,
  the pain always affects one side of the head, is centred around one eye, and generally affects the same side in subsequent attacks (although it does move to the opposite side in some people), and
  inflammation and watering from the eye, and a blocked nose on the affected side of the face are common.
  
• The attacks of pain are clustered in groups (often 1 to 3 attacks per day, although there can be more) that usually last for a few weeks to a couple of months, and are usually followed by a pain-free gap for months or years (the average is one year). Although 10% of people have chronic cluster headaches where the attacks occur regularly without significant intervals without pain.
  
• The headaches often occur at the same time each day during a cluster, with many people saying that they are being woken within around 2 hours of going to sleep, at the same time each night. Or they are woken early in the morning. However, they can also occur during the daytime.

• Frequent urination
  
• Excessive thirst
  
• Extreme hunger
  
• Unusual weight loss
  
• Increased fatigue
  
• Irritability
  
• Blurry vision

• HIV/AIDS Symptoms
  Many people do not develop symptoms after getting infected with HIV. Some people have a flu-like illness within several days to weeks after exposure to the virus. They complain of fever, headache, tiredness, and enlarged lymph glands in the neck. These symptoms usually disappear on their own within a few weeks.
  Following initial infection, you may have no symptoms. The progression of disease varies widely among individuals. This state may last from a few months to more than 10 years.
  During this period, the virus continues to multiply actively and infects and kills the cells of the immune system. The immune system allows us to fight against the bacteria, viruses, and other infectious causes.
  The virus destroys the cells that are the primary infection fighters, called CD4+ or T4 cells.
  Once the immune system weakens, a person infected with HIV can develop the following symptoms:
  1. Lack of energy
  
• 2. Weight loss
  
• 3. Frequent fevers and sweats
  
• 4. Persistent or frequent yeast infections
  
• 5. Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
  
• 6. Short-term memory loss
  
• 7. Mouth, genital, or anal sores from herpes infections.
  
• AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. The definition of AIDS includes all HIV-infected people who have fewer than 200 CD4+ cells per microliter of blood. The definition also includes 26 conditions that are common in advanced HIV disease but that rarely occur in healthy people. Most of these conditions are infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and other organisms. Opportunistic infections are common in people with AIDS. Nearly every organ system is affected. Some of the common symptoms include the following:
  
• Cough and shortness of breath
  
• Seizures and lack of coordination
  
• Difficult or painful swallowing
  
• Mental symptoms such as confusion and forgetfulness
  
• Severe and persistent diarrhea
  
• Fever
  
• Vision loss
  Nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting
  
• Weight loss and extreme fatigue
  
• Severe headache with neck stiffness
  Coma
  
• People with AIDS are prone to develop various cancers such as Kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer, and cancers of the immune system known as lymphomas. Kaposi sarcoma causes round, brown, reddish or purple spots that develop in the skin or in the mouth. After the diagnosis of AIDS is made, the average survival time has been estimated to be 2-3 years.