Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder. According to the reports, Brandon Marshall former Broncos receiver and current Dolphin Brandon Marshall has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.

After three months of treatment and therapy, psychological and neurological exams at Boston’s McLean Hospital, the training ground for Harvard University medical students, Marshall believes he’s finally at the root of his struggles.

He has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, or BPD. (Sun sentinel)

What is Borderline Personality Disorder? According to the Mayo Clinic, Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is an emotional disorder that causes emotional instability, leading to stress and other problems.

With borderline personality disorder your image of yourself is distorted, making you feel worthless and fundamentally flawed. Your anger, impulsivity and frequent mood swings may push others away, even though you desire loving relationships.
If you have borderline personality disorder, don't get discouraged. Many people with borderline personality disorder get better with treatment and can live happy, peaceful lives.

Hepatitis B Signs and symptoms

Hepatitis B Signs and symptoms

According to Mayo Clinic, Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). For some people, hepatitis B infection becomes chronic, leading to liver failure, liver cancer, or cirrhosis — a condition that causes permanent scarring of the liver.

Most people infected with hepatitis B as adults recover fully, even if their signs and symptoms are severe. Infants and children are much more likely to develop a chronic hepatitis B infection. Although no cure exists for hepatitis B, a vaccine can prevent the disease. If you're already infected, taking certain precautions can help prevent spreading HBV to others.

Signs and symptoms of hepatitis B usually appear about two to three months after you've been infected and can range from mild to severe. Signs and symptoms of hepatitis B may include:
• Abdominal pain
• Dark urine
• Joint pain
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Weakness and fatigue
• Yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)

Most infants and children with hepatitis B never develop signs and symptoms. The same is true for some adults.

Read this article on Mayoclinic.com.

Tylenol Recall - June 2011

McNeil Consumer Healthcare announced another Tylenol recall. According to the site, The Company recalling TYLENOL®, Extra Strength Caplets, 225 count bottles, distributed in the U.S. McNeil is taking this action following a small number of odor reports, including musty, moldy odor. The uncharacteristic musty, moldy odor has been linked to the presence of trace amounts of a chemical known as 2, 4, 6-tribromoanisole (TBA).

This voluntary action is being taken as a precaution and the risk of serious adverse medical events is remote. TBA can generate an offensive odor and has been associated with temporary and non-serious gastrointestinal symptoms.
The product lot number for the recalled product can be found on the side of the bottle label.

Product Name: TYLENOL, Extra Strength Caplets, 225 count
Lot Number: ABA619
UPC Code: 300450444271

Consumers who purchased product from the lot included in this recall should stop using the product and contact McNeil Consumer Healthcare, either at www.tylenol.com or by calling 1-888-222-6036 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time) for instructions about receiving a refund or product coupon. Consumers who have medical concerns or questions should contact their healthcare provider.

Graves’ disease

Graves’ disease is one of the top searches today after Missy Elliott Reveals Her Struggle with Graves Disease.

“I was (driving and) trying to put my foot on the brake, but my leg was jumping,” she told People magazine. “I couldn’t keep the brake down and almost crashed… I couldn’t write because my nervous system was so bad — I couldn’t even use a pen.”

What is Graves Disease?

The disease is the most common form of hyperthyroidism, occurring when your immune system mistakenly attacks your thyroid gland and causes it to overproduce the hormone thyroxine. This higher thyroxine level can greatly increase your body's metabolic rate, which may affect you in numerous ways, from your moods to your physical appearance.

Visit mayo clinic to know more about Graves’ disease.

Appendicitis Signs and Symptoms

Appendicitis Signs and Symptoms. Did you want to know the symptoms of Appendicitis? Appendicitis is a condition in which your appendix becomes inflamed and fills with pus. Your appendix is a finger-shaped pouch that projects out from your colon on the lower right side of your abdomen. This small structure has no known essential purpose, but that doesn't mean it can't cause problems.

Signs and symptoms of appendicitis:
• Aching pain that begins around your navel and often shifts to your lower right abdomen
• Pain that becomes sharper over several hours
• Tenderness that occurs when you apply pressure to your lower right abdomen
• Sharp pain in your lower right abdomen that occurs when the area is pressed on and then the pressure is quickly released (rebound tenderness)
• Pain that worsens if you cough, walk or make other jarring movements
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Low-grade fever
• Constipation
• Inability to pass gas
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal swelling

The location of your pain may vary, depending on your age and the position of your appendix. Young children or pregnant women, especially, may have appendicitis pain in different places. (Mayo Clinic)

Tennis elbow Signs and symptoms

Tennis elbow Signs and symptoms: Tennis elbow is a painful condition that occurs when tendons in your elbow are overworked, usually by repetitive motions of the wrist and arm. Many occupations also feature repetitive wrist and arm motions that can cause tennis elbow.

