The study of diseases, their causes and the effects that they cause.
0
votes
1answer
14 views
What is the disadvantage of having no anticoagulation after pulmonary embolism?
Is chronic anticoagulation always given after pulmonary embolism?
What are the risks or disadvantages
if anticoagulation is not given?
if terminated early?
2
votes
1answer
20 views
By what mechanism is Streptococcus bovis acting as a risk factor for colorectal cancer?
Streptococcus bovis bacteremia/endocarditis is considered a risk factor for colorectal cancer. What pathophysiological mechanism may link the two together?
2
votes
1answer
26 views
By what mechanism does an obstructed bile duct cause excess fat in the stool?
By what mechanism does an obstructed bile duct (for example gallstones) cause steatorrhoea (excess fat in the stool)?
3
votes
1answer
45 views
What factors govern the variable age of onset in Huntington's Disease?
"Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and psychiatric problems." As we all know, this genetic disease ...
1
vote
1answer
35 views
Whence fecal E. coli (et al.) if swallowing it is dangerous?
I don't know much about medicine, and I know even less about microbiology, but I understand that there are organisms in the lower gastrointestinal tract (and in feces) of a human, like Escherichia ...
1
vote
2answers
73 views
Iron deficiency anemia symptoms explanation
In my classes and on the internet, brittle nails and dry hair (or hair loss) are described as symptoms of iron deficiency anemia, but none explains the cause of such symptoms.
Does anyone have any ...
5
votes
1answer
65 views
Can cirrhosis be caused by physical compression of the body?
On a random forum, a member speculated that their cirrhosis was caused by wearing tight-fitting clothing such as a girdle or corset. This leads me to the following question:
Question: Can ...
8
votes
1answer
108 views
Can plants get cancer?
I can't think of any reason why plants wouldn't be able to get cancer, but I've never heard of a plant growing a tumor. I've also never seen a plant with a noticeable abnormal growth. Can plants get ...
1
vote
0answers
30 views
Cause of secondary symptoms of common cold
this year I was lucky to get sick by cold twice. First one had as a secondary symptom toothache. The second one was even more interesting in the fact, that when I cough I will fill ache in my ...
2
votes
0answers
46 views
In scuba diving, are nitrogen narcosis and high pressure nervous syndrome the same thing?
In training for scuba diving, they tell you that when you're bellow 100 ft or so you have to watch out for changes in mental state that resemble drunkenness. The cause of these mental disturbances is ...
5
votes
1answer
43 views
Can paper/plastic currency serve as a medium for pathogens?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/health/15real.html seems to indicate for a surface, to serve as a medium, the following properties are relevant
animation
humidity
temperature
The article ...
12
votes
4answers
285 views
Why does the cold make us sick?
From the moment we learn to communicate, we always get told, whether by our parents, or our teachers, or by anyone else, to avoid the cold, or to put a jacket on to avoid catching a cold, to dry our ...
3
votes
1answer
47 views
What mechanisms do animals living in groups (herds, packs, swarms) have against spreading contagious diseases?
While for example a wolf pack provides protection to a sick wolf, increasing its chance of survival, there is a risk of infecting other members of the pack, decreasing their total chance of survival.
...
0
votes
1answer
36 views
Using tube to deal with runny nose [closed]
Why we don't use tubes to deal with runny nose when it is very bad? We could for example put a tube that goes through the nostril to the throat so the light of this track won't be blocked completely ...
2
votes
1answer
239 views
Why are antibiotics prescribed with a viral infection like a cold?
I've heard both ways; people going to the doctor for a cold and then getting a prescription for antibiotics and those that go to the doctor and told they have ride it out because it's a viral ...
3
votes
2answers
56 views
What are some of the immediate challenges to break through before finding a cure for mad cow disease?
What are the immediate challenges to break through in seeking a cure for mad cow disease?
I know that mad cow disease has no treatment as of yet.
4
votes
1answer
88 views
Does culling badgers restrict the spread of bovine tuberculosis?
The British government has announced that it plans a large-scale badger cull which they argue are implicated in the spread of Mycobacterium bovis - so-called bovine tuberculosis. Any cattle that ...
5
votes
0answers
62 views
Pharmacologically, can tricyclic antidepressants have a side-effect profile similar to neuroleptics?
