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Scoliosis: Types , Symptoms, Causes & Treatments

What Is Scoliosis?

Scoliosis affects the spine. Although the spine is sometimes called “the backbone,” it’s not just one bone. It’s made of lots of small bones (called vertebrae) that are connected by a type of elastic tissue called cartilage. This gives people the flexibility to bend, stretch, balance, and even walk.

Scoliosis is when the vertebrae form a curved line instead of being straight. Sometimes they also rotate (twist), like a corkscrew. This can cause health problems.

Types of Scoliosis

Orthopedic specialists (doctors and other providers who treat bone and muscle problems) group scoliosis into types. Knowing the type of scoliosis helps health care providers treat it.

  • Idiopathic scoliosis. This is the most common type of scoliosis. Kids can get it at any age, but most of the time it happens around puberty when a child goes through a growth spurt. Experts don’t know exactly why this type of scoliosis develops, but it runs in some families.
  • Congenital scoliosis. This type of scoliosis happens when something goes wrong with the way some of the vertebrae developed while a baby was in the womb. The problem might not be noticed until a child goes through a growth spurt, usually around age 2 or between 8 and 13.
  • Scoliosis caused by a medical condition. Some kids develop scoliosis because they have a long-term medical problem that affects the muscles or skeletal system. For example, kids with muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, Marfan syndrome, or osteogenesis imperfecta may get scoliosis. Kids who have had tumors or growths on their spine may also develop scoliosis.

Symptoms:

Because of the many possible combinations of curvatures, scoliosis can look different in different children.

  • uneven shoulder heights
  • head not centered with the rest of the body
  • uneven hip heights or positions
  • uneven shoulder blade heights or positions
  • prominent shoulder blade
  • when standing straight, uneven arm lengths
  • when bending forward, the left and right sides of the back are asymmetrical

Symptoms that suggest scoliosis can resemble those of other spinal conditions or deformities, or may result from an injury or infection.

Causes:

There are several causes of abnormal spinal curves:

In many cases, as in idiopathic scoliosis, there’s no definite cause for (or way to prevent) the spine’s failure to grow as straight as it should. Some babies are born with spinal formation problems that cause the spine to grow unevenly. These include congenital scoliosis, congenital kyphosis, spina bifida or Klippel-Feil anomaly.

Some children have nerve or muscle (neuromuscular) diseases, injuries or other illnesses that cause spinal deformities, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida or muscular dystrophy. In these conditions, muscle abnormalities combined with the child’s growth result in deformity.

Other causes of scoliosis may include:

  • bone dysplasias: many generalized abnormalities of bone formation are associated with scoliosis
  • connective tissue disorders: conditions with abnormal tissues and ligaments, such as Marfan syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
  • differences in leg lengths: mild leg length differences may cause a slight curvature but rarely cause a serious curvature
  • spinal cord injury with paralysis
  • infection
  • tumors

Treatments

Small curves usually don’t cause problems. But a curve that gets worse can be bad for a person’s health. Very large curves can damage the joints and cause arthritis of the spine. Large curves can make the ribs rub against the pelvis, causing pain. Someone whose spine curves a lot might get lung problems.

If it looks like scoliosis could cause health problems, doctors(spine surgeons) will treat it with a back brace to prevent it from getting worse. In some cases, kids need surgery.

Undescended testicles: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Undescended testicles, also known as cryptorchidism, is a fairly common and normally painless congenital condition in which one or both of a baby’s testicles (testes) have not moved into the proper position. One to 2 percent of male infants are affected.

Before a baby boy is born, the testicles form in the child’s abdomen. During the third trimester, the testicles travel from the abdomen, down the groin and into the scrotum (the sack of skin beneath the penis). An undescended testicle doesn’t complete the descent process. The testicle may be located anywhere from the abdomen to the groin and may affect one or both testicles.

Premature babies are affected by undescended testicles at a higher rate. The more premature your baby is, the higher the chance of having an undescended testicle.

In some cases — about 20 percent of affected boys — an undescended testicle will descend (or “drop”) on its own within the child’s first six months of life. Those that don’t will require surgery.

Symptoms:

In a baby affected by undescended testicles, one or both of his testicles either appear to be missing or cannot be felt in the scrotum. If both testicles are undescended, the scrotum will look unusually small and flat. If only one testicle is affected, the scrotum may look lopsided.

