Malaria

Hi....

As promised, there will be a lot of interesting information be shared here,..

So, its time for malaria..

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite called plasmodium. People with malaria often experience fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Left untreated, they may develop severe complications and die. In 2010 an estimated 216 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide and 655,000 people died.

The mosquito involved is the female from the species of anopheles mosquito.
(I have a problem in uploading the picture, so you can try it here). Anopheles Mosquito

So, there are 4 types of plasmodium parasites which are:
-plasmodium falciparum,
-plasmodium vivax,
-plasmodium ovale and
-plasmodium malariae.

The famous diseases:
-Black water fever (caused by p.falciparum) and
-P. Vivax malaria (caused by p.vivax).

Black water fever:
In this case, the person infected usually have fever and chills on every third day and there are complaints of passage of black colored urine. When a peripheral blood smear is done, there are structures called schizonts and trophozoites can be observed and that confirms black water fever. This parasite can also cause cerebral malaria, algid malaria, septicemic malaria and tropical splenomegaly syndrome.

P. Vivax malaria:
In this case, the person infected will have fever and chills too, but this time along with sweating, pallor and splenomegaly. The peripheral blood smear will have the same finding as the one mentioned. The major difference that can be seen in these two is the shape of the gametogony (crescent shape in p.falciparum).

Several medications are available to prevent malaria in travellers to malaria-endemic countries (prophylaxis). A variety of antimalarial medications are available. Severe malaria is treated with intravenous or intramuscular quinine or, the artemisinin derivative artesunate, which is superior to quinine is given in combination with a second anti-malarial such as mefloquine. 

Resistance has developed to several antimalarial drugs; for example,chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum has spread to most malarial areas, and emerging resistance to artemisinin has become a problem in some parts of Southeast Asia.

So, to all the readers, please beware about the surrounding and take extra care about every place you want to go. All these infections can be prevented from the beginning and it is always better to prevent rather than to cure.

Have a great day and once again thanks for your time.






  

Leukemia

Hi everyone...

Sorry for being late,.. again....

So, its time for another well known disease, leukemia...

Today, i will share some information about the main 4 types of this disease which are:

-Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML),

-Acute Lymphoid Leukemia (ALL),

-Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and

-Chronic Lymphoid Leukemia (CLL).

Well, the question is.. which one is the most dangerous?

Firstly, we must know that leukemia is a cancer where our body start to produce many white blood cells which is abnormal to all of us. Those white blood cells will never play their usual role in this case. When the body is healthy, we will normally produce a specific range of amount of RBCs, WBCs and platelet. But as i mentioned above, this cancer will have a major difference in the WBC count. All the production process take place in the bone marrow and there is where the defect can be seen.

So, for acute leukemia.. briefly i want all of you to know that WHO have decided that a patient can only be classified into an acute leukemia patient when the blast cells count is more than 20%..

The usual symptoms will be fatigue, gum bleeding, epistasis, gum hypertrophy and splenomegaly (AML). These symptoms are more or less the same in ALL but, please always remember that ALL often occur in children.

How it can be treated?

The type of treatment you need will depend on many things, including what kind of leukemia you have, how far along it is, and your age and overall health.

If you have acute leukemia, you will need quick treatment to stop the rapid growth of leukemia cells. In many cases, treatment makes acute leukemia go into remission. Some doctors prefer the term "remission" to "cure," because there is a chance the cancer could come back.

Chronic leukemia can rarely be cured, but treatment can help control the disease. If you have chronic lymphoid leukemia, you may not need to be treated until you have symptoms. But chronic myeloid leukemia will probably be treated right away.

Treatments for leukemia include:

Chemotherapy, which uses powerful medicines to kill cancer cells. This is the main treatment for most types of leukemia.

Radiation treatments. Radiation therapy uses high-dose X-rays to destroy cancer cells and shrink swollen lymph nodes or an enlarged spleen. It may also be used before a stem cell transplant.

Stem cell transplant. Stem cells can rebuild your supply of normal blood cells and boost your immune system. Before the transplant, radiation or chemotherapy may be given to destroy cells in the bone marrow and make room for the new stem cells. Or it may be given to weaken your immune system so the new stem cells can get established.

So, stay healthy and if you have any unusual signs or symptoms, don't delay even a second to go for a check up especially if you have this disease in the family history.

I will post about malaria after this. Enjoy and thanks for your time.

The Awakening

HI....
It has been a couple of months since my last post...
Just finished my final exam and have many, many, many interesting informations to share with all the readers,...
16th Feb 2013....i will start posting all of them....
spend some of your free time here...
see ya in the next post....