Reactive Airway Disease (RAD)

Reactive Airway Disease (RAD) is a term proposed by S.M. Brooks and colleagues in 1985 to describe an asthma-like syndrome developing after a single exposure to high levels of an irritating vapor, fume, or smoke. In time, however, it has evolved to be mistakenly used as a synonym for asthma.

Current usage of the term in the medical community is to describe an asthma-like syndrome in infants that may later be confirmed to be asthma when they become old enough to participate in diagnostic tests such as the bronchial challenge test. It can also manifest in adults with exposure to high levels of Chlorine gas, creating symptoms like asthma. The severity of these symptoms can be mild to fatal, and can even create long term airway damage depending on the amount of exposure and the concentration of Chlorine.

Yushō disease

Yushō disease (literally oil disease) was a mass poisoning by PCBs which occurred in northern Kyūshū, Japan in 1968. In January 1968, rice bran oil produced by Kanemi Company in Kyushu started to become contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). The contaminated rice bran oil was then sold to poultry farmers for use as a feed supplement and to consumers for use in cooking. In February to March 1968, farmers started reporting that their poultry were dying due to apparent difficulty in breathing; altogether 400,000 birds died.

About 14,000 people who had consumed the contaminated rice oil were affected in Japan. Common symptoms included dermal and ocular lesions, irregular menstrual cycles and a lowered immune response.Other symptoms included fatigue, headache, cough, and unusual skin sores. Additionally, in children, there were reports of poor cognitive development.

Ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis (Colitis ulcerosa, UC) is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Ulcerative colitis is a form of colitis, a disease of the intestine, specifically the large intestine or colon, that includes characteristic ulcers, or open sores, in the colon. The main symptom of active disease is usually constant diarrhea mixed with blood, of gradual onset. Ulcerative colitis is, however, believed to have a systemic etiology that leads to many symptoms outside the intestine.

Because of the name, IBD is often confused with irritable bowel syndrome ("IBS"), a troublesome, but much less serious condition. Ulcerative colitis has similarities to Crohn's disease, another form of IBD. Ulcerative colitis is an intermittent disease, with periods of exacerbated symptoms, and periods that are relatively symptom-free. Although the symptoms of ulcerative colitis can sometimes diminish on their own, the disease usually requires treatment to go into remission.

Quebec Platelet Disorder

Quebec Platelet Disorder (QPD) is a rare, autosomal dominant bleeding disorder described in a family from the province of Quebec in Canada. The disorder is characterized by large amounts of the fibrinolytic enzyme urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) in platelets. Consequently, stored platelet plasminogen is converted to plasmin, which is thought to play a role in degrading a number of proteins stored in platelet α-granules.

These proteins include platelet factor V, Von Willebrand factor, fibrinogen, thrombospondin-1, and osteonectin. There is also a quantitative deficiency in the platelet protein multimerin 1 (MMRN1). Furthermore, upon QPD platelet activation, u-PA can be released into forming clots and accelerate clot lysis, resulting in delayed-onset bleeding (12-24hrs after injury). Individuals with QPD are at risk for experiencing a number of bleeding symptoms, including joint bleeds, hematuria, and large brusing . The genetic cause of QPD has not yet been determined.

Nutritional diseases

Nutritional diseases also include developmental abnormalities that can be prevented by diet, hereditary metabolic disorders that respond to dietary treatment, the interaction of foods and nutrients with drugs, food allergies and intolerances, and potential hazards in the food supply. All of these categories are described in this article. For a discussion of essential nutrients, dietary recommendations, and human nutritional needs and concerns throughout the life cycle, see nutrition, human.

Nutrition-related disease is chronic undernutrition, which plagues more than 800 million people worldwide. Undernutrition is a condition in which there is insufficient food to meet energy needs; its main characteristics include weight loss, failure to thrive, and wasting of body fat and muscle. Low birth weight in infants, inadequate growth and development in children, diminished mental function, and increased susceptibility to disease are among the many consequences of chronic persistent hunger, which affects those living in poverty in both industrialized and developing countries. The largest number of chronically hungry people live in Asia, but the severity of hunger is greatest in sub-Saharan Africa. At the start of the 21st century, approximately 20,000 people, the majority of them children, died each day from undernutrition and related diseases that could have been prevented. The deaths of many of these children stem from the poor nutritional status of their mothers, as well as the lack of opportunity imposed by poverty.

Coronary angioplasty

Coronary angioplasty (AN-jee-oh-plas-tee) is a medical procedure in which a balloon is used to open a blockage in a coronary (heart) artery narrowed by atherosclerosis (ATH-er-o-skler-O-sis). This procedure improves blood flow to the heart.

Atherosclerosis is a condition in which a material called plaque (plak) builds up on the inner walls of the arteries. This can happen in any artery, including the coronary arteries. The coronary arteries carry oxygen-rich blood to your heart. When atherosclerosis affects the coronary arteries, the condition is called coronary artery disease (CAD).

Angioplasty is a common medical procedure. It may be used to:

* Improve symptoms of CAD, such as angina and shortness of breath.
* Reduce damage to the heart muscle from a heart attack. A heart attack occurs when blood flow through a coronary artery is completely blocked. Angioplasty is used during a heart attack to open the blockage and restore blood flow through the artery.
* Reduce the risk of death in some patients.

Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related, non-reversible brain disorder that develops over a period of years. Initially, people experience memory loss and confusion, which may be mistaken for the kinds of memory changes that are sometimes associated with normal aging. However, the symptoms of AD gradually lead to behavior and personality changes, a decline in cognitive abilities such as decision-making and language skills, and problems recognizing family and friends. AD ultimately leads to a severe loss of mental function. These losses are related to the worsening breakdown of the connections between certain neurons in the brain and their eventual death. AD is one of a group of disorders called dementias that are characterized by cognitive and behavioral problems. It is the most common cause of dementia among people age 65 and older.

There are three major hallmarks in the brain that are associated with the disease processes of AD.

* Amyloid plaques, which are made up of fragments of a protein called beta-amyloid peptide mixed with a collection of additional proteins, remnants of neurons, and bits and pieces of other nerve cells.
* Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), found inside neurons, are abnormal collections of a protein called tau. Normal tau is required for healthy neurons. However, in AD, tau clumps together. As a result, neurons fail to function normally and eventually die.
* Loss of connections between neurons responsible for memory and learning. Neurons can't survive when they lose their connections to other neurons. As neurons die throughout the brain, the affected regions begin to atrophy, or shrink. By the final stage of AD, damage is widespread and brain tissue has shrunk significantly.