If your baby’s testicle appears to be “sometimes there and sometimes not,” we call that testicle retractile. It’s a normal condition that requires no treatment.

Causes:

Experts have yet to identify any single cause of undescended testicles. The following factors may interfere with the normal descent and development of the testicles:

  • abnormal anatomy
  • hormonal problems
  • environmental influences

Treatment:

Surgery is highly recommended in order to reduce the risk of cancer or infertility, to improve your son’s body image through adolescence and adulthood, and to reduce long-term effects and the risk of cancer or infertility. In most cases, doctors(andrology surgeon) are able to repair an undescended testicle with a single, simple operation at around 12 months of age.

What are the complications associated with surgery?

Complications from surgery are relatively rare, but in some cases can include bleeding and infection. The most common complication — which is still quite rare, is when the moved testicle goes back up into the groin. In this case, doctors will need to perform another surgery. In very rare cases, a testicle can lose its blood supply, which will render it nonviable. It will then become scar tissue. But again, this is very rare.

Your son may feel some discomfort after his operation, but most boys feel better after about a day. Your doctor will probably recommend that your son avoid sitting on riding toys for about two weeks in order to prevent injury to the testicle. You can expect annual follow-up examinations so the doctor can check that the testicle is growing normally.

What is the long-term outlook for children with undescended testicles?

Undescended testicles may increase the risk of infertility, especially if both testicles are affected. However, boys who have one undescended testicle tend to father children at the same rate as those who are not affected by the condition at all.

Boys who have two undescended testicles — a much lower percentage of patients — do have a significantly lower fertility rate. A child with undescended testicles is slightly more prone to develop testicular cancer, even after corrective surgery. However, surgery performed before puberty may reduce the risk of developing cancer.

Parents should know that cases of cancer related to undescended testicles are rare. Having the surgery is important in that the testicle is located where a young man can palpate a mass if it should develop.

Glomerulonephritis: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of the tiny filters in your kidneys. Glomeruli remove excess fluid, electrolytes and waste from your bloodstream and pass them into your urine. Glomerulonephritis can come on suddenly (acute) or gradually (chronic). Glomerulonephritis occurs on its own or as part of another disease, such as lupus or diabetes. Severe or prolonged inflammation associated with glomerulonephritis can damage your kidneys. Treatment depends on the type of glomerulonephritis you have.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of glomerulonephritis depend on whether you have the acute or chronic form and the cause.

Glomerulonephritis signs and symptoms include:

  • Pink or cola-colored urine from red blood cells in your urine (hematuria)
  • Foamy urine due to excess protein (proteinuria)
  • High blood pressure (hypertension)
  • Fluid retention (edema) with swelling evident in your face, hands, feet and abdomen

Causes

Many conditions can cause glomerulonephritis. Sometimes the disease runs in families and sometimes the cause is unknown. Conditions that can lead to inflammation of the kidneys’ glomeruli include:

Infections

  • Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. Glomerulonephritis may develop a week or two after recovery from a strep throat infection or, rarely, a skin infection. To fight the infection, your body produces extra antibodies that can eventually settle in the glomeruli, causing inflammation.Children are more likely to develop post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis than are adults, and they’re also more likely to recover quickly.
  • Bacterial endocarditis. Bacteria occasionally can spread through your bloodstream and lodge in your heart, causing an infection of one or more of your heart valves. You’re at greater risk of this condition if you have a heart defect, such as a damaged or artificial heart valve. Bacterial endocarditis is associated with glomerular disease, but the connection between the two is unclear.
  • Viral infections. Viral infections, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and hepatitis C, can trigger glomerulonephritis.

Immune diseases

  • Lupus. A chronic inflammatory disease, lupus can affect many parts of your body, including your skin, joints, kidneys, blood cells, heart and lungs.
  • Goodpasture’s syndrome. A rare immunological lung disorder that can mimic pneumonia, Goodpasture’s syndrome causes bleeding in your lungs as well as glomerulonephritis.
  • IgA nephropathy. Characterized by recurrent episodes of blood in the urine, this primary glomerular disease results from deposits of immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the glomeruli. IgA nephropathy can progress for years with no noticeable symptoms.

Vasculitis

  • Polyarteritis. This form of vasculitis affects small and medium blood vessels in many parts of your body, such as your heart, kidneys and intestines.
  • Granulomatosis with polyangiitis. This form of vasculitis, formerly known as Wegener’s granulomatosis,  affects small and medium blood vessels in your lungs, upper airways and kidneys.

Conditions likely to cause scarring of the glomeruli

  • High blood pressure. This can damage your kidneys and impair their ability to function normally. Glomerulonephritis can also lead to high blood pressure because it reduces kidney function and can influence how your kidneys handle sodium.
  • Diabetic kidney disease (diabetic nephropathy). This can affect anyone with diabetes, usually taking years to develop. Good control of blood sugar levels and blood pressure might prevent or slow kidney damage.
  • Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Characterized by scattered scarring of some of the glomeruli, this condition can result from another disease or occur for no known reason.

Infrequently, chronic glomerulonephritis runs in families. One inherited form, Alport syndrome, also might impair hearing or vision.

In addition to the causes listed above, glomerulonephritis is associated with certain cancers, such as multiple myeloma, lung cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Treatment: Therapies for associated kidney failure

For acute glomerulonephritis and acute kidney failure, dialysis can help remove excess fluid and control high blood pressure. The only long-term therapies for end-stage kidney disease are kidney dialysis and kidney transplant. When a transplant isn’t possible, often because of poor general health, dialysis is the only option.

Complications

Glomerulonephritis can damage your kidneys so that they lose their filtering ability. As a result, dangerous levels of fluid, electrolytes and waste build up in your body.

Possible complications of glomerulonephritis include:

  • Acute kidney failure. Loss of function in the filtering part of the nephron can result in  rapid accumulation of waste products. You might need emergency dialysis — an artificial means of removing extra fluids and waste from your blood — typically by an artificial kidney machine.
  • Chronic kidney disease. Your kidneys gradually lose their filtering ability. Kidney function that deteriorates to less than 10 percent of normal capacity results in end-stage kidney disease, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to sustain life.
  • High blood pressure. Damage to your kidneys and the resulting buildup of wastes in the bloodstream can raise your blood pressure.
  • Nephrotic syndrome. With this syndrome, too much protein in your urine results in too little protein in your blood. Nephrotic syndrome can be associated with high blood cholesterol and swelling (edema) of the eyelids, feet and abdomen.

Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Atrial fibrillation  is a type of irregular heartbeat. If you have it, your doctor will classify yours by the reason for it and on how long it lasts. When your heartbeat returns to normal within 7 days, on its own or with treatment, it’s known as paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.It can happen a few times a year or as often as every day. It often becomes a permanent condition that needs regular treatment.

Symptoms:

  • Heat palpitations — a flutter in your chest or rapid heartbeat
  • Chest pain or pressure
  • Confused
  • Weak or short of energy
  • Dizzy
  • Short of breath
  • Like you have to pee more often
  • Like it’s hard to exercise
  • Tired

You may feel chest pain or pressure. If you do, call 911 right away. You may be having a heart attack.

Causes & Risk Factors

Doctors don’t always know what causes paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. It often happens because things like coronary heart disease or high blood pressure damage your heart. If that damage affects the part of your heart that sends the electrical pulses that control your heartbeat, those pulses can come too fast or at the wrong time.

Treatment

There are several options to control AFib, or maybe stop it altogether.

Medications

If your problem comes from a condition like an overactive thyroid gland or high blood pressure, your doctor will give you medications to control those issues.

Generally, your doctor will try to keep your heartbeat steady and prevent problems like blood clots.

Heart rate control: The most common way to treat atrial fibrillation is with drugs that control your heartbeat.

Electrical Cardioversion:The doctor gives your heart a shock to regulate your heartbeat. She’ll use paddles, or she’ll stick patches called electrodes to your chest.

Surgery: Cardiac Ablation

option 1: Cathedral Ablation

Option 2: Surgery ablation

Option3: AV node ablation

Stroke: Types, Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of your brain is interrupted or reduced, depriving brain tissue of oxygen and nutrients. Within minutes, brain cells begin to die. A stroke is a medical emergency. Prompt treatment is crucial. Early action can minimize brain damage and potential complications. The good news is that strokes can be treated and prevented.

