10 Deadly Skin Diseases

1. Harlequin Ichthyosis

This skin disease afflicts newborn babies. It is a rare skin disease, believed to be caused by a gene mutation, which usually results in death within two days from birth. Harlequin Ichthyosis or HI causes the skin to dry out and from hard plaques shaped like diamonds. When the baby is born, the infant appears to be wearing a coat of armor. The condition severely restricts the newborn's movements.

HI causes complications which are attributed to the newborns deaths. The babies experience feeding problems. These infant are also susceptible to both respiratory diseases and bacterial infections. Fortunately, the level of care has improved substantially which in turn has increased the survival rate for babies born with this devastating skin disease.

2. Epidermolysis Bullosa

Epidermolysis Bullosa is a group of hereditary skin disease. There are three major types with several subsets. The skin disease has a range of severity. The skin disease causes the skin to blister with only a light torch. Individual with more severe case of Epidermolysis Bullosa with suffer with glistering of the mouth and esophagus too. Some types of this disease can cause the toes and fingers to fuse giving the appearance of webbing. Severe scaring in another effect.

There is no cure for this deadly skin disease. Victims of skin conditions have to endure various courses of treatment, dependent on the severity of their conditions. Some afflicted with this skin disease must obtain food through a feeding tube to prevent infections. Surgeries are often performed to dilate the esophagus and to remove the scar tissue from the blistering.

3. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a hereditary conditions. It is caused by abnormalities in the collagen. This skin disease causes the skin to be extremely stretchy (hyper elasticity) and lax. Persons afflicted with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome will also suffer with tissue weakness and easy bruising. Weak joints are also characteristic of this skin disease.

As with other skin disease, the severity of the symptoms experienced by an individual afflicted with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome depends on the type the person has. Some types of this disease will cause hemorrhaging and can result in the rupturing of arteries. An occurrence of this type will result in the person's death.

4. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus (AKA MRSA)

MRSA is labeled the "super bug". This potentially deadly skin infection begins as small red bumps. The bumps look similar to pimples or bug bites. These small bumps evolve into deep and painful abscesses. The bacteria are confined into the skin but can gain access into the body. Once in the body, MRSA causes infections in the blood, heart, lungs, bones, and joints.

Treatment options for MRSA include surgery and certain antibiotics. Surgery is performed to drain the wounds that become open abscesses and place the person at risk for life threatening infections. MRSA is resistant to almost all antibiotics. The bacteria have adapted defenses to combat what was once a lethal toxin to the infection. Only two antibiotics are strong enough to combat MRSA, vancomycin and linezolid.

5. Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (AKA TEN)

TEN is identified as a severe allergic reaction. The allergic reaction is usually in response to an infection or a medication. TEN causes flu-like symptoms over a several day period. Inflamation of the mucous membranes then occurs. A rash covers the skin, killing the uppermost layer of skin. The dead skin will shed. This occurs over 30% of the body and can be fatal. More than a quarter of the people afflicted with this painful condition die from some type of infection.

6. Basal cell carcinomas and Squamous cell carcinoma.

Both of these skin diseases are forms of skin cancer. Basal cell carcinomas occur in the basal layer of skin. The cancer damages the tissue and causes scarring. This cancer doesn't metastasize.Squamous cell carcinoma occurs in the squamous cells, hence the name. Squamous cells from the skin surrounding the internal organs. The cancer does metastasize. The cancer can spread to the organs. This type of cancer kill at least 2500 people in the US each year.

7. Scleroderma

Scleroderma causes abnormal growth of connective tissue. The skin hardens and tightens. Scar tissue then forms on the skin and other organs in the body. This condition is believed to be an autoimmune disease. The more severe forms of Scleroderma can cause the lung and heart tissue to thicken also. When this occurs, death often results.

8. Pemphigus

Pemphigus is a group of chronic skin diseases. The skin disease is characterized by open sores caused by blisters. The sores can lead to infections. Severe cases of Pemphigus can cause lesions on the lungs and may lead to lung disease. This skin disease is thought to be an autoimmune disorder.

Pemphigus is treated with medications. Corticosteroids are most often prescribed. Treatments also include antibiotics or immunosuppressants. Some people require hospitalization to care for the wounds. Severe cases of Phempigus can result in death.

9. Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is reported to have afflicted around 12 million people and is considered to be endemic. The disease is transmitted by sand flies. When the sand fly bites, they transfer the skin disease. A sore usually appears on the bite and scars the skin. The disease then causes skin lesions and ulcers. Tissue damage occurs in the mouth and nose. Infections attack the liver, bone, marrow and spleen. Other organs can also be infected.

10. Herpes Gladiatorum or Scrumpox

Scrumpox is a skin disease caused by a strain of the herpes virus. The skin disease causes cold sores. Sore throats, blisters on the face, arms, neck, and legs. As with many of the other skin disease, infection can be a complication of the blisters and sores. The infection can then lead to death. Scrumpox is spread through skin contact and is extremely contagious.

 

http://www.goocap.com/2013/05/10-deadly-skin-diseases.html

New breathalyser detects marijuana, meth and cocaine

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden have developed a new kind of breathalyser at the detects a lot more than just alcohol on your breath. When Police suspect a driver under the influence, it's a simple matter to administer an on-the-spot breath test that can immediately reveal how much alcohol is in bloodstream. But what if the influence in question is not alcohol?

Rather than subjecting everyone involved in transportation to a facility that can administer an invasive blood test or a messy urine test, researchers at the Karolinska Institute have created a breathalyser that can be used on the spot Called SensAbues, the breathalyser has succesfully detected amphetamine, metamphetamine, cannabis, cocaine, MDMA, buprenorphine, methadone, heroin, benzodiazepines and nicotine.

The team, lead by Olof Beck at the Karolinska Institute's Department of Medicine, collected blood and urine samples from 47 patients who had recently used drugs as a comparison point. The test subjects then breathed into the SensAbues. Tiny particles were trapped in a proprietary filter, in 40 cases of the 47, the substances were positively identified.

Alas, it's not as simple as an on-the-spot reading, however. Once used, the SensAbues breathalyser needs to be package up and sent to a laboratory for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. This, of course, leaves a problem in its wake what are the police to do with a driver suspected of being under the influence?

There are other applications, for the technoogy, though, drug testing for construction workers or operators of heavy machinery, for example. And, although the laboratory for analysing the filters is in Sweden, the product is already available on the market. It's only matter of the time before SensAbues starts appearing in other countries. You can read the research paper, titled "Detection of drugs of abuse in exhaled breath using a device for rapid collection : comparison with plasma, urine and self-reporting in 47 drug users", on IOP science.

 

http://www.goocap.com/2013/04/new-breathalyser-detects-marijuana-meth.html

1,200 Years Old Egyptian Secrets At Sunken City

Until ten years ago, no body know if Heraclion  believed to be an ancient harbor city, was fiction or real. Now, report the Telegraph, the researchers who found it - 150 feet beneath the surface of Egypt's bay of Aboukir-are sharing some of the amazinf historical artifacts preserved there.

The finds include 64 ships, 16-foot-tall statues, 700 anchors and countless gold coins and smaller artifacts. According to underwater aecheologist Frank Goddio, credited with having discovered the site, the city was probably built sometime around the 8th century B.C, which makes it older than the farmed city of Alexandria.

Over many years, it fell vistim to a number of natural disasters before being swalloewed by the sea, probably around A.D 700. 

The Telegraph reports that researchers are beginning to more fully understand what daily life was like in the city, also called "Thorus." Mainly they describe it has having served as the main hub for sea traffic entering the region, including all trade from Greece. 

"We are getting a rich picture of things like the trade that was going on there and the nature of the maritime economy in the Egyptian late period," Damian Robinson, director of the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archeology at the University of Oxford, told the Telegraph Robinson is part of the team that has been busy uncovering artifacts from Heraclion's sunken remains.

It was the major international trading port for Egypt at this time," Robinson addes "It is where taxation was taken on import and export duties. All of this was run by the main temple."

The city is also believed to have had a rich cultural hstory. Helen was said to have visited it with her lover Pans shortly before the onset of the Trojan War.

http://www.goocap.com/2013/04/1200-years-old-egyptian-secrets-at.html

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7 surprising fertility facts

Fertility fact 1: How often to have sex

Most women know they must ovulate in order to conceive, but having sex on the day of ovulation does not increase the chances of conception. It may in fact decrease a woman's chance as many wait for ovulation before having sex which may cause them to bypass their most fertile time. After ovulation, an egg is only viable for about 24 hours, so if you are waiting until you ovulate to have intercourse, chances are you are going to miss the opportunity to get pregnant that month.

Since sperm can also live in your reproductive tract for 3-4 days, having sex two to three times a week, means that when an egg is released there will be sperm waiting!

"I tell my patients to have regular intercourse, meaning 2-3 times a week generally starting after your period stops. Specifically I encourage couples NOT to monitor ovulation or use temperature graphs," Dr Knight says. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that having sex beginning six days prior to ovulation is the most conducive to achieving conception. The more times you have intercourse during your 'window of opportunity', the more likely you are to get pregnant.

Fertility fact 2: Relax, have sex every day

Don't worry about having too much sex when you are trying to conceive. The same NEJM study found that having sex every day is slightly more likely to result in pregnancy than intercourse every other day. Experts do caution couples not to put love making on a schedule. That, they say,just might decrease chances of conception.

The scientific evidence is scarce, but if you are stressed and love making is on 'schedule',' there is some data to show that hormones may be affected and that in turn could influence conception. A Harvard Medical School study on women with fertility problems, that 55% of those who completed a 10 week course of relaxation training and stress reduction had a viable pregnancy within one year, compared with just 20% of the group who had no stress reduction training. Doctors have also found that women undergoing fertility treatments, who remained relaxed and optimistic, had better overall outcomes than women who were pessimistic about their ability to conceive. If you are worried all the time about getting pregnant, if you obsess over it and think about only that, you might influence your body chemistry in a way that does affect your fertility. The key is to "think about making love, not about making babies."

Fertility fact 3: How position affects conception

There are many myths surrounding sexual intercourse and the best time to conceive. Many couples widely believe that the position taken during sexual intercourse will affect their chances of getting pregnant. Furthermore, many believe their chances of conceiving are increased by lying on their backs for 20 minutes, ensuring the semen stays in the neck of the uterus for longer.

Whilst semen does inevitably come out of the vagina following ejaculation, sufficient sperm are deposited in the neck of the womb and are able to begin their journey towards the egg, regardless of the position taken.
Fertility fact 4: Don't think sperm potency improves by saving up

Millions of sperm are produced every day in the testicles. The sperm are stored in a tiny sac, the epididymis, which lies at the top of each testicle. Abstaining from sex in order to accumulate sperm so that more are deposited during sex will not increase your chances of achieving conception.

In fact the stored, older sperm may be of inferior quality and even hinder the newly produced, healthier sperm from reaching the egg.

Fertility fact 5: Lubricant won't help sperm to slip, slide and get inside

Not only is this not true, it could actually prevent you from getting pregnant, says Dr Knight.Most lubricants change the pH or acid balance inside the vagina, and that in turn may affect sperm motility and ultimately prevent, or at least reduce the chances of a pregnancy occurring.

If you find you must use a lubricant avoid petroleum jelly. Instead try natural vegetable products, such as olive oil, which is less likely to cause sperm any serious problems.

Fertility fact 6: Just because the female doesn't orgasm, doesn't matter

There is no evidence to support that a woman with low libido or failure to orgasm cannot conceive - though some patients do think this. Furthermore, a woman does not need to achieve an orgasm in order to conceive. Continually trying to find the right time to have sexual intercourse may place a strain on a couple's lovemaking and this in turn may hinder their chances of getting pregnant.

Couples should have sexual intercourse when they feel like it and not limit it to the period during the woman's cycle perceived to be the most fertile.

Furthermore, women do not always ovulate on the fourteenth day of their cycle and it is easy to misjudge the fertile time. The chance of becoming pregnant in any one month for a fertile couple is at best 25 per cent and even in entirely healthy couples.

Fertility fact 7: Failing to conceive doesn't mean you are a failure

Infertility is a medical condition just like arthritis or asthma, which can require medical treatment. It is no reflection on how masculine or feminine a person is. Although there are no dietary or nutritional cures for infertility, a healthy lifestyle is important. Maintaining a healthy weight, eating a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, not smoking and avoiding alcohol and caffeine are probably wise ideas.

Preventable Infant Brain Damage On the Rise

A silent attack on the baby’s brain
Here’s the scenario: Your beautiful baby boy is born right on time and receives a clean bill of health from the pediatrician. Your health care insurance only pays for two days in the hospital after the birth, so you and baby go home, with a follow-up doctor’s appointment for when the baby is one week old.

However, after being home for two days you notice your baby is having trouble feeding and seems to be very sleepy. His skin color seems a little odd, too. You call the pediatrician and get an appointment for the next day.

When the pediatrician examines your now five-day-old infant, she sees that the baby is jaundiced. Using a simple test, she discovers his bilirubin level is very high, and admits him to the hospital for treatment with phototherapy. Unfortunately, the damage has been done, and over the next four months your son develops cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and hearing loss.

What kernicterus is
About 60% of newborn babies develop jaundice from a buildup in their bodies of bilirubin, an orange-yellow pigment that results from the natural breakdown of red blood cells. In some babies the level of bilirubin goes so high that it becomes toxic and causes brain damage. This is known as kernicterus.

Symptoms and diagnosis
An infant with very high bilirubin in his body may have severe jaundice (yellowing of his skin), lethargy (excessive sleepiness), and poor feeding. However, jaundice may hard to see in infants with dark skin, and it is difficult to judge how high the bilirubin level is just by looking. There are simple, inexpensive blood and skin tests available to check an infant’s bilirubin level.

If the infant’s condition progresses to kernicterus, he may develop cerebral palsy, uncontrolled involuntary muscle movements (spasticity), mental retardation, hearing loss, and difficulty moving his eyes (gaze paresis).

Treatment
High bilirubin is treated by placing the infant under special lights (called phototherapy). An exchange blood transfusion (infant’s toxic blood is replaced with normal blood) may be necessary. A new drug, Stanate, has been tested which blocks bilirubin production, thus preventing jaundice and kernicterus. The drug is still in development.

Why more cases of kernicterus are appearing
There are several possible reasons why the number of cases of kernicterus seem to be rising:

• Newborns are often discharged from the hospital before blood levels of bilirubin reach their peak (48-72 hours after birth), but don’t see a pediatrician until a week later
• Physicians continue to rely only on visual assessment of jaundice, and may fail to recognize very severe cases, or may fail to respond to parents’ concerns about jaundice
• Newborns who are already jaundiced in the hospital do not have a bilirubin test done before they are discharged home
• Parents don’t know about the symptoms of jaundice, so they don’t call the pediatrician

Prevention
The best way to manage high bilirubin, though, is to not let it get elevated in the first place. This could be achieved by:

• Giving a bilirubin test to all newborns before they are discharged home, to catch the ones headed for trouble
• Provide a follow-up visit with a pediatrician or pediatric nurse within 24 to 48 hours after the infant is discharged home
• Provide parents with educational materials about jaundice

Bottle Feeding Tips

There's more to bottle feeding than you may realize. Get the inside scoop here.

• Change your baby's diaper before the feeding. This helps wake your baby for the feeding and allows for undisturbed sleep after the feeding.

• Prepare your baby's daily amount of formula ahead of time. You can:
  • Mix the desired amount of formula beforehand and put it the fridge. Then when you are ready to use the milk, place it in a bowl of warm water to take the chill off. Prepared powder formula may be kept in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours after mixed.
  • Pre-measure both the powder and water in separate containers (a sealed container for the powder and a baby bottle for the water). Make enough for the day/night. Then, when you are ready to feed your baby, mix the two together. This eliminates the need to warm the milk.
• Use boiled water or bottled water when mixing your baby's formula. When using boiled water, allow for the water to come back to room temperature before mixing with the formula.

• Never warm formula in the microwave. This can cause the milk to be very hot in some areas. Always warm milk by placing the bottle in a bowl or cup of warm water. Be sure to test the milk on the inner aspect of your wrist to ensure temperature safety. Perfect formula temperature is when you are unable to feel hot or cold.

• Discard any unused milk one hour after the feeding. Bacteria from your baby’s saliva begin to rapidly multiply when left at room temperature.

• Make sure to burp your baby frequently during feedings.
  • If your baby does not spit up frequently, wait until your baby stops sucking from the bottle and then burp your baby. The gas bubbles make your baby think that he/she is full and will cause them to stop drinking the milk.
  • Once your baby lets out a good burp, he/she will probably resume eating.
  • If your baby tends to spit up frequently or has colic, try burping your baby more frequently, approximately after every half an ounce or so.
• For a sleepy newborn or preemie:
  • Remove blankets and hat. Babies love to sleep when they are cozy and warm. If that doesn't do the trick, undress your baby.
  • Rub your baby's back along his/her spine.
  • Tickle your baby's feet.
  • Wipe your baby's face and chest with a cool, damp cloth.
  • Hold your baby on your lap with your non-dominate hand supporting your baby's head, neck, and shoulder. Some babies tend to sleep when they are snuggled in mommy or daddy arms during feedings.

Remember, practice makes perfect.