Tag Archives: Symptoms

Health, Medicine, Reviews, Videos

Medicine: How To Treat Coronary Heart Disease

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More than 360,000 people died from coronary artery disease in 2019. While there is no cure to the disease, you can take steps to lower your risk and manage the harmful plaque build-up impacting your health. The information in this video was accurate as of 11.25.2021 and is for information purposes only. Consult your local medical authority or your healthcare practitioner for advice.

Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:12 What is coronary artery disease? 0:26 What are the signs of coronary artery disease? 0:41 Can you reverse coronary artery disease? 1:04 What are statins? 1:34 What are the treatments for coronary artery disease? 1:46 Make lifestyle changes to reduce your risk. 2:07 Taking medication can help treat coronary artery disease. 2:25 What is a coronary stent procedure? 3:03 What is coronary artery bypass graft surgery? 3:36 What’s the best treatment for coronary artery disease? 3:45 When should you talk to your doctor about coronary artery disease symptoms?

Health, Medicine, Reviews, Studies

Infographic: ‘Functional Neurological Disorder’ – Signs & Symptoms (BMJ)

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What you need to know

  • Functional neurological disorder (FND) is associated with considerable distress and disability. The symptoms are not faked
  • Diagnose FND positively on the basis of typical clinical features. It is not a diagnosis of exclusion
  • FND can be diagnosed and treated in presence of comorbid, pathophysiologically defined disease
  • Psychological stressors are important risk factors but are neither necessary nor sufficient for the diagnosis

Functional disorders are conditions whose origin arises primarily from a disorder of nervous system functioning rather than clearly identifiable pathophysiological disease—such as irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and functional neurological disorder (FND)—they are the second commonest reason for new neurology consultations.1 FND is common in emergency settings,2 stroke,3 and rehabilitation services.4 It causes considerable physical disability and distress, and often places an economic burden both on patients and health services.5 Many clinicians have had little formal clinical education on the assessment and management of these disorders, and patients are often not offered potentially effective treatments.

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Health, Medicine

Infographics: “Shingles – Signs & Symptoms” (2020)

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A reactivation of the chickenpox virus in the body, causing a painful rash. Anyone who’s had chickenpox may develop shingles. It isn’t known what reactivates the virus.Shingles causes a painful rash that may appear as a stripe of blisters on the trunk of the body. Pain can persist even after the rash is gone (this is called postherpetic neuralgia).Treatments include pain relief and antiviral medications such as acyclovir or valacyclovir. A chickenpox vaccine in childhood or a shingles vaccine as an adult can minimize the risk of developing shingles.

Health, Medicine, News, Podcasts

Covid-19: Chloroquine + Azithromycin (Z-Pack) – “First Line” Treatment For Early Symptom Patients

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WSJ Coronavirus Patients treated with Chloroquine + Azithromycin Z-Pack March 22 2020

JAMA Clinical Reviews LogoChloroquine was shown in 2004 to be active in vitro against SARS coronavirus but is of unproven efficacy and safety in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The drug’s potential benefits and risks for COVID-19 patients, without and with azithromycin, is discussed by Dr. David Juurlink, head of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

From Wall Street Journal article:

Our experience suggests that hydroxychloroquine, with or without a Z-Pak, should be a first-line treatment. Unfortunately, there is already a shortage of hydroxychloroquine. The federal government should immediately contract with generic manufacturers to ramp up production. Any stockpiles should be released.

As a matter of clinical practice, hydroxychloroquine should be given early to patients who test positive, and perhaps if Covid-19 is presumed—in the case of ill household contacts, for instance. It may be especially useful to treat mild cases and young patients, which would significantly decrease viral transmission and, as they say, “flatten the curve.”

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Health, News

Health Update: Comparing “Coronavirus / Covid-19” And “Influenza” (W.H.O.)

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From an MIT Technology Review article (March 11, 2020):

Here are six differences between coronavirus and the flu:

  • World Health Organization WHOCoronavirus appears to spread more slowly than the flu. This is probably the biggest difference between the two. The flu has a shorter incubation period (the time it takes for an infected person to show symptoms) and a shorter serial interval (or the time between successive cases). Coronavirus’s serial interval is around five to six days, while flu’s gap between cases is more like three days, the WHO says. So flu still spreads more quickly.
  • Shedding: Viral shedding is what happens when a virus has infected a host, has reproduced, and is now being released into the environment. It is what makes a patient infectious. Some people start shedding the coronavirus within two days of contracting it, and before they show symptoms, although this probably isn’t the main way it is spreading, the WHO says.
  • Secondary infections. As if contracting coronavirus wasn’t bad enough, it leads to about two more secondary infections on average. The flu can sometimes cause a secondary infection, usually pneumonia, but it’s rare for a flu patient to get two infections after the flu. The WHO warned that context is key (someone who contracts coronavirus might already have been fighting another condition, for example).
  • Coronavirus Protection from getting sick W.H.O.Don’t blame snotty kids—adults are passing coronavirus around. While kids are the primary culprits for flu transmission, this coronavirus seems to be passed between adults. That also means adults are getting hit hardest—especially those who are older and have underlying medical conditions. Experts are baffled as to why kids seem protected from the worst effects of the coronavirus, according to the Washington Post. Some say they might already have some immunity from other versions of the coronavirus that appear in the common cold; another theory is that kids’ immune systems are always on high alert and might simply be faster than adults’ in battling Covid-19.
  • Coronavirus is far deadlier than the flu. Thus far, the mortality rate for coronavirus (the number of reported cases divided by the number of deaths) is around 3% to 4%, although it’s likely to be lower because many cases have not yet been reported. The flu’s rate is 0.1%. 
  • There is no cure or vaccine for the coronavirus. Not yet, anyway, although work is under way. There is, however, a flu vaccine—and everyone should get it, not least because being vaccinated could help lessen the load on overstretched medical services in the coming weeks.

Read WHO report

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