Symptoms

Watch for these signs and symptoms if you think you or someone else may be having a stroke. Pay attention to when the signs and symptoms begin. The length of time they have been present can affect your treatment options:

  • Trouble with speaking and understanding. You may experience confusion. You may slur your words or have difficulty understanding speech.
  • Paralysis or numbness of the face, arm or leg. You may develop sudden numbness, weakness or paralysis in your face, arm or leg. This often happens just on one side of your body. Try to raise both your arms over your head at the same time. If one arm begins to fall, you may be having a stroke. Also, one side of your mouth may droop when you try to smile.
  • Trouble with seeing in one or both eyes. You may suddenly have blurred or blackened vision in one or both eyes, or you may see double.
  • Headache. A sudden, severe headache, which may be accompanied by vomiting, dizziness or altered consciousness, may indicate you’re having a stroke.
  • Trouble with walking. You may stumble or experience sudden dizziness, loss of balance or loss of coordination.

When to see a doctor

Seek immediate medical attention if you notice any signs or symptoms of a stroke, even if they seem to fluctuate or disappear. Think “FAST” and do the following:

  • Face. Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
  • Arms. Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? Or is one arm unable to rise up?
  • Speech. Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is his or her speech slurred or strange?
  • Time. If you observe any of these signs

Causes

A stroke may be caused by a blocked artery (ischemic stroke) or the leaking or bursting of a blood vessel (hemorrhagic stroke). Some people may experience only a temporary disruption of blood flow to the brain (transient ischemic attack, or TIA) that doesn’t cause permanent damage.

Ischemic stroke

About 80 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes. Ischemic strokes occur when the arteries to your brain become narrowed or blocked, causing severely reduced blood flow (ischemia). The most common ischemic strokes include:

  • Thrombotic stroke. A thrombotic stroke occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one of the arteries that supply blood to your brain. A clot may be caused by fatty deposits (plaque) that build up in arteries and cause reduced blood flow (atherosclerosis) or other artery conditions.
  • Embolic stroke. An embolic stroke occurs when a blood clot or other debris forms away from your brain — commonly in your heart — and is swept through your bloodstream to lodge in narrower brain arteries. This type of blood clot is called an embolus.

Hemorrhagic stroke

Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in your brain leaks or ruptures. Brain hemorrhages can result from many conditions that affect your blood vessels. These include:

  • Uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension)
  • Overtreatment with anticoagulants (blood thinners)
  • Weak spots in your blood vessel walls (aneurysms)

A less common cause of hemorrhage is the rupture of an abnormal tangle of thin-walled blood vessels (arteriovenous malformation). Types of hemorrhagic stroke include:

  • Intracerebral hemorrhage. In an intracerebral hemorrhage, a blood vessel in the brain bursts and spills into the surrounding brain tissue, damaging brain cells. Brain cells beyond the leak are deprived of blood and are also damaged.High blood pressure, trauma, vascular malformations, use of blood-thinning medications and other conditions may cause an intracerebral hemorrhage.
  • Subarachnoid hemorrhage. In a subarachnoid hemorrhage, an artery on or near the surface of your brain bursts and spills into the space between the surface of your brain and your skull. This bleeding is often signaled by a sudden, severe headache.A subarachnoid hemorrhage is commonly caused by the bursting of a small sack-shaped or berry-shaped aneurysm. After the hemorrhage, the blood vessels in your brain may widen and narrow erratically (vasospasm), causing brain cell damage by further limiting blood flow.

Transient ischemic attack (TIA)

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) — sometimes known as a ministroke — is a temporary period of symptoms similar to those you’d have in a stroke. A temporary decrease in blood supply to part of your brain causes TIAs, which may last as little as five minutes. Even when symptoms last for under an hour, there is still a risk of permanent tissue damage.

Treatment:

  • Intravenous injection of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).
  • Emergency endovascular procedures.
  • Carotid endarterectomy
  • Angioplasty and stents
  • Surgical blood vessel repair
  • Neuro-Rehabilitation

Risk factors

Many factors can increase your stroke risk. Some factors can also increase your chances of having a heart attack. Potentially treatable stroke risk factors include:

Lifestyle risk factors

  • Being overweight or obese
  • Physical inactivity
  • Heavy or binge drinking
  • Use of illicit drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines

Medical risk factors

  • Blood pressure readings higher than 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg)
  • Cigarette smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke
  • High cholesterol
  • Diabetes
  • Obstructive sleep apnea
  • Cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, heart defects, heart infection or abnormal heart rhythm
  • Personal or family history of stroke, heart attack or transient ischemic attack.

