Monday, August 29, 2011

What is Lupus?


A chronic inflammatory condition caused by an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease occurs when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. Patients with lupus have unusual antibodies in their blood that are targeted against their own body tissues.

Lupus can cause disease of the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, joints, and nervous system. When only the skin is involved, the condition is called discoid lupus. When internal organs are involved, the condition is called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Up to 10% of persons with discoid lupus (lupus limited to the skin) eventually develop the systemic form of lupus (SLE).

SLE is eight times more common in women than men. The causes of SLE are unknown. However, heredity, viruses, ultraviolet light, and drugs may all play a role.

Eleven criteria have been established for the diagnosis of SLE:

1 . Malar (over the cheeks of the face) "butterfly" rash
2 . Discoid skin rash: patchy redness that can cause scarring
3 . Photosensitivity: skin rash in reaction to sunlight exposure
4 . Mucus membrane ulcers: ulceration of the lining of the mouth, nose or throat
5 . Arthritis: 2 or more swollen, tender joints of the extremities
6 . Pleuritis/pericarditis: inflammation of the lining tissue around the heart or lungs, usually associated with chest 7 . pain with breathing.
7. Kidney abnormalities: abnormal amounts of urine protein or cellular elements
8 . Brain irritation: manifested by seizures (convulsions) and/or psychosis
9 .Blood count abnormalities: low counts of white or red blood cells, or platelets
10.Immunologic disorder: abnormal immune tests include anti-DNA or anti-Sm (Smith) antibodies, falsely positive blood test for syphilis, anticardiolipin antibodies, lupus anticoagulant, or positive LE prep test
11.Antinuclear antibody: positive ANA antibody testing

The treatment of SLE is directed toward decreasing inflammation and/or the level of autoimmune activity. Persons with SLE can help prevent "flares" of disease by avoiding sun exposure and by not abruptly discontinuing medications.

CANCER DISEASE

Cancer is one of the deathly disease in the world
In latin words cancer means crab.
Malignant disease, cancer, likened to a crab claw-claw arm by a Hippocrates, who observed that the cancer can spread in the body and usually ends in death.

What is Cancer cells? In general, cancer cells are defined as abnormal cells, which grow and multiply rapidly and uncontrollably. Cancer cells do not care about the limitations of nutrients, space and the fact that they must share with the normal cells around it. Furthermore, they ignored orders to stop breeding by the body concerned.

Normal body cells also grow, divide and at a certain moment they will die. But in cancer cells, they continue to grow, multiply and try to avoid death (apoptsis), worse speeds far exceeding the growth of cancer cells to normal cells.

Broadly speaking, cancer is divided into two groups, benign and malignant cancers. Cancer benign (benign) have a tendency to grow more slowly than malignant cancers and other keorgan they do not spread in the body. While the cancer (malignant) has a very rapid cell growth, can invade and destroy surrounding tissue and at a certain phase will spread to other organs in the body.