bselliott

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Emphysema


Emphysema is a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) involving damage to the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs. As a result, your body does not get the oxygen it needs. Emphysema makes it hard to catch your breath. You may also have a chronic cough and have trouble breathing during exercise.

The most common cause is cigarette smoking. If you smoke, quitting can help prevent you from getting the disease. If you already have emphysema, not smoking might keep it from getting worse. Treatment is based on whether your symptoms are mild, moderate or severe. Treatments include inhalers, oxygen, medications and sometimes surgery to relieve symptoms and prevent complications.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Liver


The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals; it has a wide range of functions, a few of which are detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion. The liver is necessary for survival, there is currently no way to compensate for the absence of liver function.

The liver plays a major role in metabolism and has a number of functions in the body, including glycogen storage, decomposition of red blood cells, plasma protein synthesis, hormone production, and detoxification. The liver is also the largest gland in the human body. It lies below the diaphragm in the thoracic region of the abdomen. It produces bile, an alkaline compound which aids in digestion, via the emulsification of lipids. It also performs and regulates a wide variety of high-volume biochemical reactions requiring very specialized tissues.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Zunich-Kaye


Zunich-Kaye syndrome, also known as Zunich neuroectodermal syndrome, is a rare congenital ichthyosis first described in 1983. It is also referred to as CHIME syndrome, after its main symptoms (colobomas, heart defects, ichthyosiform dermatosis, mental retardation, and either ear defects or epilepsy). It is a congenital syndrome with only a few cases studied and published.

Zunich-Kay syndrome is considered to have an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. This means the defective gene is located on an autosome, and two copies of the gene, one from each parent, are required to inherit the disorder. The parents of an individual with autosomal recessive disorder both carry one copy of the defective gene, but usually do not have the disorder.