Glands in the outer ear canal produce wax to protect the canal. The amount produced varies from person to person. Some people produce so little wax that it never accumulates in the canal. Others produce enough to block the canal every few months.The symptoms of wax blockage are a feeling that the ear is plugged, partial hearing loss, ringing in the ear, and sometimes earache. No serious risks are involved

What is the Treatment?

Self-help: The best self-help for wax blockage is prevention. If you work in very dusty conditions, which can trigger wax blockage, consider wearing ear plugs.

Do not try to remove the wax with a stick or swab. It is all too easy to pack ear wax against the eardrum and cause damage.

Professional help: After examining your ear, your physician may soften the wax with eardrops before removing it. When wax is very difficult to remove, the doctor may dislodge it with a probe or electric suction apparatus.

What is this Condition?

Appendicitis is a medical emergency in which the appendix is inflamed due to obstruction and may rupture and spread infection. This is the most common major surgical emergency, affecting men and women equally. Left untreated, appendicitis is fatal, but surgery is an effective cure. Also, the use of antibiotics has helped reduced the number of cases and, thus, the death rate.

What Causes it?

Appendicitis is probably the result of an obstruction in the tube that passes through the appendix from the intestine. This blockage may be caused by a bit of stool, constriction of the tube, or a viral infection. The obstruction causes inflammation, which may lead to infection, a clot, tissue decay, and perforation. If the appendix ruptures or perforates, the infection spills into the abdominal cavity, causing the most common and dangerous complication of appendicitis - peritonitis.

What are its Symptoms?

Symptoms usually occur in the following sequence:

• pain in or around the upper right abdomen

• loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting

• pain concentrated in the lower right abdomen, with a “boardlike” abdominal rigidity

• increasing tenderness, increasingly severe abdominal spasms and, almost always, soreness to the touch

• lower left side too tender to touch, suggesting the lining of abdomen is inflamed

• constipation (possibly diarrhea), slight fever, and rapid heartbeat

• abdominal pain that ends suddenly (usually means that the appendix has perforated or burst).

How is it Diagnosed?

Your doctor will ask about symptoms, check for tenderness, and look for a mild fever and a moderately high white blood cell count. The physical exam and blood test rule out many illnesses with similar symptoms.

How is it Treated?

Appendectomy, surgery to remove the appendix, is the only effective treatment. Laparoscopic appendectomies, performed through very small incisions, shorten the recovery time.

If the infection has spread and peritonitis develops, the doctor will use antibiotics to fight it and tubes to drain the abdominal cavity.

What do Doctors call this Condition - Pericarditis

What is this Condition?

In this disease, the pericardium - the sac that envelops, supports, and protects the heart - becomes inflamed. It occurs in both acute and chronic forms. Acute inflammation may be marked by the build­up of fluid that may contain pus or blood. In chronic constrictive inflammation, the pericardium becomes thickened and fibrous, restricting heart motion. The prognosis depends on the underlying cause but is generally good in acute inflammation.

What Causes it?

Common causes of this disease include:

• bacterial, fungal, or viral infection

• cancers (primary or spread from the lungs, breasts, or other organs)

• high-dose radiation to the chest

• uremia (an excess of waste products in the blood produced by the metabolism of protein)

• hypersensitivity or autoimmune disease, such as acute rheumatic fever (most common cause of inflammation of the sac around the heart in children), lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis

• injury to the pericardial sac, which may result from a heart attack (which later causes an autoimmune reaction in the pericardium), trauma, or surgery that leaves the pericardium intact but causes blood to leak into the pericardial cavity

• such drugs as Apresoline and Pronestyl.

What are its Symptoms?

Acute inflammation of the sac around the heart typically produces a sharp and often sudden pain that usually starts over the sternum and radiates to the neck, shoulders, back, and arms. However, unlike the pain of a heart attack, pericardial pain often increases with deep inspiration and decreases when the person sits up and leans forward.

A major complication of this disorder is pericardial effusion.

How is it Diagnosed?

Because inflammation of the sac around the heart often exists with other conditions, its diagnosis depends on typical signs and symptoms and elimination of other possible causes. When listening with a stethoscope, the doctor may hear a grating sound as the heart moves, called a pericardial friction rub. In addition, if acute inflammation has caused accumulation of fluid in the pericardial sac, the doctor may note changes in sounds produced by the heart - increased cardiac dullness, diminished or absent apical impulse, and distant heart sounds.

Diagnostic test results, such as white blood cell count and measurement of cardiac enzymes, may help to confirm inflammation and identifY its cause. Open surgical drainage or cardiocentesis may be performed to obtain a culture of pericardial fluid. Culturing may help to identifY a causative organism in bacterial or fungal inflammation. An electrocardiogram may show changes in heart rate and rhythm brought on by acute inflammation.

