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Featured

Doctors Welcome Malaria Microchip

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Scientists from Glasgow University claim they have created a device which can detect malaria within minutes.

Click to learn more in detail

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Exercise Yoga

Yoga and Strength Training in One Move

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Step-1. 1. Standing with your feet together, hold a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell in each hand, arms dropped straight in front of you. Inhale and shift your body weight over your right leg. On an exhale, lean forward and raise your left leg behind you. Keep your abdominals pulled in to support your spine.

Step-2. Once you feel stable balancing on your right leg, contract your back muscles and bend your elbows, pointing them backward until your dumbbells are close to your hips. Pause for 2 seconds, then lower your arms. Continue the arm movement 8 to 12 times while you maintain your balance. Bring your legs together and stand up, then repeat on the other leg.

Sources: Los Angeles Times

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News on Health & Science

Dengue Virus Growth Protein Identified

A TEM micrograph showing Dengue virus virions ...
Image via Wikipedia

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By silencing genes one by one, scientists have identified dozens of proteins that help the dengue fever virus to grow and spread among  mosquitoes and humans. The research paves the way to potentially prevent or treat the disease, which infects millions worldwide every year.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne illness that can cause debilitating sickness and death. “Dengue is a nasty disease, and right now, there is no treatment for it and no way to prevent it,” said Mariano Garcia-Blanco, professor of molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University Medical Centre (DUMC) and study co-author.

“But if we can find a weakness in the virus, we can design a strategy to fight it. This study has helped us identify some gaps in dengue’s armour,” he said.

Almost half the people in the world are vulnerable to the dengue virus, says the World Health Organisation. Public health officials are worried because dengue appears to be popping up in places where it has rarely appeared before. It may be fuelled by global warming.

Garcia-Blanco, used RNA interference (RNAi) to unlock dengue’s secrets. RNA interference is a normal biological process cells use to turn gene expression on or off depending upon which gene products, or proteins, are needed at any given moment.

“That very same system proved to be the perfect investigative tool for our study,” said Garcia-Blanco.

Garcia-Blanco and colleagues in Duke’s RNAi facility were able to knock down gene function in fruit fly cells infected with a strain of the dengue virus known as DENV-2.

Silencing one gene at a time allowed researchers to pinpoint which genes, or host factors, were essential to viral growth and which ones were not.

They used fruit flies as a model because the genetic tools needed for the same work in mosquitoes have not been developed as yet. The process yielded 116 host factors that appeared to be important for successful dengue infection in fruit flies.

In testing several of these host factors in mosquitoes at Johns Hopkins University, researchers subsequently discovered that at least one – and possibly a second – was necessary for dengue infection to occur in the insects, said a DUMC release.

Sources: The Times Of India

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Our body extricts

The Poop!

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Stool – Healthy and Unhealthy Stool:-

Click to see the  pictures of ->
Bristol  Stool  Chart

This writing might “stink” a little, but this information might serve as an important revelation to many particularly for elderly and persons with contineus stomac problem!

Human poops or  stools, is the waste product of the human digestive system and varies significantly in appearance, depending on the state of the whole digestive system, influenced and found by diet and health.

Normally stools are semisolid, with a mucus coating. Small pieces of harder, less moist feces can sometimes be seen impacted on the distal (leading) end. This is a normal occurrence when a prior bowel movement is incomplete; and feces are returned from the rectum to the intestine, where water is absorbed.

Meconium (sometimes erroneously spelled merconium) is a newborn baby’s first feces. Human feces are a defining subject of humor.

Some persons have bloody stools on and off, usually accompanied by a sight tinch of discomfort. Many times, this doesn’t appear as a threat or danger to them as they often regard it as constipation though they may be passionate lover of fruits and vegetables. This might go  on for some time until one day, bloody stools became really “bloody” and the pain became increasingly painful. Alarmed and paranoid, they call their dear ones who will  recommend  to see the doctor over at his or her clinic.

Now let us see What Does an Ideal Bowel Movement Look Like?

Click to see the pictures

Click for different pictures

Alternative practitioners often ask clients about their stool as part of their assessment. Find out what normal stool should look like, and learn about the causes of green stool, pale stool, yellow stool, blood in stool, mucus in stool, pencil thin stool, infrequent stool, and more.

What Does an Ideal [amazon_textlink asin=’B001U1UKOO’ text=’Bowel Movement’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’5c1f8c56-ee7e-11e6-87a4-8d88514c5f8b’]

Look Like?
An ideal bowel movement is medium brown, the color of plain cardboard. It leaves the body easily with no straining or discomfort. It should have the consistency of toothpaste, and be approximately 4 to 8 inches long. Stool should enter the water smoothly and slowly fall once it reaches the water. There should be little gas or odor.

Stool That Sinks Quickly
Rapidly sinking stool can indicate that a person isn’t eating enough fiber-rich foods, such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, or drinking enough water. This stool is often dark because they have been sitting in the intestines for a prolonged time. Click to learn 5 tips to boost your water intake.

Pale Stool
Stool that is pale or grey may be caused by insufficient bile output due to conditions such as cholecystitis, gallstones, giardia parasitic infection, hepatitis, chronic pancreatitis, or cirrhosis. Bile salts from the liver give stool its brownish color. If there is decreased bile output, stool is much lighter in color.

Other causes of pale stool is the use of antacids that contain aluminum hydroxide. Stool may also temporarily become pale after a barium enema test.

Pale stool may also be shiny or greasy, float, and be foul smelling, due to undigested fat in the stool (see soft and smelly stool).

Soft, Smelly Stool
Soft, foul-smelling stool that floats, sticks to the side of the bowl, or is difficult to flush away may mean there is increased fat in the stools, called steatorrhea. Stool is sometimes also pale. Click to Learn more about the causes of soft, foul-smelling stool.

Mucus in Stool
Whitish mucus in stool may indicate there is inflammation in the intestines. Mucus in stool can occur with either constipation or diarrhea. Click to Read more about the causes of mucus in stool.

Green Stool
The liver constantly makes bile, a bright green fluid, that is secreted directly into the small intestine or stored in the gallbladder. Continue reading about the causes of green stool.

Loose Stool
In traditional Chinese medicine, loose stools, abdominal bloating, lack of energy, and poor appetite can be signs of a condition known as spleen qi deficiency. It doesn’t necessarily involve your actual spleen, but it is linked to tiredness and weak digestion brought on by stress and poor diet. Learn more about the causes of loose stool.

Pencil Thin Stool
Like loose stools, stool that is pencil thin can be caused by a condition known in traditional Chinese medicine as spleen qi deficiency.

Other symptoms of spleen qi deficiency are: easy bruising, mental fogginess, bloating, gas, loose stools, fatigue, poor appetite, loose stools with little odor, symptoms that worsen with stress, undigested food in the stools, and difficulty ending the bowel movement. Spleen qi deficiency can be brought on by stress and overwork.

Eating certain foods in excess is thought to worsen spleen qi deficiency. Offending foods include fried or greasy foods, dairy, raw fruits and vegetables, and cold drinks, all believed to cause “cold” and “dampness” in the body. Dietary treatment of spleen qi deficiency involves eating warm, cooked foods. Ginger tea and cinnamon tea are also warming.

Pencil thin stool can also be caused by a bowel obstruction. Benign rectal polyps, prostate enlargement, colon or prostate cancer are some of the conditions that can cause obstruction.

Infrequent Stool
With constipation, infrequent or hard stool is passed with straining. Learn about the causes of infrequent stool.

Pellet Stool

Pellet stool is stool that comes out in small, round balls. In traditional Chinese medicine, pellet stool is caused by a condition known as liver qi stagnation. Liver qi stagnation can be brought on by stress. Lack of exercise can worsen the problem. Find out more about the causes of pellet stool.

Yellow Stool
Yellow stool can indicate that food is passing through the digestive tract relatively quickly. Yellow stool can be found in people with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Symptoms of GERD include heartburn, chest pain, sore throat, chronic cough, and wheezing. Symptoms are usually worse when lying down or bending. Foods that can worsen GERD symptoms include peppermint, fatty foods, alcohol, coffee, and chocolate.

Yellow stool can also result from insuffient bile output. Bile salts from the liver gives stool its brownish color. When bile output is diminished, it often first appears as yellow stool. If there is a greater reduction in bile output, stool lose almost all of its color, becoming pale or grey.

If the onset is sudden, yellow stool can also be a sign of a bacterial infection in the intestines.

Yellowing of stool can be caused by an infection known as Giardiasis, which derives its name from Giardia, an anaerobic flagellated protozoan parasite that can cause severe and communicable yellow diarrhea. Another cause of yellowing is a condition known as Gilbert’s Syndrome. This condition is characterized by jaundice and hyperbilirubinemia when too much bilirubin is present in the circulating blood.

Dark Stool
Stool that is almost black with a thick consistency may be caused by bleeding in the upper digestive tract. The most common medical conditions that cause dark, tar-like stool includes duodenal or gastric ulcer, esophageal varices, Mallory Weiss tear (which can be linked with alcoholism), and gastritis.

Certain foods, supplements, and medications can temporarily turn stool black. These include:

*Bismuth (e.g. Pepto bismol)

*Iron

*Activated charcoal

*Aspirin and NSAIDS (which can cause bleeding in the stomach)

*Dark foods such as black licorice and blueberries

Stool can be black due to the presence of red blood cells that have been in the intestines long enough to be broken down by digestive enzymes. This is known as melena (or melaena), and is typically due to bleeding in the upper digestive tract, such as from a bleeding peptic ulcer. The same color change (albeit harmless) can be observed after consuming foods that contain substantial proportion of animal bloods, such as Black pudding or Ti?t canh. The black color is caused by oxidation of the iron in the blood’s hemoglobin (haemoglobin). Black feces can also be caused by a number of medications, such as bismuth subsalicylate, and dietary iron supplements, or foods such as black liquorice, or blueberries. Hematochezia (also haemochezia or haematochezia) is similarly the passage of feces that are bright red due to the presence of undigested blood, either from lower in the digestive tract, or from a more active source in the upper digestive tract. Alcoholism can also provoke abnormalities in the path of blood throughout the body, including the passing of red-black stool.

Dark stool can also occur with constipation.

If you experience this type of stool, you should see your doctor as soon as possible.

Blue Stool
Prussian blue, used in the treatment of radiation cesium and thallium poisoning, can turn the feces blue. Also, substantial consumption of products containing blue food dye (things such as blue koolaid or grape soda)

Bright Red Stool
When there is blood in stool, the color depends on where it is in the digestive tract. Blood from the upper part of the digestive tract, such as the stomach, will look dark by the time it reaches exits the body as a bowel movement. Blood that is bright or dark red, on the other hand, is more likely to come from the large intestine or rectum.

Conditions that can cause blood in the stool include hemorrhoids, anal fissures, diverticulitis, colon cancer, and ulcerative colitis, among others.

Eating beets can also temporarily turn stools and urine red.

Blood in stool doesn’t always appear bright red. Blood may be also present in stool but not visible, called “occult” blood. A test called the Fecal Occult Blood Test is used to detect hidden blood in stool.

Silver Stool
A tarnished-silver or aluminum paint-like stool color characteristically results when biliary obstruction of any type (white stool) combines with gastrointestinal bleeding from any source (black stool). It can also suggest a carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater, which will result in gastrointestinal bleeding and biliary obstruction, resulting in silver stool.

