What is finger clubbing?

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What is finger clubbing?

Finger clubbing is a thickening of the fingertips that gives them an abnormal rounded appearance. The exact cause of finger clubbing is not known, but it is a common symptom of respiratory disease, congenital heart disease, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Respiratory diseases associated with finger clubbing include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, cystic fibrosis (thick mucus in the throat and digestive tract), and bronchiectasis (destruction of the large airways). Congenital heart diseases (heart diseases present since birth) that lead to finger clubbing are typically cyanotic, meaning that they cause a person to appear blue due to reduced oxygen in the blood. Clubbing has been seen in pregnancy and acromegal (gigantism due to pituitary tumor).

Gastrointestinal disorders that can lead to clubbing of the fingers include celiac disease, Crohn's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and liver disease, especially in severe cases, such as cirrhosis of the liver. Other diseases associated with finger clubbing include Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Graves’ disease (thyroid condition). Clubbing may be accompanied by cyanosis (blue coloration of the skin) and shortness of breath.

Finger clubbing can be associated with symptoms of a serious or life-threatening condition. For serious symptoms, such as severe difficulty breathing, severe chest pain, bluish coloration of the lips or fingernails, change in level of consciousness or alertness, and rapid heart rate. Calling on emergency if serious symptoms .

What other symptoms might occur with finger clubbing?

Finger clubbing may accompany other symptoms, which vary depending on the underlying disease, disorder or condition and may also involve the respiratory, cardiovascular or gastrointestinal systems.

Respiratory system symptoms that may occur along with finger clubbing

Finger clubbing may accompany other symptoms that affect the respiratory system including:

·        Coughing up blood (hemoptysis)

·        Coughing up clear, yellow, light brown, or green mucus

·        Cough that gets more severe over time

·        Difficulty breathing

·        Loose, wet cough that produces thick white or yellow phlegm

·        Rapid breathing (tachypnea) or shortness of breath

·        Wheezing (whistling sound made with breathing)

Cardiovascular system symptoms that may occur along with finger clubbing

Finger clubbing may accompany symptoms related to the cardiovascular system including:

·        Bluish lips, nails or skin (cyanosis)

·        Chest pain or pressure

·        Irregular heart rate (arrhythmia

·        Rapid heart rate (tachycardia)

·        Squatting posture in young children

Gastrointestinal symptoms that may occur along with finger clubbing

Finger clubbing may accompany symptoms that are related to the gastrointestinal system including:

·        Abdominal bloating

·        Abdominal pain or cramping

·        Abnormally foul-smelling stools

·        Blood-streaked stools

·        Chronic or persistent diarrhea

·        Indigestion

·        Loss of appetite

·        Nausea with or without vomiting

·        Unexplained weight loss

Serious symptoms that might indicate a life-threatening condition

In some cases, finger clubbing can be a symptom of a life-threatening condition. Seek immediate medical care (call 911) if you, or someone you are with, have any of these life-threatening symptoms including:

·        Bluish coloration of the lips or fingernails

·        Change in level of consciousness or alertness, such as passing out or unresponsiveness

·        Rapid heart rate (tachycardia)

·        Respiratory or breathing problems, such as shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, labored breathing, wheezing, not breathing, or choking

What causes finger clubbing?

The exact cause of finger clubbing is not known, but it is a common symptom of respiratory disease, congenital heart disease, and gastrointestinal disorders.

Respiratory disease causes of finger clubbing

Finger clubbing may be caused by respiratory diseases including:

·        Bronchiectasis (destruction and widening of the large airways)

·        Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including emphysema and chronic bronchitis

·        Cystic fibrosis (thick mucus in the lungs and respiratory tract)

·        Lung abscess

·        Lung cancer

·        Pulmonary fibrosis (scarring of the lungs)

Congenital cardiac disease causes of finger clubbing

Finger clubbing can also be caused by congenital cardiac diseases including:

·        Tetralogy of Fallot (combination of four structural defects)

·        Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR; rare condition in which the pulmonary veins do not empty into the heart)