How is it Treated?

The goal of treatment is to relieve symptoms and manage underlying systemic disease. When this condition is caused by a heart attack or follows heart surgery, treatment consists of bed rest as long as fever and pain persist and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and Indocin, to relieve pain and reduce inflammation. If these drugs fail to relieve symptoms, corticosteroids may be used.

Antibiotics, surgical drainage, or both may be needed to treat infectious inflammation of the sac around the heart. If cardiac tamponade (increased pressure on the heart muscle from fluid buildup) develops, the doctor may perform emergency pericardiocentesis.

Recurrent inflammation of the sac around the heart may require partial pericardiectomy, which creates a “window” that allows fluid to drain. In constrictive inflammation, total pericardiectomy (removal of the sac around the heart) may be necessary to permit adequate filling and contraction of the heart.

What do Doctors call this Condition - Steatosis

What is this Condition?

Fatty liver is a common problem in which triglycerides and other fats accumulate in liver cells. In severe fatty liver, fat makes up as much as 40% of the liver’s weight (as opposed to 5% in a normal liver), and the weight of the liver may increase from slightly over 3 pounds (1.5 kilograms) to as much as 11 pounds (5 kilograms). A mild case may be temporary and cause no pain. A severe case may cause pain, permanently impaired liver function, or even death. However, fatty liver usually can be reversed if the person follows a strict therapy program and especially avoids alcohol.

What Causes it?

Fatty liver is common in alcoholics. Its severity is directly related to the amount of alcohol consumed over time.

Other causes include malnutrition (especially protein deficiency), obesity, diabetes, Cushing’s syndrome, Reye’s syndrome, pregnancy, bypass surgery, large doses of certain drugs, prolonged intravenous feeding, and pesticide poisoning.

What are its Symptoms?

Symptoms vary with the degree of fat accumulation. Many persons in initial stages of fatty liver have no symptoms. For others, the most typical sign is a large, tender liver. Common symptoms include pain in the upper right abdomen (with rapid or massive fat infiltration), swelling, and fever - all with liver damage or decreased bile function. Nausea, vomiting, and appetite loss are less common. A large, tender spleen usually accompanies cirrhosis.

How is it Diagnosed?

The doctor can see the symptoms in most people - especially if they’re alcoholic, obese, malnourished, or severely diabetic. He or she can use a biopsy (tissue specimen obtained for study) to confirm excessive fat in the liver. Diagnosis is supported by blood tests.

How is it Treated?

The doctor will help you work to ease or eliminate the cause of fatty liver. For instance, when fatty liver results from intravenous feeding, decreasing the rate of carbohydrate infusion may correct the disease. In alcoholic fatty liver, proper diet and staying away from alcohol can begin to correct liver changes within 4 weeks. If a chronic illness is causing malnutrition, you may need a special diet, especially if you have protein deficiency.

What can a Person with Fatty Liver do?

The best news is that fatty liver is reversible if you strictly follow the therapeutic program. You can avoid permanent liver damage. Here are some helpful suggestions:

• If alcohol is causing your problem, get help from one of the many available support groups for you and your family.

• Persons with diabetes and their families can learn about proper care, such as the purpose of insulin injections, diet, and exercise. A visiting nurse or group classes can help with instruction.

• If obesity is the problem, you should avoid fad diets that may be nutritionally inadequate. For people more than 20% overweight, a doctor-supervised diet is recommended. For others, group diet and exercise programs may help.

If the nasal septum, or the wall between the nostrils, is very crooked, it makes the air passage on one side narrow. This obstruction can make breathing somewhat difficult, because the flow of air through the narrower passage may become blocked. Substantial deviation of the septum is not common. It usually happens because of an injury, and the nose can look straight. There are no significant symptoms other than the mild breathing problem and, rarely, an increased tendency to sinusitis . The septum can be straightened by surgery if the deviation is troublesome. Most people who have a deviated septum simply live with it.

What do doctors call this condition - Adrenal hypofunction, adrenal insufficiency

What is this Vondition?

In this disorder, the adrenal glands don’t secrete enough steroid hormones. A relatively uncommon disorder, Addison’s disease can occur at any age and in both sexes. With early diagnosis and adequate replacement of the steroid hormones, the prognosis for Addison’s disease is good.

Adrenal crisis (also known as addisonian crisis), a critical shortage of steroid hormones, generally follows acute stress, sepsis, injury, surgery, or failure of people with chronic adrenal insufficiency to take steroids. Because it’s a medical emergency, adrenal crisis requires immediate, vigorous treatment.

What Causes it?

