Disease Of The Week

Tinnitus

Have you ever been told not to think about something? It is almost impossible! However one of the treatments for tinnitus is “don’t think about it!”  Tinnitus is actually a symptom with many causes including hearing loss ear wax brain tumours and emotional stress If you can hear a sound when none actually exists – that is tinnitus. Some […]

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The Yips

What do Steven Hendry, Bernhard Langer and Simone Biles have in common? They’ve all suffered from The Yips – a sudden and inexplicable loss of a fine motor skill (e.g. potting, putting, pitching etc).Also known as Steve Blass disease – after an All-Star baseball pitcher who completely lost his ability – and had to retire.

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Bladder Cancer

Blood in your urine is the typical symptom of bladder cancer. Starting as a small tumour within the bladder, it then spreads to lymph nodes, before advancing to bone, liver and lungs – as seen in this picture by Cancer Research UK. Caught early it has a very high survival rate. However if the original

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Bed Sores

The picture (from Bob J Galindo) shows a category 4 bed (or pressure) sore – they should never be allowed to reach this level. People who spend all day in bed or a wheelchair will almost certainly get category 1 sores – but these can be easily treated with basic nursing care. If ignored, they

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Diagnosing IBS

If your doctor asks you to describe your bowel movements – what would you say? In 1997 Dr Ken Heaton from Bristol Royal Infirmary enlisted 66 volunteers to change their diets and keep a diary. The result was the famous Bristol Stool chart (📸Cabot Health), used all over the world to help patients accurately answer

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𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐜𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞

Warren Higgs’ kidneys weighed 45kg – the heaviest on record. He couldn’t eat or breath properly. Polycystic kidney disease is a genetic condition where your kidneys become riddled with sacks of fluid called cysts. There is no cure or treatment. This BBC interview shows Warren before and after his operation to remove his kidneys. He

𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐜𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 Read More »

Low Salt

Too little sodium 🧂in the blood can cause all sorts of problems from cramp to death. We generally associate too much salt with high blood pressure🩺 but too little can be just as dangerous⚠️ It allows water to enter the brain cells💦➡️🧠 which makes them swell. This can cause headaches, confusion and (sometimes) death☠️ Marathon

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Leprosy

Pope Gregory the Great (590AD) denounced leprosy as a punishment for sinful behaviour. Actually it is caused by a bacteria, and spread by inhaling droplets from someone’s nose.The bacteria prevents the suffer feeling pain in their extremities – which can become permanently damaged (or drop off) over time due to repeated injuries, infection and unnoticed

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