·        Transposition of the great vessels (rare condition in which the major vessels entering or leaving the heart are misconnected

Gastrointestinal disease causes of finger clubbing

Finger clubbing can also be caused by gastrointestinal diseases including:

·        Celiac disease (severe sensitivity to gluten from wheat and other grains that causes intestinal damage)

·        Cirrhosis of the liver

·        Inflammatory bowel disease (includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis)

·        Liver cancer

Other causes of finger clubbing

Finger clubbing can also have other causes including:

·        Acromegaly (gigantism caused by a pituitary tumor)

·        Atrial myxoma (tumor arising within heart(

·        Dysentery (infectious inflammation of the colon, causing severe diarrhea)

·        Endocarditis (inflammation of heart tissue, often infectious(

·        Graves’ disease (type of hyperthyroidism resulting in excessive thyroid hormone production(

·        Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cancer of the lymph tissues(

·        Pregnancy

Questions for diagnosing the cause of finger clubbing

To diagnose your condition, your doctor or licensed health care practitioner will ask you several questions related to your finger clubbing including:

·        Do you have any other symptoms?

·        Do you have difficulty breathing?

·        What medications are you taking?

·        When did you first notice finger clubbing?

·        What are the potential complications of finger clubbing?

Because finger clubbing can be due to serious diseases that cause cyanosis, failure to seek treatment can result in serious complications and permanent damage. Once the underlying cause is diagnosed, it is important for you to follow the treatment plan that you and your health care professional design specifically for you to reduce the risk of potential complications including:

·        Heart failure

·        Long-term physical disability

·        Organ failure or dysfunction

·        Respiratory failure

·        Spread of cancer

·        Spread of infection

Treatment:

No specific treatment for clubbing is available. Treatment of the underlying pathological condition may decrease the clubbing or, potentially, reverse it if performed early enough. Once substantial chronic tissue changes, including increased collagen deposition, have occurred, reversal is unlikely. Treatment for related problems, such as pain, is symptomatic.

Source : http://www.healthgrades.com/

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Do you need an eye exam? Free eye exam ...

Do you need an eye exam?  Free eye exam ...                                                                        Home

Periodic eye and vision examinations are an important part of preventive health care. Many eye and vision problems have no obvious signs or symptoms. As a result, individuals are often unaware that problems exist. Early diagnosis and treatment of eye and vision problems are important for maintaining good vision and eye health, and when possible, preventing vision loss.

A comprehensive adult eye and vision examination may include, but is not limited to, the following tests. Individual patient signs and symptoms, along with the professional judgment of the doctor, may significantly influence the testing done.

Eye examination is a series of tests performed by an ophthalmologist (medical doctor), optometrist, or orthoptist assessing vision and ability to focus on and discern objects, as well as other tests and examinations pertaining to the eyes. Health care professionals often recommend that all people should have periodic and thorough eye examinations as part of routine primary care, especially since many eye diseases are asymptomatic.

Do you need an eye exam?

Do you need to focus to read the text on TV? Do you think it's hard to see the road signs? Do you suffer from headache? Do you think that the text often is blurry when you read? It might be time to check your eye sight and do an online eye exam.

Does your head hurt when you read? Does your eyes get dry when you read in front of the computer screen?

If you answered yes to any of the questions, it might be time to do an eye exam to check your eye sight. Just by needing to focus on a screen might not feel like a reason enough to buy an expensive test at your optometrist. Wouldn't it be great to do a first test online? So do we think and have therefore created this eye exam and will let you do an initial test for free.

 Please click here for eye exam ...

Source : http://www.eyeexamonline.com/

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FREE ... CALORIE CALCULATOR APPLICATION FOR ANDROID

FREE ... CALORIE CALCULATOR APPLICATION FOR ANDROID                             Home

The Calorie Calculator can be used to estimate the calories you need to consume each day. This calculator can also provide some simple guideline if you want to gain or lose weight.

To estimate how many calories you should consume in order to maintain your weight , you'll need to do a little math. By using a simple formula called the Harris-Benedict principle, you can assess your basal metabolic rate -- also known as your BMR.

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

Please note that this formula applies only to adults.

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Five of the world's deadliest diseases !?

·        Smallpox

Before being eradicated in the 20th century, smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in human history.

The last known natural case was in Somalia in 1977, according to WHO.

The only known cases since then were caused by an accident in a Birmingham laboratory in 1978, which killed one person and created a limited outbreak.

WHO has a small stockpile of smallpox vaccine, as do other countries and organisations, but there has been concern in recent years that terrorists could get hold of the virus to use as a biological weapon.

·        Influenza

Seasonal influenza is thought by WHO to have annual global attack rate estimated at 5%-10% in adults and 20%-30% in children.

This means an there are an estimated three to five million cases of severe illness, and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year.

The most notorious outbreak in modern history was the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, which is said to have killed more people than World War One - about a third of the world's population, or 500m people were infected and estimates suggest 50m died.

A strain of avian influenza or bird flu has been spreading mainly through Asia since 2003, with 650 deaths confirmed by WHO.

·        Plague

During the 14th and 17th centuries the Black Death ravaged Europe and Asia.

Infection was spread from large numbers of rats to man through bites from fleas, causing deadly bubonic plague and a highly contagious strain of pneumonia.

In 2010, 17 people were found to have plague in Peru - four were pneumonic plague, 12 were bubonic plague and one was septicemic plague.

Other outbreaks of plague, which can have symptoms including a cough, swollen lymph glands and high fever, have occurred in China, Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent years.

·        Sars

In 2003 doctors from WHO became aware of the virus Sars, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The virus, first spotted in China, went on to infect more than 8,000 people and kill more than 750.

Sars causes sufferers to run a fever, have flu-like symptoms and have difficulty breathing. There is currently no known cure or vaccine.

·        Malaria

Everyone despises being eaten alive by pesky mosquitoes in the summer, but you would be surprised how many of those annoying bugs could actually lead to our demise! Malaria is caused by a parasite that is transmitted from one human to another through the bite of an infected mosquito. In humans, the parasites travel to the liver, where they mature. Once matured, they release another parasite that then enters the bloodstream and infects the red blood cells. The parasites multiply at a rapid speed, but symptoms could take up to one year to show. The disease is a major health problem in much of the tropics and subtropics. It is estimated that there are 300-500 million cases of malaria each year, and more than 1 million people die from the disease. It presents a major health hazard for travelers to warm climates — something definitely to be weary of when planning that once-in-a-lifetime trip to the rain forest.

Reference: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

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Did you know that you kill yourself by drinking soft drinks !!

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Did you know that you kill yourself by drinking soft drinks?

- the one canister containing the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar is sufficient to destroy the vitamin B deficiency, which leads to poor digestion and poor infrastructure and neurological disorders, headaches, insomnia, depression and muscle spasms.

- Also contain carbon dioxide, which leads to depriving the stomach from salivary yeasts important in the digestion process and that when ingested with food or after and lead to the abolition of the role of digestive enzymes secreted by the stomach and thus to obstruct the process of digestion and lack of access to food.

- Contain caffeine, which leads to increased heart rate and high blood pressure, diabetes and increased acidity in your stomach and increase the hormones in the blood, which may cause infections and ulcers of the stomach and duodenum is also working on a fold pressure valve lower esophagus, which in turn leads to reflux of food and acid from the stomach into the esophagus, causing pain and inflammation.

- Also contain phosphorous acids lead to bone fragility and weakness, especially in adolescence, making it more susceptible to breakage.

- Contain phosphoric acid and malic Rponik that cause erosion of the protective enamel layer of the teeth.