Torticollis (wryneck, cervical dystonia) is a neurologic movement disorder causing involuntary muscle spasms in the neck. Often, neuroleptics can cause such a side effect. I'm wondering if this ...
4
votes
2answers
165 views
Does making yogurt from non-pasteurized milk work against possible disease bacteria?
In the past, when there was no pasteurization, could making yogurt from milk lower the chance of getting infected by bovine tuberculosis (or other diseases from infected milk)?
For example, would ...
7
votes
3answers
162 views
What alternatives are there to the amyloid hypothesis?
Given the recent failure of the Bapi clinical trial, there is a lot of questions that have arised from he amyloid hypothesis. However, I can't really think of many other mechanisms that don't involved ...
-1
votes
1answer
36 views
What causes mutations in regulatory genes? [closed]
In detail, what causes mutations in regulatory genes?
2
votes
1answer
77 views
In cancer, why do cells duplicate themselves?
In regards to cancer why do cells replicate themselves? If it's a mutation, what kind of mutation would this be classified as?
7
votes
2answers
656 views
What is the life cycle of a wart?
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information available on research done on warts. What is the life cycle of a wart? How does it spread? -- specifically how does it recruit cells to spread it? What ...
6
votes
1answer
47 views
On the effect of polluted air on health. Is it more gradual, or more immediate?
I've heard time and again that living in São Paulo (a large city in Brasil) takes 1.5 years from your life expectancy. The allegation is that this happens because of air pollution.
I am just ...
4
votes
1answer
65 views
Is there a correlation between incidence of type 1 diabetes and vitiligo?
Does the data indicate that if you have one, the probability of you having the other is higher than that of someone who doesn't have the one?
2
votes
1answer
344 views
What is the “lifecycle” of an average eschar and what types of cells are involved in each stage?
(after some deliberation in the comments, I've decided to make the question more general)
An eschar or "dry scab" often forms at a site of injury over a large cut or sore.
It seems as though the ...
5
votes
1answer
105 views
Is there a detectable amount of bacterial DNA in the blood of infected persons?
With which bacterial infection in humans has it been shown that bacterial DNA can be found in the blood?
If any is found it is likely not to be very much, and even difficult to distinguish from ...
3
votes
1answer
56 views
Is it harmful for someone to consume things full of bacteria if they don't get physically sick from the bacteria at all?
Or as another example - what if you touch a surface that's contaminated with potentially pathogenic bacteria (like the ones at ...
18
votes
2answers
218 views
Why is rabies incurable?
I'm still not sure about the mechanics that lead to rabies being incurable. I know that it can be treated before any symptoms show up, but why is it that once symptoms show the person is a dead man ...
9
votes
1answer
127 views
Why are some bodily fluids more of an infection risk than others?
Whilst on a recent refresher course it was highlighted that when considering risk of exposure to infection from bodily fluids we should be aware of two distinct risk levels:
High Risk:
Blood
Semen
...
9
votes
1answer
129 views
How does herpes (HSV) infection suppress HIV?
HIV compromises the human body to defend against infection. Yet people who are infected with herpes are at less risk of developing AIDS.
How does this work?
9
votes
1answer
96 views
Have there been any positive public health effects due to UV lights?
Occasionally, in hospitals and in eating establishments in the US, they have industrial grade UV lights in sconces attached to the wall (though they seem to be less prominent as the years go by). I ...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
Harmless virus?
Is it possible for a virus to live symbiotically with its host?
Is the human body plagued with viral infections that do negligible harm, or even serve a beneficial role?
4
votes
1answer
84 views
What evidence gives clues to the physiological basis for conversion disorder?
Conversion disorder has a set of DSM diagnosis criteria, which, among other things, includes ruling out all neurological disease.
However, as the media has shown us (and one could argue a biased ...
4
votes
2answers
421 views
Why would taking antibiotics increase stamina and energy?
I often hear that people who are taking antibiotics experience wild fluctuations between feeling full of energy and completely alert but soon after feeling impossibly fatigued and sick.
Does this ...
8
votes
1answer
151 views
Mechanism of syndesmophyte growth in AS
Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) causes inflammation around joints and the growth of syndesmophytes that may eventually fuse vertebrae. I'm familiar with the genetics (HLA-B27, IL1A) related to the ...