Addison’s disease occurs when more than 90% of both adrenal glands are destroyed. In primary Addison’s disease, such destruction usually results from an autoimmune process in which circulating antibodies react specifically against the adrenal tissue. Other possible causes include tuberculosis, adrenal gland surgery, hemorrhage, and certain cancers or infections. Rarely, a person inherits a predisposition for developing Addison’s disease and other endocrine disorders.

Secondary Addison’s disease results from a disorder outside the gland (such as a pituitary tumor).

What are its Symptoms?

Addison’s disease typically causes weakness, fatigue, weight loss, and gastrointestinal disturbances, such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and chronic diarrhea. Also, it usually causes a conspicuous bronze skin discoloration - almost like a deep suntan - most noticeable in the creases of the hands, but also on the hand joints, elbows, and knees. It may darken scars and increase pigmentation of the mucous membranes.

The disorder may affect the heart and blood vessels, causing low blood pressure and a weak, irregular pulse. Other possible symptoms include a reduced tolerance for stress (even when minor), poor coordination, and a craving for salty food. In women, Addison’s disease may retard the growth of underarm and pubic hair, reduce the libido, and, in severe cases, cause menstruation to stop.

Secondary Addison’s disease produces symptoms similar to those of the primary type but doesn’t cause hyperpigmentation.

Adrenal crisis produces profound weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, dehydration and, occasionally, high fever followed by hypothermia. If untreated, this condition can progress to vascular collapse, kidney failure, coma, and death.

How is it Diagnosed?

Lab tests are key to diagnosing Addison’s disease. The doctor will require blood samples to measure plasma cortisol levels to confirm adrenal insufficiency If secondary Addison’s disease is suspected, he or she may order a special test called the metyrapone test, For primary or secondary Addison’s disease, the doctor will probably order a corticotropin stimulation test.

How is it Treated?

Lifelong hormone replacement therapy with steroid drugs is the primary treatment for people with Addison’s disease. The person usually receives the drugs cortisone or hydrocortisone, He or she may also require treatment with drugs to prevent dangerous dehydration and low blood pressure, Such drugs may include desoxycorticosterone or fludrocortisone,

Adrenal crisis constitutes a medical emergency and requires immediate medical intervention. Interventions include large doses of hydrocortisone. With proper treatment, adrenal crisis usually sub­sides quickly.

A growth on the larynx may be either benign (unlikely to spread), or malignant (likely tospread and threaten life). There are two types of benign tumors of the larynx: papillomas, which usually appear several at a time; and polyps, which usually appear one at a time. Both types usually can be removed without permanent ill-effects. They seem to be caused by misuse or over use of the vocal cords. Malignant tumors occur most often in people who smoke heavily.

What are the Symptoms?

Hoarseness is usually the only symptom of a tumor is lowing difficult, and you may have an increasingly obvious lump in your neck. In a child, because the airway through the larynx is narrow, a tumor of the larynx may give the voice a high-pitched crowing sound, known as stridor , because of the obstruction.

Hoarseness that is caused by benign growths is usually intermittent, but hoarseness due to cancer is continuous and gradually worsens. Since it is not painful and comes on slowly, you may scarcely notice it during its early stages.

What are the Risks?

Although neither type of tumor of the larynx is very common, benign tumors are slightly less common than malignant ones. The American Cancer Society estimates that there are about 11,000 new cases of cancer of the larynx each year, and that about 9,000 of those affected will be men.

The main risk is that if you ignore slowly increasing hoarseness, and if that hoarseness is caused by a malignant tumor, it may be too late to deal successfully with the cancer. Cancer of the larynx can almost always be cured if it is diagnosed early. If it is not discovered in time, it can either spread to other parts of the throat or get into the blood stream and produce metastases, or secondary cancers, elsewhere in your body.

What Should be Done?

Do not ignore unexpected vocal changes. If you remain hoarse for more than a week, or if hoarseness keeps coming back, consult your physician. If your throat shows no signs of the inflammation that accompanies laryngitis, the physician may refer you to an ear, nose and throat specialist, who will examine your larynx by reflecting a light from a mirror held at the back of the throat. If there is swelling or any other sign of a growth, the specialist will probably do an endoscopic examination, and a biopsy, which determine whether you have a tumor and, if so, whether it is malignant.

What is the Treatment?

Self-help: No self-help is possible.

Professional help: Benign growths, whether papillomas or polyps, can usually be removed in a minor operation done under local anesthetic. Malignant tumors discovered early are generally treated, and in most cases cured, by radiation therapy. If the cancer is more advanced, the larynx may have to be removed. Even then there is about an even chance of cure. To regain your voice, however, you will have to work with a speech therapist, who may teach you how to use the esophagus as a substitute for the larynx. An alternative technique involves implanting an artificial valve between the esophagus and the trachea. The valve permits air to move out of the lungs, through the valve, and up the esophagus, where you produce the sounds used in speech.