Other factors associated with a higher risk of stroke include:

  • Age —People age 55 or older have a higher risk of stroke than do younger people.
  • Race — African-Asians have a higher risk of stroke than do people of other races.
  • Sex — Men have a higher risk of stroke than women. Women are usually older when they have strokes, and they’re more likely to die of strokes than are men.
  • Hormones — use of birth control pills or hormone therapies that include estrogen, as well as increased estrogen levels from pregnancy and childbirth.

Complications

A stroke can sometimes cause temporary or permanent disabilities, depending on how long the brain lacks blood flow and which part was affected. Complications may include:

  • Paralysis or loss of muscle movement. You may become paralyzed on one side of your body, or lose control of certain muscles, such as those on one side of your face or one arm. Physical therapy may help you return to activities affected by paralysis, such as walking, eating and dressing.
  • Difficulty talking or swallowing. A stroke might affect control of the muscles in your mouth and throat, making it difficult for you to talk clearly (dysarthria), swallow (dysphagia) or eat. You also may have difficulty with language (aphasia), including speaking or understanding speech, reading, or writing. Therapy with a speech-language pathologist might help.
  • Memory loss or thinking difficulties. Many people who have had strokes experience some memory loss. Others may have difficulty thinking, making judgments, reasoning and understanding concepts.
  • Emotional problems. People who have had strokes may have more difficulty controlling their emotions, or they may develop depression.
  • Pain. Pain, numbness or other strange sensations may occur in the parts of the body affected by stroke. For example, if a stroke causes you to lose feeling in your left arm, you may develop an uncomfortable tingling sensation in that arm.People also may be sensitive to temperature changes, especially extreme cold, after a stroke. This complication is known as central stroke pain or central pain syndrome. This condition generally develops several weeks after a stroke, and it may improve over time. But because the pain is caused by a problem in your brain, rather than a physical injury, there are few treatments.
  • Changes in behavior and self-care ability. People who have had strokes may become more withdrawn and less social or more impulsive. They may need help with grooming and daily chores.

As with any brain injury, the success of treating these complications varies from person to person.

Uterine Myomatosis: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Uterine myomatosis

Uterine myomatosis is a benign type of cancer, often affecting women over 30 years of age. It is the presence of tumors in the musculature of the uterus. If a single muscular tumor is found in the uterus, it is called a myoma, if there are more myomas present, they are referred to as myomatosis. In some women myomatosis can cause no issues and be left untreated, however, if any problems present themselves, a surgery is required.

Causes:

Uterine myomatosis is the most common pelvic tumor, present in up to 40% of women in the age of 30-50. The tumor may be solitary, referred to as a myoma, but often there are multiple, known as myomatosis. It is a hormone dependent tumor, meaning that it is influenced by natural female hormones present during childbearing age and in menopause, when regular menstrual bleeding stops due to a decrease of female hormones production it tends to disappear on its own. Its exact causes are not yet understood however, genetic influences play a role as well.

Symptoms:

Myomatosis is not dangerous on its own, but it can cause issues to the woman, especially if it reaches larger dimensions. The most common symptoms is a strong and prolonged menstrual bleeding, which can cause anemia and tiredness and weakness as a result. Further symptoms can be a painful sexual intercourse, pain or pressure in the abdominal area and frequent urination, if the enlarged uterus pushes on the urinary tract. Myomatosis can also cause infertility. If it is present during pregnancy, the growth of myomas accelerated due to the increased amount of hormones and can complicate the course of pregnancy or be the cause of complications during birth. If you suffer from strong or irregular menstrual bleeding, weakness and tiredness after exertion, abdominal pain and other symptoms listed above, you need to visit your gynecologist as soon as possible.

Treatments:

If the uterine myomatosis causes no issues, it is possible to go without treatment and only undergo regular gynecological exams. In older women, who have significant issues, are on the verge of menopause and don’t plan any pregnancy, the entire uterus may be removed. This procedure is known as a hysterectomy. It is a surgery performed in a full anesthesia with several days of hospitalization. The uterus may be removed through the abdomen through an open incision, it can be removed laparoscopically or through the vagina. Laparoscopy is a method where the doctor makes several small openings to the abdomen. Through these holes, using and optical device and other tools he removes the uterus, watching the entire procedure on a monitor. The ovaries and fallopian tubes are usually left, as their function, tied to the production of hormones, is important. If the woman has already underwent menopause, these organs are removed as well. Other procedure is used for young women planning a child. In this case it is important to save the uterus and only remove the tumors that would prevent pregnancy. These are removed laparoscopically or hysteroscopically. Using hysteroscopy it is possible to observe the uterus’s inside as well as remove individual myomas.