- Diet of them contain artificial sweeteners that threaten the brain and lead to memory loss and progressive fibrosis of the liver injury. - Rate of acidity in soft drinks, for example, Soft drink product = 4 and 3, this degree of acidity sufficient to melt the teeth and bones with the passage of time. Our bodies stop building bone after thirty, and then begin degradation 8-18% annually, according to the amount of acids that we consume in our food. (The ratio of these acids does not depend on the taste of our food, but depends on the proportion of each of potassium, chlorine, manganese, and other minerals to phosphorous).

- Dissolved calcium accumulates in the veins, skin cells, vital organs, which affects kidney function and cause gallstone college.

- Soft drinks do not provide any benefit to the body of food, but contain more sugar and acids as well as for preservatives and colorful.

Research:

In a meta-analysis of 88 studies, we examined the association between soft drink consumption and nutrition and health outcomes. We found clear associations of soft drink intake with increased energy intake and body weight. Soft drink intake also was associated with lower intakes of milk, calcium, and other nutrients and with an increased risk of several medical problems (e.g., diabetes).

Study design significantly influenced results: larger effect sizes were observed in studies with stronger methods (longitudinal and experimental vs cross-sectional studies). Several other factors also moderated effect sizes (e.g., gender, age, beverage type). Finally, studies funded by the food industry reported significantly smaller effects than did non–industry-funded studies. Recommendations to reduce population soft drink consumption are strongly supported by the available science.

Other studies:

The results of animal experiments announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases has lent credence to the belief that sugary soft drinks play a role in the development of liver disease.

The effect of sugar-sweetened water was tested on the livers of mice. Another group was fed artificially sweetened water as a comparison.

Examination of the livers of the mice showed an increased incidence of fatty liver disease, especially among mice who were given the type of sugar called fructose.

High fructose consumption may be directly toxic to the liver, as well as causing damage through over-feeding.

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What Are the Types of Headaches?

What Are the Types of Headaches?             Home

The most common types of headaches are:

• Tension headaches: Also called chronic daily headaches or chronic non-progressive headaches, tension headaches are the most common type of headaches among adults and adolescents. These muscle contraction headaches cause mild to moderate pain and come and go over a prolonged period of time.

• Migraines: The exact causes of migraines are unknown. A popular theory is that various triggers cause abnormal brain activity, which in turn causes changes in the blood vessels in the brain. This is called the neurovascular theory. Genetics plays a role in migraines and there are some forms of migraines that are associated with inherited abnormalities in certain parts of the brain. Migraine pain is moderate to severe, often described as pounding, throbbing pain. Migraine headaches can last from four hours to three days and usually occur one to four times per month. Migraines are associated with symptoms such as sensitivity to light, noise, or odors; nausea or vomiting; loss of appetite; and stomach upset or abdominal pain. When a child is having a migraine, he or she often looks pale, feels dizzy, has blurred vision, fever, stomach upset, along with the symptoms listed above.

A small percentage of children's migraines include recurrent (cyclic) gastrointestinal symptoms, vomiting being the most common. Cyclic vomiting means that the symptoms occur on a regular basis - about once a month. These types of migraines are sometimes called abdominal migraines.

• Mixed headache syndrome: Also called transformed migraines, mixed headache syndrome is a combination of migraine and tension headaches. Both adults and children experience this type of headache.

• Cluster headaches: The least common - although the most severe - type of primary headache, the pain of a cluster headache is intense and may be described as having a burning or piercing quality that is throbbing or constant. The pain is so severe that most cluster headache sufferers can not sit still and will often pace during an attack. The pain is located behind one eye or in the eye region, without changing sides. The term "cluster headache" refers to headaches that have a characteristic grouping of attacks. Cluster headaches occur one to three times per day during a cluster period, which may last two weeks to three months. The headaches may disappear completely (go into "remission") for months or years, only to recur.

• Sinus headaches: Sinus headaches are associated with a deep and constant pain in the cheekbones, forehead, or bridge of the nose. The pain usually intensifies with sudden head movement or straining and usually occurs with other sinus symptoms, such as nasal discharge, feeling of fullness in the ears, fever, and facial swelling.

* Please see below "Table 1"

     TABLE 1

Ref : WEB MED

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