 

You may click to see white stool:–>   : Should I be concerned

Note: Speak with your doctor about any change or abnormality concerning bowel movements.

YOU MAY CLICK TO SEE :Doctors explain exactly how often you should be pooping and give tips for regularity

Resources
http://gracemagg.blogspot.com/2008/07/poop.html
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/gettingdiagnosed/a/stools.htm
http://www.healingwatersaz.com/colon.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_feces

Categories
Diagnonistic Test

Anoscopy

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Definition:
An anoscopy is an examination of the rectum in which a small tube is inserted into the anus to screen, diagnose, and evaluate problems of the anus and anal canal.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Anoscopy views the anus and anal canal by using an anoscope. An anoscope is a plastic, tube-shaped speculum that is a smaller version of a sigmoidscope. Before the anoscope is used, the doctor completes a digital rectal examination with a lubricated, gloved index finger. The anoscope is then lubricated and gently inserted a few inches into the rectum. This procedure enlarges the rectum to allow the doctor to view the entire anal canal with a light. If any suspicious areas are noticed, a piece of tissue can be biopsied.
What is the Purpose of the test?
Doctors use anoscopy to diagnose rectal cancer and cancer of the anus. This procedure can also help the doctor:

*:detect any lesions that could not be felt during a digital examination

*determine whether squamous cell carcinomas involving lymph nodes in or near the groin (inguinal lymph nodes) originated in the genital area or in or near the anus or rectum

*confirm the source of malignancies that have spread to the anorectal area from other parts of the body
Doctors also perform anoscopy to determine whether a patient has hemorrhoids or anal:

*growths or nodules (polyps)
*ulcer-like grooves (fissures)
*inflammation
*infection

.How do you prepare for the test?
Before the test, you might want to empty your bladder or have a bowel movement to make yourself more comfortable. The doctor may suggest using:

*a laxative,
*an enema,
*or some other preparationto clear the rectum.

What happens when the test is performed?
This test is usually done in a doctor’s office. You need to remove your underwear.After removing underwear, the patient bends forward over the examining table or lies on one side with knees drawn up to the chest. The doctor performs a digital examination to make sure no tumor or other abnormality will obstruct the passage of a slender lubricated tube (anoscope). As the doctor gently guides the anoscope a few inches into the rectum, the patient is told to bear down as though having a bowel movement, thenrelax.

CLICK & SEE THEPICTURES

By tensing and relaxing, the patient makes it easier for the doctor to insert the anoscope, and discover growths in the lining of the rectum that could not be detected during the digital examination.

Directing a light into the anoscope gives the doctor a clear view of any tears or other irregularities in the lower anus or rectum. A doctor who suspects that a patient may have cancer will remove tissue for biopsy in the course of this procedure.

Slowly withdrawing the anoscope allows the doctor to thoroughly inspect the entire anal canal. As the procedure is being performed, the doctor explains what is happening, and why the patient feels pressure.

Removing tissue samples for biopsy can pinch, but anoscopy does not usually cause pain. Patients do experience the sensation of needing to have a bowel movement.

Risk Factors:
There are no significant risks from anoscopy. Sometimes, especially if you have hemorrhoids, you may have a small amount of bleeding after the anoscope is pulled out.

Must you do anything special after the test is over?
You can return to your normal activities immediately.
How long is it before the result of the test is known?
Your doctor can tell you about your anoscopy exam right away.

RESULTS:

Normal Results

A normal anoscopy reveals NO evidence of:

*tumor
*tissue irregularities
*polyps
*fissures
*hemorrhoids
*inflammation
*infectionor other abnormalities. The size, color, and shape of the anal canal look like they should.

Abnormal Results

Abnormal results of anoscopy can indicate the PRESENCE of:

*cancer
*abscesses
*polyps
*inflammation
*infection
*fissures
*hemorrhoids

Resources:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/diagnostics/anoscopy.shtml
http://www.answers.com/topic/anoscopy-1

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