Urethra Stricture: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

The urethra is a tube that carries urine from the bladder so it can be expelled from the body. Usually the urethra is wide enough for urine to flow freely through it. When the urethra narrows, it can restrict urinary flow. This is known as a urethral stricture. Urethral stricture is a medical condition that mainly affects men.

Causes:

Urethral stricture involves constriction of the urethra. This is usually due to tissue inflammation or the presence of scar tissue. Scar tissue can be a result of many factors. Young boys who have hypospadias surgery (a procedure to correct an underdeveloped urethra) and men who have penile implants have a higher chance of developing urethral stricture. A straddle injury is a common type of trauma that can lead to urethral stricture. Examples of straddle injuries include falling on a bicycle bar or getting hit in the area close to the scrotum.

Other possible causes of urethral stricture include:

  • pelvic fractures
  • catheter insertion
  • radiation
  • surgery performed on the prostate
  • benign prostatic hyperplasia

Rare causes include:

  • a tumor located in close proximity to the urethra
  • untreated or repetitive urinary tract infections
  • the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) gonorrhea or chlamydia
What are the risk factors for urethral stricture?

Some men have an elevated risk of developing urethral stricture, especially those who have:

  • had one or more STIs
  • had a recent catheter (a small, flexible tube inserted into the body to drain urine from the bladder) placement
  • had urethritis (swelling and irritation in the urethra), possibly due to infection
  • an enlarged prostate

Urethral stricture can cause numerous symptoms, ranging from mild to severe. Some of the signs of a urethral stricture include:

  • weak urine flow or reduction in the volume of urine
  • sudden, frequent urges to urinate
  • a feeling of incomplete bladder emptying after urination
  • frequent starting and stopping urinary stream
  • pain or burning during urination
  • inability to control urination (incontinence)
  • pain in the pelvic or lower abdominal area
  • urethral discharge
  • penile swelling and pain
  • presence of blood in the semen or urine
  • darkening of the urine
  • inability to urinate (this is very serious and requires immediate medical attention)

Treatments:

Nonsurgical

The primary mode of treatment is to make the urethra wider using a medical instrument called a dilator. This is an outpatient procedure, meaning you won’t have to spend the night at the hospital. A doctor will begin by passing a small wire through the urethra and into the bladder to begin to dilate it. Over time, larger dilators will gradually increase the width of the urethra.

Another nonsurgical option is permanent urinary catheter placement. This procedure is usually done in severe cases. It has risks, such as bladder irritation and urinary tract infection.

Surgery

Surgery is another option. An open urethroplasty is an option for longer, more severe strictures. This procedure involves removing affected tissue and reconstructing the urethra. Results vary based on stricture size.

Urine flow diversion

In severe cases, a complete urinary diversion procedure may be necessary. This surgery permanently reroutes the flow of urine to an opening in the abdomen. It involves using part of the intestines to help connect the ureters to the opening. Urinary diversion is usually only performed if the bladder is severely damaged or if it needs to be removed.

OCD(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder): Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a type of mental illness. People with OCD can have either obsessive thoughts and urges or compulsive, repetitive behaviors. Some have both obsessions and compulsions.OCD isn’t about habits like biting your nails or always thinking negative thoughts. The disorder can affect your job, school, and relationships and keep you from living a normal life. Your thoughts and actions are beyond your control.An obsessive thought, for example, is to think that your family members might get hurt if they don’t put their clothing on in the exact same order every morning. A compulsive habit, on the other hand, might be to wash your hands 7 times after touching something that might be dirty. Although you may not want to think or do these things, you feel powerless to stop.

Symptoms

Many people with OCD know that their thoughts and habits don’t make sense. They don’t do them because they enjoy them, but because they can’t quit. And if they do stop, they feel so bad that they start again.

Obsessions and compulsions can involve many different things, like a need for order or cleanness, hoarding, and intrusive thoughts about sex, religion, violence, and body parts.

