May 7, 2012 12:06 am by Pohla Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

About a year ago, Jean Magazzu was diagnosed with bronchitis, but after two courses of different antibiotics, her symptoms remained. by June, she had extreme shortness of breath.

“I couldn't get up and walk across the room without having to rest,” said Ms. Magazzu, 44, of Mt. Lebanon. a single mother and the office and development coordinator for Outreach Teen and Family Services, she went to St. Clair Hospital's emergency room, where a scan showed she had blood clots in her lungs.

After spending the night at St. Clair, she was transferred to Allegheny General Hospital, where she was immediately put on blood-thinning medication. During her stay of about a week, doctors conducted tests that found that the blood pressure in her lungs was three to four times above normal; the right side of her heart also was enlarged. They placed a filter in the large vein that brings de-oxygenated blood from the lower part of her body into her heart's right atrium to prevent any more clots from reaching her lungs.

Ms. Magazzu had a rare disease called chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, better known as CTEPH. It's a condition that eventually would have killed her if she had not undergone a complex surgery at Allegheny General on Feb. 9.

This delicate surgery called pulmonary thromboendarterectomy removes the clots from the pulmonary arteries and restores blood flow. it is done at about 10 medical centers across the United States, and Ms. Magazzu was the first patient to undergo the procedure at Allegheny General. to become proficient, a team led by cardiothoracic surgeon Robert Moraca underwent six months of training under David McGiffin at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. McGiffin was present for Ms. Magazzu's operation.

Before Ms. Magazzu's case, Dr. Moraca said, Allegheny General sent such patients to Birmingham, one of the two best-known centers for the surgery in the nation. The other is the University of California, San Diego, where the procedure was developed.

The condition is caused when a clot breaks off in the legs (or, sometimes, the upper extremities), travels through the circulatory system, on through the right side of the heart and gets lodged in the lungs. If the body doesn't dissolve it, more can form on top of it, causing a network of scar tissue. “So it propagates itself,” said AGH cardiologist Raymond Benza.

“The body's response to that is to try to seal off that artery so no more clots can form there, so the vessel closes down,” he said. The result is not unlike a plugged-up drain, creating a tremendous back pressure in the right heart,” he said.

As the pressure builds, the right heart tries to keep up by getting larger and larger. “When it does, it loses its elasticity” and its ability to pump blood to the lungs. “People are dying … from a type of heart failure,” Dr. Benza said.

Most times patients and their doctors do not know clots are traveling to the lungs, so it goes undiagnosed. “It's only recognized when people start to develop early symptoms of heart failure — swelling in their ankles, edema in their bellies, fatigue, shortness of breath, and then, when the disease becomes more prominent, they start passing out when they try to do things,” he said. “That's because no circulation is going beyond these clots.”

The first line of treatment is to try to dissolve the clots with anticoagulants. If that doesn't work, surgery follows. without surgery, Dr. Benza said, “it's uniformly fatal,” with patients living less than a year once heart failure becomes prominent.

Drugs are being developed to help those with inoperable disease that may prolong survival, he said, but they are not a substitute for the surgery in those who qualify for it.

The surgery involves opening the chest and can take from four to 10 hours. The patient is put on a heart-lung machine, and the body is cooled down to about 68 degrees. “The reason we do that is we need to shut blood supply off to the body and lungs and open up the right and left pulmonary arteries and begin to take off their scar tissue,” Dr. Moraca said.

“We work very quickly and efficiently to remove the scar tissue, so we do it all at once in sort of one long block,” he said.

Once it's removed, doctors restart the heart, re-warm the patient and close up the surgical area.

Ms. Magazzu, who has a congenital condition that causes the blood clots, said she could tell her breathing had improved within a couple days, although she was still exhausted from the surgery.

She went back to work part time the last week of March and two weeks later reported feeling very well.

“My breathing is great,” she said. “My stamina could use a little improvement — I haven't been real active over the last nine months. … I can walk up a flight of steps now without having to stop.”

The survival rate can be more than 95 percent in patients who have the surgery done at experienced centers, Dr. Benza said.

To prevent further problems, Ms. Magazzu will have to take anticoagulants for life and keep a filter in the vein leading to her heart.

Her prognosis is “to live a normal life expectancy for a young woman,” Dr. Benza said. “Her heart is healed. her right ventricle is normal now, and she's going to have an amazing prognosis.”

just please write what allergies are and what are the symptoms and how can they be treated if you are 13. Please and thank you.

