Name this Condition!

Here’s a medical condition that effects the skin. Typically this condition affects the layers of skin and a raised red patch can be seen.

In this condition, the immune system sends out faulty signals that cause the thickening of the skin.

The actual cause of this thickening of the skin is not known.

The big question is if this condition is contagious or not???

What do you think it is? Add your thoughts to the comment section.

Update: September 9th 2011 – 6:18 Eastern

*We got a ton of responses from Facebook and Twitter. Thanks to everyone for their guesses.

Drum roll……..Psoriasis is the Answer.

Below is a quick update on Psoriasis

Psoriasis

Caused by an immune system sending out faulty signals that speed the growth of the skin cells

Is classified as a chronic immune-medicated disease.

This condition is different than eczema with affects that outer side of the a joint.

Is chronic and reoccurring – which means that it can be difficult to treat.

Is a skin condition that effects the first layer of the epidermis [skin].

Between 10-40% of those having Psoriasis also has psoriatic arthritis which affects the joints like arthritis.

There is likely to be a genetic component, though psoriasis is not completely understood.

Types:

1.) Plaque
2.) Inverse
3.) Guttate
4.) Pustular
5.) Erythrodermic

Most common type is Plaque

- Commonly seen as red and white regions of scaly patches.
- Can be a silvery-white appearance
- Often found on elbows and knees
- Can also affect scalp, hands, fingers, legs, abdomen.

Classifications:

Nonpustular

Psoriasis Vulgaris

- Plaque-like psoriasis
- Affects 80-90% of those with psoriasis
- Raised areas of inflamed skin called plaques

Psoriatic erythroderma

- Widespread inflammation and exfoliation of skin
- Covers most of the body surface
- Severe itching
- Often swelling is associated
- Can be seen with abrupt stopping of systemic treatment
- This form of psoriasis can be fatal

Pustular

Pustular psoriasis

- Appears as raised bumps that are filled with pustules. [Not infections]
- Skin around pustules is red and often tender
- Often seen on hands and feet (palmoplantar pustulosis)
- Can be seen on any part of the body
- Types:
* Annular pustular psoriasis
* Acrodermatitis continua
* Generalized pustular psoriasis

Learn more here:

Research is looking into the distinct possibility that there may be a tumor marker in the blood of those with  ovarian cancer . Early diagnosis of this cancer can be very difficult. As it advances it becomes harder and harder to treat. New research hopes the answers are in the blood.

The research is taking place in Chicago at the Rush University Medical Center. Initial research was intriguing though additional studies are required before anything is certain.

Antibodies, found on the surface of ovarian cancer cells, were found in the blood of most of the women with ovarian cancer. These antibodies were also found with women who had previously known ovarian problems – but not necessarily cancer. Women with normal ovarian function and no ovarian cancer were found to not have this antibody.

Typical treatment of ovarian cancer is to removed the uterus completely.  This is usually done because the cancer is in an advanced stage. Single ovary removal along with the fallopian tubes can also be seen.  Following surgery chemotherapy is a possibility.  Radiation is rarely used as a treatment.

If the cancer is diagnosed early – the fiver year survival is very high.  If not, the survival rate is far lower.

I couldn’t help but to feel a little sympathy for this guy.  Along with my sympathy – I’ve also felt sympathy pain – in my neck.  I can’t imagine how it would feel to have a horn through the neck, into the mouth. Wow – I’m officially impressed.

In case you were wondering, this is a Spanish bullfighter – Julio Aparicio during a 2010 bullfight in Madrid.

What is the most dangerous activity that you’ve done?

A recent study has really brought to light an interesting aspect of giving birth.  A recent study suggested that at least 34% of all childbirths are done as a C-section.  This begs the question….are all of these C-sections medically necessary?  It is certain that the number of C-sections are increasing.

Giving birth by Cesarean section or also called Cesarean section and C-section can be a difficult choice.  For many it becomes a life saving measure during an emergency while giving birth.  It is another valid option other than vaginal delivery.  The raise in number of C-sections is astounding.  Consider that in 1970 only 6 percent of all births were by C-section.  Back in 2005 that number had increased 5 times to over 30% of pregnancies.

C-section is a abdominal surgery then through the uterus to allow for the birth of a child. It is often considered riskier than vaginal birth but both procedures cause a risk for  mortality of both the baby and the mother.

The following are several reasons to have a C-section planned:

1.)  A previous C-section – although not must – having a previous C-section does not prohibit you from ever having a vaginal delivery again

2.)  Your baby is breech   [Bottom first]

3.)  Your baby is transverse  [sideways]

4.)  More than one baby – C-section may be an option

5.)  You develop a condition known as Placenta previa

6.)  Mother having HIV and a high viral load.    [HIV isn't passed through the placenta but can be transferred
during vaginal delivery

7.)  Complication to baby that otherwise would worsen with vaginal delivery

8.)  A very large baby

9.)  Others

Unplanned C-sections:

1.)  Difficulty during birth

2.)  Distress of baby during birth

3.)  Umbilical cord concerns

4.)  Placenta abruption  [placenta unattaches from uterine wall - loss of oxygen to baby]

5.)  Others
*** – remember that over 90% of preterm deliveries are done by C-section   http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/22684_30185.asp

Let’s take a closer look at the data from the most recent study:

19 out of 50 states were studied

Florida (38.6%), New Jersey (38%) , and Texas (35.9%), had the highest rates.

Utah (22.4%), Wisconsin (25.1%), and Colorado (27.3%)  had the lowest rates.

Study was done by HealthGrades – this website allows a user to search and rate their physician.

From 2002 – 2009 C-section occurance raised from 27% to 34%

A separate study from the Centers for Disease Control put the number at 32% in 2007

What was your experiences with a C-section?

-  Please go to our comment section and let us know  – Elective vs. Medically Required

Type of deformity of the outer ear.

Take a look and in the comment section – give us your thoughts.

Check back later this week for a description.

We will also discuss prevention and treatment.

This is Cauliflower Ear

Is an Ear complication also called:  hematoma auris or traumatic auricular hematoma.

The external portion of the ear suffers an injury, blood clot or other cause for a collection of fluid to occur under the perichondrium.

The cartilage of the ear, separates from the perichondrium causing a fibrious tissues to develop.

This is pictured above – the thickening of the tissues is caused by the fibrious tissue.

The external ear resembles a cauliflower – and so it is named.

Hematoma is the accumulation of blood in a certain area.

Commonly seen:

1.)  Wrestlers

2.)  Fighters

3.)  Kick boxers or Martial Artists

4.)  Rugby players

Can be prevented or limited by Headgear – that protects the ears.

If untreated, can be painful and deformity and even hearing loss.

Treatment:

1.)  Antibiotics – when necessary.

2.)  Draining – when necessary

3.)  Tension or Compression dressing – placed around ears by a medical provider to limit the separation of the cartilage

Look into your medicine cabinet and you will undoubtedly find a prescription drug.  Then think that someone out there is abusing that same medication.  Many studies are pointing out what most people already know.  Drug abuse is rising and just as concerning, many of the drugs are prescription medications.

Recently, I heard someone discussing their encounter with a worker who had entered into their home to help re-energize their home.  Instead, they were forced to approach the lead foremen and ask that they and their workers leave.  When asked why, the home owner  insisted that he had seen a worker going through his medicine and several medications were missing. The foreman soon fired the worker, because this hadn’t been the only time that this had happened.

If you have never taken a narcotic or many other prescription medications; they can make you high, euphoric, relaxed, aware, asleep, and can relieve the pain.  This euphoria is often associated with pain receptors in the brain.   These important receptors control our pain, the medications have been designed to target these specific receptors. (That’s why, when in pain, they work so well.)

In 2008, Emergency rooms throughout the country saw an estimated 1 million visits from people who were abusing prescription medications and/or over-the-counter medicines.  These medications are often painkillers and sedatives. It must be noted that not all medications are prescribed medications.  Over doses in cold medicine, Tylenol, laxatives and many other medications are seen as well.  Weight loss, sleep, studying, partying, and many other “reasons” have been explained.

The number of visits for prescribed or OTC overdoses was almost the same number of visits from those overdosing on heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs. That is pretty impressive or alarming, depending on how you look at it.

Misuse:

Often the thought among patients is that more is better.  This certainly is not always true.  What the body can handle should be taken into account.  Often if one IBU isn’t working, conventional wisdom says that ten will.  Misuse without the intention of getting a high still can lead to serious problems.

Tylenol is a great example. Tylenol has a threshold of how much should be consumed in one day.  4 grams is basically the absolute ceiling on a per day  basis.  Overdosing on Tylenol has lead to many medications including Darvocet to be taken off the shelf.  Tylenol is in so many of the pain medications, that when you overdose for a high or to get pain under control, Tylenol could be the real problem.

Overdose:

Unintended -Suicide attempts by the means of drug overdoses are increasing as well.  Access to medications are typically just a room away or even a friend away.  This can often be a very difficult thing to understand and often the complications are more than intended.

Abuse:

It is believed that approximately 20 percent of individuals are taking prescription medication for non medical reasons. They may have started out with a need, such a pain control, but have continued the medication long after the pain has stopped.  Addiction comes into play as much for medications than for drugs such as cocaine, heroin, meth, and several others.

Symptoms:

This is a very difficult aspect of drug overdoses and abuse.  Often the symptoms depend on the medications take.  Sedation, sleep, anxiety, and many others can bee seen.  From the UDC  and Mayo clinic, the following table illustrates some of the more often seen symptoms for abuse. They also divide the typical types of medications abused including: Opioid painkillers, Sedatives and Tranquilizers, and finally Stimulants.

Prevention:

Misuse of medication can be prevented.  Know the dosing and instructions of the medication you are taking.  Abuse is harder, often because those affected are knowingly and willingly abusing.  Though to prevent initial problems, take medications as prescribed.  Seek medical attention if concerned for abuse or overuse.  Overdoses need to seek medical treatment and may include a visit to the Emergency Room.  Do not hesitate in many cases.

Lock up your medications.  Keep in pill bottles that clearly have the name and directions written.  Keep away from children and be mindful of others having access to your medications.

Overall

Medication, even when taken appropriately may have some abuse possibility.  Be mindful of why you are taking a medication and discuss other medication possibilities if you know that you have a tendency to misuse or have an addictive personality.  Understand the devastating affects that overdoses and abuse of prescription medications can have.  Talk with your Physician about your concerns.

Between the late 1990′s and 2005, the annual number of unintentional drug overdose deaths in the United States more than doubled—from 11,155 to 22,448. Drug overdose became the second leading cause of unintentional injury death in the nation in 2002, just behind motor-vehicle injuries. The 35–44 age group had the largest increase.

It is always remarkable to watch a clip or learn of someone doing the unexpected. The story of ASU’s wrestler who was born with only one leg seems to be hitting the mark.  What an exceptional story as well as one of inspiration. Anthony Robles wanted to succeed and has in so many ways. He was born with only one leg and has had an up hill climb every since.

He ran a mile, on crutches, in just around ten minutes.  He has improved that to under eight minutes and maybe even better. That’s pretty incredible and that was back in 2009.  Check out the video below.

Fast forward to 2011 and Anthony Robles won the NCAA National Championship for his weight class at 125 pounds. This capped an undefeated season. Robles is now a senior at ASU and has done fantastic throughout the year. He beat the Division I reigning champion in that weight class, Matt McDonough of Iowa.  Throughout the season McDonough and Robles took turns with the #1 ranking in their weight class.  On March 19th 2011, they met on the mat to see who would emerge.  In the end Robles won by a 7-1 decision.

Clearly, he finished at the top during his wrestling career, but maybe more importantly, he learned something about himself and has been an inspiration to thousands and thousands who tell themselves, “I can’t.”  Robles probably has said that a few times to himself, but in the end, he got back up and back to work.  It paid off with a National Championship.  That’s pretty impressive.

Associated Press

Read more:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2011/03/19/20110319asu-anthony-robles-wrestling-national-champion.html#ixzz1HGHWBDGU

http://www.thescore.com/buzz/articles/125646-win-anthony-robles

Photo of the day. The man in the pictured above is Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysa, and this happened to him Monday, February 21st, 2011 after falling at the 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in Manchester, England.

Awang apparently fell in the last lap of an indoor racing at the final of the Men’s Keirin final at the Track Cycling World Cup.  He fell with three other cyclists.  He was able to get back onto his bike and finish the last lap. He finished in third place behind two others who avoided the crash.

He crashed on a wooded floor, which caused a large splinter to become lodged in the mid portion of his left leg.  It appears to have entered through the lateral portion of his leg, the calf, as pictured.

Imagine heading to the hospital for an expected surgery.  You are told that surgery will be a breeze.  You’re slightly to very nervous about being cut open. Finally, they give you the sedation and prep you for surgery.  They begin the countdown but you don’t even get pass 5 before you are out.

When you finally awake you are unable to speak. It is almost impossible to swallow.  Your throat is so sore that it feels as if someone is pouring razorblades into your mouth.  You can’t breath, you tense up your fist and want to scream, but you can not make a sound.

Finally you hear a voice, “Calm down, you are okay.  Take several deep breaths.  You are being mechanically ventilated to help you breath.”

Surgery may have gone as planned with a complete success.  The problem that occurred my have been what is called Aspiration Pneumonia. This can be a potentially serious condition. It is also known as bronchopneumonia and occurs when foreign material, such as oral or gastric contents, enter the lungs. 

Such foreign material can be from food, saliva, gastric juices, nasal secretions and more. When this happens during surgery, often the cause is eating something before surgery.  But of course, this is not always the case.  Vomiting during surgery can happen and gastric juices can then slide into the lungs.

Aspiration pneumonia does not just occur during surgery.  Can also be seen after strokes, seizures, and other conditions where the swallowing reflux is changed or altered.  Respiratory patients with asthma, COPD [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease] or, respiratory distress and any number of other diseases or conditions can have a similar outcome.

Bacterial infections may result as part of the aspiration and the result could be pneumonia.  Hospital stay and antibiotics are often necessary to get through this difficult experience.  Sometimes, doing everything perfectly still results in an incident of Aspiration Pneumonia.

Mechanical Ventilation is a method that assists or can replace breathing where a machine takes control of the breathing.  When a machine is used, it is more of a long term use.  A very short term use can be when a breathing bag is manipulated by nursing or medical staff to provide the acute breathing of someone who otherwise can’t breath on their own.

After a patient awakes and can breath on their own, especially in cases of Aspiration Pneumonia, the breathing tube can be removed and the patient will then breath on his own.

A cholera outbreak has hit Haiti. We’ve heard about this for weeks and have had expectation for months that something so drastic could occur. Currently more than 60,000 people have been affected or infected during this outbreak. Of this amount, more than 1,400 have died.

Cholera is an outbreak of the small intestines. It is caused by a bacteria called Vibrio cholerae.

Symptoms of this Infection

-    Watery Diarrhea
-    Vomiting
-    Dehydration
-    Electrolyte imbalance
-    Low blood pressure
-    Wrinkled hands
-    Poor skin tugor
-    Sunken eyes [Eye Anatomy]
-    Rapid pulse
-    Fever
-    Chills

Transmission of this disease occurs primary through contaminated water. Often this contamination is the drinking water in places where such disasters occur, such as that seen in Haiti. Symptoms begin within 1 – 5 days after ingesting the bacteria. It is vital to replace the fluid that is lost during vomiting or diarrhea. Antibiotics can be helpful in some cases.

Throughout the world, each year, more than 3 million people are affected and more than 100,000 deaths occur.

In Haiti that overall affected could be as high as 200,000 – 400,000 people. This would be a tremendously difficult timer for the people in Haiti. About 40% of those affected, in Haiti, require hospitalization. This is a very large burden on those health care portions of the country that have already be hit and are dealing with many other problems.

The first reported outbreak began in October. It quickly spread throughout the country. Many blame the U.N.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said shortfalls in resources have hampered efforts to stem the tide of disease.

“More actors are needed to treat the sick and implement preventative actions, especially as cases increase dramatically across the country,” Stefano Zannini, the charitable medical group’s head of mission in Haiti, said in a statement.

Please check out a related blog stories:

Health In Haiti The Crisis

Potential Health Problems after Haitian Earthquake