Obsessive thoughts can include:

  • Fear of germs or getting dirty
  • Worries about getting hurt or others being hurt
  • Need for things to be placed in an exact order
  • Belief that certain numbers or colors are “good” or “bad”
  • Constant awareness of blinking, breathing, or other body sensations
  • Unfounded suspicion that a partner is unfaithful

Compulsive habits can include:

  • Washing hands many times in a row
  • Doing tasks in a specific order every time, or a certain “good” number of times
  • Repetitive checking on a locked door, light switch, and other things
  • Need to count things, like steps or bottles
  • Putting items in an exact order, like cans with labels facing front
  • Fear of touching doorknobs, using public toilets, or shaking hands

Causes

Doctors aren’t sure why some people have OCD. Certain areas in the brain may not look normal in people with OCD, but more research is needed. OCD is slightly more common in women than in men. Symptoms often appear in teens or young adults. Stress can make symptoms worse.

There may be a gene or genes linked to OCD, but this is still unknown.

You are more likely to get the disorder if you have:

  • A parent, sibling, or child with OCD
  • Depression, anxiety or tics
  • Experience with trauma
  • A history of physical or sexual abuse as a child

Diagnosis

Your doctor may do a physical exam and bloodwork to make sure that your symptoms aren’t caused by something else. She will also talk with you about your feelings, thoughts, and habits. If your thoughts and habits keep you from doing what you want to do for at least an hour a day, you may have OCD.

Treatment:

There’s no cure for OCD. But with treatments, you may be able to lessen how much your symptoms interfere with your life. Your doctor may prescribe medicine, send you to talk therapy, called psychotherapy, or both.

Benign fibrous histiocytoma: Causes, Symptoms & Treatments

Benign Fibrous Histiocytoma or Dermatofibromas  is a rare tumor of mesenchymal origin. First described in 1958 by Dahlin. They are composed of two cell types, namely atypical fibroblasts and histiocytes, arranged in a storiform pattern. Lipid-filled cells may be conspicuous and occasionally are the major component. These types of benign fibrous histiocytomas are known as xanthomas or fibroxanthomas. Benign Fibrous Histiocytomas are microscopically very similar to non-ossifying fibroma. It is essentially a non ossifying fibroma that grows in and unusual location or in an unusual age group.

The definition of a dermatofibroma is more simple than the complex name for this condition implies. In short, a dermatofibroma is a benign skin bump that occurs most commonly on the legs. It is firm and slightly elevated. Dermatofibroma are larger under the skin than can be seen just by looking.

Dermatofibromas are normally dome-shaped and often darker-colored papules. The growths range from brownish to purplish-red in color. They can begin as red and later change to brown. While common on the legs, they can be found throughout the body but especially on exposed parts.

Causes

Dermatofibromas may itch because they’re often caused by bug bites. Splinters and minor injuries are common culprits for the appearance of dermatofibromas as well.

Is it a Dermatofibroma or a Mole?

Sometimes a dermatofibroma is confused with a mole. The way to tell the difference between the two is to pinch the bump. If you pinch a dermatofibroma, it creates a dimple because it is attached to the underlying subcutaneous tissue. On the other hand, if you pinch a mole, it projects up away from the skin. Moles appear when skin cells grow in clusters.

While dermatofibromas are usually red, brown or purplish, moles can be tan, black, blue or pink in addition to the typical dermatofibroma’s color. Moles can appear in both exposed and unexposed areas of the body, including the armpits or even under nails.

Because dermatofibromas are benign (they do not cause cancer) doctors usually do not excise them. In fact, excising the skin growth may produce a scar that’s more severe in appearance than the original dermatofibroma. If your physician is unclear about whether you have a dermatofibroma or another type of skin growth, you may have to undergo a biopsy.

Treating a dermatofibroma involves everything from surgical removal of the top of the growth to freezing the top with liquid nitrogen or removing the center. Because these treatments don’t completely remove the dermatofibroma, the growths will likely reach their original size again. If that happens, you could have the top removed once more or seek out a procedure to excise the entire growth.

Occipital lobe damage: Causes,Symptoms & Treatments

The cerebral cortex of the brain has 4 lobes on each side: the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe, the parietal lobe and the occipital lobe. Each of these regions carries out specific functions, and damage to any of these areas results in corresponding impairment. The frontal lobes are relatively large compared to other regions of the brain, and the extensive functions controlled by the frontal lobe reflects that large size.