The pain of tennis elbow occurs primarily where the tendons of your forearm muscles attach to the bony prominence on the outside of your elbow. Pain can also spread into your forearm and wrist.

Signs and symptoms: The symptoms associated with tennis elbow are, but are not limited to: radiating pain from the outside of your elbow to your forearm and wrist, pain during extension of wrist, weakness of the forearm, a painful grip while shaking hands or torquing a doorknob, and not being able to hold relatively heavy items in the hand. The pain is similar to the pain of the condition known as Golfer's elbow but the latter occurs at the medial side of the elbow.

Visit mayo clinic to know more about Tennis elbow.

Bipolar Symptoms | Bipolar disorder Symptoms

Bipolar Symptoms | Bipolar disorder Symptoms: Bipolar disorder, also called manic depression, is a mental illness that is characterized by severe mood swings, repeated episodes of depression, and at least one episode of mania. What is the bipolar symptoms?

Symptoms: The exact symptoms of bipolar disorder vary from person to person. For some people, depression causes the most problems; for other people manic symptoms are the main concern. Symptoms of depression and symptoms of mania or hypomania may also occur together. This is known as a mixed episode.

Causes: Several factors seem to be involved in causing and triggering bipolar episodes:
• Biological differences. People with bipolar disorder appear to have physical changes in their brains. The significance of these changes is still uncertain but may eventually help pinpoint causes.
• Neurotransmitters. An imbalance in naturally occurring brain chemicals called neurotransmitters seems to play a significant role in bipolar disorder and other mood disorders.
• Hormones. Imbalanced hormones may be involved in causing or triggering bipolar disorder.
• Inherited traits. Bipolar disorder is more common in people who have a blood relative (such as a sibling or parent) with the condition. Researchers are trying to find genes that may be involved in causing bipolar disorder.
• Environment. Stress, abuse, significant loss or other traumatic experiences may play a role in bipolar disorder.

Read more about Bipolar at mayoclinic.com

What is Lyme disease?

What is Lyme disease? Lyme disease is caused by Gram-negative spirochetal bacteria from the genus Borrelia. At least 11 Borrelia species have been discovered, 3 of which are known to be Lyme-related. The Borrelia species that cause Lyme disease are collectively known as Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, and show a great deal of genetic diversity.

Lyme disease can affect multiple body systems and produce a range of symptoms. Not all patients with Lyme disease will have all symptoms, and many of the symptoms are not specific to Lyme disease but can occur with other diseases as well. The incubation period from infection to the onset of symptoms is usually one to two weeks, but can be much shorter (days), or much longer (months to years). Symptoms most often occur from May through September, because the nymphal stage of the tick is responsible for most cases. Asymptomatic infection exists, but occurs in less than 7% of infected individuals in the United States. Asymptomatic infection may be much more common among those infected in Europe.

Antibiotics are the primary treatment for Lyme disease; the most appropriate antibiotic treatment depends upon the patient and the stage of the disease. The antibiotics of choice are doxycycline (in adults), amoxicillin (in children), erythromycin (for pregnant women) and ceftriaxone, with treatment lasting 14 to 28 days. Alternative choices are cefuroxime and cefotaxime. Treatment of pregnant women is similar, but tetracycline should not be used.
A double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter clinical study indicated that 3 weeks of treatment with intravenous ceftriaxone, followed by 100 days of treatment with oral amoxicillin did not improve symptoms any more than just 3 weeks of treatment with ceftriaxone. The researchers noted that the outcome should not be evaluated after the initial antibiotic treatment but rather 6–12 months afterwards. In patients with chronic post-treatment symptoms, persistent positive levels of antibodies did not seem to provide any useful information for further care of the patient.
In later stages, the bacteria disseminate throughout the body and may cross the blood-brain barrier, making the infection more difficult to treat. Late diagnosed Lyme is treated with oral or IV antibiotics, frequently ceftriaxone for a minimum of four weeks. Minocycline is also indicated for neuroborreliosis for its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier.