Tag: Organs Of The Body

What is Lymphoma?

Have you ever wondered if what you know about Lymphoma is accurate? Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you know to the latest info on Lymphoma.

Lymphoma is smartly defined as a type of cancer in the lymph system. British physician Thomas Hodgkin was the first to publish initial descriptions of the individuality in 1832. Thus, the specific type of lymphoma he described ( Hodgkins lymphoma ) was appropriately named after him. After his initial description, many divers studies looked at diff other forms or types of the cancerous disease.

A cancer appears when several of our bodies cells begin behaving abnormally. The body is comprised of various kinds of cells found in different organs like the nerves of blood. At times, normal cells cease getting usual biological signals that sire them stop growing. When that happens, the cells abnormally continue to multiply and grow. This is the picture of cancer cells. When the cancer cells grow, the affected diary stops working normally. Several of the cancer cells also start to break off from the prototypal site, spreading into many other body parts and affecting many other organs.

The lymph system comprises an interconnected network with thin nodes and tubes carrying white blood cells. Such cells are responsible for fighting off infections. This way, they are vitally significant to the bodys overall well – being. When a lymphocyte ( a specific kind of white blood cell ) in the lymph system starts to become cancerous, it would tend to multiply and grow leading to formation of lymphoma.

Which part of the body is usually affected by lymphoma? The cancer could affect any part of the lymph system. Usually, patients initially notice abnormal enlargement of the lymph nodes, specifically in the areas of the groin, the neck, and the armpits. However, lymphoma could also manifest in several weird organs of the body. This is because minimal amounts of lymph tissue pass into practically every organ in the body as white blood cells reach out to different areas to deliver control of infections.

This type of cancer is currently the most usual form of blood cancer or hematological malignancy especially in the developed countries. Lymphoma comprises about 5. 3 % of overall forms of cancers in the United States alone. It comprises of up to 55. 6 % of blood cancers diagnosed. According to data released by the US National Institute of Health, Hodgkins lymphoma is accounting for about 1 % of total cases of cancer across the country. Patients with HIV infection and exposure to certain medications and drugs have amassed incidences of lymphoma for obvious reasons.

Many forms of lymphoma are indolent ( occurring lifelong even without medication or treatment ) or aggressive ( causing fast deterioration of health and eventually death ). However, most incidences of aggressive lymphomas are responding ideally to treatment. In other words, they are curable. This condition is not a mismated type of cancer because solid comprises of a group of several related forms of cancers. There are about 30 various types of identified lymphoma. In a broad sense, lymphoma could be categorized as either Hodgkin or Non – Hodgkin lymphoma. Of course, each type has its own features and manifestations and results to different outcomes in the long term.
I hope that reading the above information was both enjoyable and educational for you. Your learning process should be ongoing–the more you understand about any subject, the more you will be able to share with others.

Connecting Liver Disease And Gilbert’s Disease

The human liver is one of the most important organs of the body. It is responsible for cleaning our internal organs of the entire gunk and bile that is deposited by a person on a regular basis. But conditions like Gilberts disease and other forms of liver disease makes our livers weak and prone to breaking down.

To understand better how the liver is affected by different kinds of diseases and the impact of these conditions to our body. Liver disease is a general term used in describing any kind of sickness affecting the liver. Many of theses conditions are accompanied by jaundice caused by the heightened levels of bilirubin in the system. The bilirubin is the product of the breakup of the hemoglobin of dead red blood cells; usually, the liver takes away bilirubin from the blood and excretes it through bile.

The following are some of the known conditions that are considered as liver diseases:

– Hepatitis. This is the inflammation of the liver. This caused mainly by different kinds of viruses, there are also times that it is caused by some poisons, even hereditary conditions.

– Cirrhosis. This is the formation of fibrous tissue in the liver, the fibrous tissue takes the place of dead liver cells.

– Haemochromatosis. This is a hereditary disease caused by too much iron in the body causing liver damage.

– Cancer of the liver. This is usually coming from other parts of the body that is also affected by cancer. Usually, when cancer cells metastasis, it reaches the liver and it starts spreading from there.