Occipital Lobe Strokes:

The occipital lobes are vital for visual processing. A stroke of the occipital lobe can cause vision loss or partial vision loss of one eye or both eyes. 

Because of the way the blood vessels are arranged in the brain, occipital lobe strokes are less common than strokes affecting the frontal lobes, temporal lobes, and parietal lobes.

 

Fig: branching point of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) trunk (red circle), suspicious for thrombus or embolus.

Of the 4 major lobes of the brain, the occipital lobe is the smallest—but in our daily lives, we perhaps lean on it the most. The lobe is located at the back of the skull, thus the name (“occipital” comes from the Latin for “back of the head”).

The occipital lobe’s purpose is to receive visual stimuli from the eyes, process the information, and forward the information to the frontal lobe (which will formulate a response). Put simply, the occipital lobe controls our ability to respond to things we see. However, that role is far more complex than we may understand at first.

While sight is probably our most valued senses, it’s also the one that’s most taken for granted. Because we use our sight so instinctively, we often forget about how incredible our sight truly is. Take a second and look at an object in the distance. A simple task, yes?

Except in that split second it took you to pick an object, your brain not only focused your center of vision on it, but it processed its contour, distinguished it from the objects around it, located its distance away from you, identified its size relative to the objects around it, and probably understood its relative size to you.

That’s a great deal of information to receive and process correctly in a split-second, but it’s what your occipital lobe does thousands of times every day. All told, your “ability to see” is actually a series of abilities that is made possible by the different parts of the occipital lobe.

CONSCIOUS & UNCONSCIOUS PROCESSING

Because our understanding of the world around us leans so heavily on sight, we associate our ability to see with our conscious decisions. For example, there are laws nationwide that address the problem of distracted driving. Lawmakers are facing a whole new generation of people behind the wheel who do not place their complete, conscious focus on the road.

Now, Plasticity Brain Centers is certainly not recommending texting while driving or anything similar, but sight depends on far more than conscious attention. In addition to the things you are focusing on, the occipital lobe is constantly processing visual stimuli that you may not be consciously aware of. This can result in something truly remarkable known as “blindsight.”

SEEING /WITHOUT SEEING: DAMAGE TO THE OCCIPITAL LOBE:

The condition we call “blindness” has two possible, general causes. The common one we know of is caused by damage to the eyes themselves. Because the receptors are damaged, the functioning occipital lobe receives no stimuli, so the brain cannot formulate a response to the outside world. In some of these cases, the occipital lobe becomes an additional site of processing for aural stimuli—which is why blind people seem to have incredible hearing or can respond to obstacles through sound.

However, the less common cause of blindness is a result of damage to the occipital lobe. For example, lesions on the occipital lobe can result in a “hole” in your vision known as a scotoma. Extensive damage can result in total blindness. Unlike other lobes of the brain, damage to one side of the occipital lobe can result in damage to both eyes’ fields of vision.

However, in these cases, the eyes are still completely functionalThey continue to receive information, except the occipital lobe is not processing it correctly. While this results in a kind of blindness, some processing can still occur that isn’t consciously understood. For example, studies have been conducted on patients who are blind in one eye due to occipital lobe damage. Despite not being consciously aware of what they are seeing, these patients were able to navigate obstacles or detect movement without perceiving what they were seeing.

Treatments 

Plasticity Brain Centers leverages the complex relationship between receptors (eyes, skin, tongue, nose, ears), stimuli, and their corresponding lobes (occipital, parietal, temporal, frontal) through clinical neuroscience. In other words, we use receptors of different kinds to create tests and targeted therapies for the damaged parts of our patients’ brains.

For damaged or underperforming occipital lobes, we employ visual stimuli such as eye movement training, visual search exercises, hand-eye coordination exercises, or light therapy to rebuild or create pathways between neurons. These pathways can bypass damaged tissue or rebuild old pathways in order to restore visual processing power.

Our therapies can improve a patient’s ability to perceive depth, distinguish objects from their surroundings, identify objects or people more quickly, and track objects with their sight more accurately. By understanding the state of your occipital lobe, we can more precisely identify why your sight is suffering and how we can restore function to the visual processing part of your brain.

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