– Wilsons disease. This condition is hereditary and copper deposits in the body cause it.

– Budd-Chiari syndrome. This is caused by the obstruction of the persons hepatic vein.

– Gilberts syndrome. This is a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism, found in about 5 percent of the population.

– Glycogen storage disease type II. Here, the build-up of glycogen causes progressive tissue weakness (myopathy) throughout the body and affects various body tissues, particularly in the heart, skeletal muscles, liver and nervous system.

There are also many pediatric liver diseases, including biliary atresia, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, alagille syndrome, and progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, to name but a few.

A number of liver function tests are available to test the proper function of the liver. These test for the presence of enzymes in blood that are normally most abundant in liver tissue, metabolites or products.

Symptoms of a diseased liver

There are a few external signs that we could include to determine a diseased liver, some of those external signs are a coated tongue, bad breath, skin rashes, itchy skin, excessive sweating, offensive body odor, dark circles under the eyes, red swollen and itchy eyes, acne rosacea, brownish spots and blemishes on the skin, flushed facial appearance or excessive facial blood vessels.

There are other symptoms to look out for and they include jaundice, dark urine, pale stool, bone loss, easy bleeding, itching, small, spider-like blood vessels visible in the skin, enlarged spleen, fluid in the abdominal cavity, chills, pain from the biliary tract or pancrea, and an enlarged gallbladder.

The improper digestion and absorption of fats may lead to symptoms that include indigestion, reflux, hemorrhoids, gall stones, intolerance to fatty foods, intolerance to alcohol, nausea and vomiting attacks, abdominal bloating, and constipation. Unfortunately, some liver diseases like Gilberts disease are known to share symptoms with other liver diseases. So its better to consult a professional.

What are Kidney Stones?

Kidney is one of the most sensitive and important organs of the body so if something happens to it, necessary steps have to be taken to make sure that there is still time to fix the problem. When the kidney fails then there is a greater chance that the organs will fail as well. One of the most common ailments to strike the kidney is the formation of kidney stones and even though it seems to be trivial, it has to be given attention.

Kidney stones have affected human beings for many years already. It has been said that traces of kidney stones were found in a 7000 year old Egyptian mummy which means that kidney stones are actually part of ancient history.

Another fact to consider is that more than half a million people rush to hospitals emergency rooms are found to have kidney stone problems. It simply shows how prevalent it is and the commonality of it should not be a reason to take it for granted but it should also not cause us to panic. Despite the long history of humans with kidney stones and the startling increasing number of people affected by it, most cases of kidney stones are actually very minor in the sense that the stones can be flushed out of the body without outside intervention through regular urination.

If however discomfort lingers or complications arise in relation to the presence of kidney stones in the body then there is a need to consult your doctor so that proper assessment can be done. There is nothing to fear though because most of the medical steps needed to get rid of kidney stones do not involve any major surgery.

A kidney stone is scientifically defined as a hard lump of mass that are formed from crystals that are left behind in the urinary tract. For a normal person, the urine has chemicals that disables these crystals from forming. It is when these inhibitors fail to do their job that causes the problem but as mentioned earlier you can easily get rid of smaller stones.

However if the kidney stones are bigger in size that it cant be simply gone then there are procedures available to take it out. The good news is because of advancements in technology, most of these procedures do not require for the person afflicted to be opened up. There are special instruments that can melt or crush the kidney stones and putting them inside the body do not have to involve having a knife go through ones body.

For unqualified reasons, more and more people seem to be getting kidney stones. As per cases reported, it is men in their forties and seventies that are prone to getting kidney stones. It is also important to mention that once a person gets stones then that person is more susceptible to forming kidney stones in the future. Hence the key here is really prevention. The main problem though is that there are really no singularly very particular cause of kidney stones.

Doctors though are one in saying that the best way to prevent it is in drinking fluids preferable water. This is not the same though as in drinking just eight glasses of water a day but rather it is highly advised to drink water whenever you can.