Allergy symptoms can include red, itchy eyes, scratchy throat, sneezing, stuffy nose. They are treated with antihistamines. a 13 year old can take an antihistamine. a good one to try is Benadryl. Allergies are caused by an allergic reaction by your body to some foreign substance. People can be allergic to a variety of things, such as dust, pollen, animals, and a bazillion other things.

Frequent sneezing without any fever or systemic symptoms such as tiredness, fatigue, pains and aches (which suggest infection).
Severe allergies can cause blood pressure to drop and difficulty in breathing and can be fatal.

Itchy eyes, itchy throat/mouth, itchy ears even! Runny nose, stuffy nose, stuffy head, red eyes.

If you're having an allergic reaction to something like something you ate symptoms will probably be different.

Try something over the counter first like clariton. it is available in generic form too, it is pretty weak and I tried it and it did nothing for me Benadryl is also nice if your allergies are bad, it always made mine a bit better but also put me right to sleep which was less than optimal.

If your allergies persist see a doctor and try prescription meds. During the spring when my allergies are bad I take two nasal sprays and allegra (a pill). The rest of the year I take nothing.

If these don't work your doctor can test you for what exactly you are allergic to and you can get shots that will make you non allergic. Sounds bad, but if your allergies are this bad you'll want shots!

Lots of things can cause allergies, you could be allergic to pets, dust, mold, summer, fall, spring, hay, grass, pollen, smoke, etc.

Symptoms of allergies:
– itchy and watery eyes
– itchy skin that can lead to eczema
– difficulty in breathing
– anaphylaxis shock that can cause death.
Read about the symptoms of allergies here
allergy-attacks.com/2007/what…

You can prevent allergies by avoiding the triggers that set off your symptoms
allergy-attacks.com/2007/prev…

You may have several triggers. They can include an allergy to pet dander, allergy to mold, pollen allegy, food allergy, drug allergy etc. Identifying them can help you to avoid or prevent them.

Your doctor can of couse give you some medications for your allergy. However, long time reliance is not a good thing.
You can read about it here
allergy-attacks.com/2007/alle…

Common responses are nasal congestion,coughing,wheezing,itching,hiv… and other rashes,headache,and fatigue.The substances that provoke allergic responses are called allergens.The most common allergens include pollen,dust,certain metals(especially nickel),some cosmetics,lanolin,animal hair,insect venom,some drugs such as penicillin and aspirin,some food additives.Many people are allergic to mold.
Your doctor should be able to diagnosis you and give you medication to help with your symptoms.

theres many kinds of allergies, and symptoms vary depending on the person.
some can be treated, some cant exactly be treated.
they can be caused by everything and everything.
anyone can have severe allergies.
i recomend that the next time you see a doctor to ask him/her about allergies.

any one can have severe allergies. what do you think that you are allergic to? if it is a food, your mouth may feel itchy, or you may get a bump on your lip. if it is a non food allergy, you may suffer from red/ichy eyes, snezing, or head ahes

A friend is pregnant idk if she my have TB.
But can pregnant woman get tb she is over weight is that a problem for the baby. pls it is URGENT!!!!

A cough with thick, cloudy, and sometimes bloody mucus from the lungs (sputum) for more than 2 weeks.

Fever, chills, and night sweats.

Fatigue and weakness.

Loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss.

Shortness of breath and chest pain.

I suggest you go to mayoclinic.com and use the symptom checker or look up TB under diseases.

First, anyone can get Tuberculosis. the symptoms are productive cough, general weakness, and night sweats. A simple skin test can determine if she has beene exposed to TB. Second, being overweight and pregnant usually does not cause problems unless she is morbidly obese. then problems can arise with the heart and blood pressure

The nervous system controls everything the body does, including breathing, digestion, movement of muscles and feeling sensations of heat and cold. there are three types of nerves in our body. Sensory nerves relay information from muscles and skin to brain which gives sensation of touch, pain and temperature. Motor nerves relay information from the central nervous system to the muscles and control the movement of the body. the autonomic nervous system controls the involuntary activities and also some voluntary activities of the body, including digestion and heart rate, blood pressure and temperature regulation. Nerve damage is injury of nerve fibres at any part of the body.

Nerve damage can be observed through various symptoms which are totally dependent on the three types of nerves as well as the location of the nerves that are involved. Nerve damage can occur in any nerves located in the central nervous system, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. Three types of nerve damage symptoms are given below.

The following seven symptoms are due to damage of autonomic nerves:

• Dry eyes and mouth
• Too much sweating (hyperhidrosis) or too little sweating (anhidrosis)
• Lightheadedness
• Bladder dysfunction
• Constipation
• Inability to sense chest pain, such as angina or heart attack
• Sexual dysfunction

The following symptoms produce due to damage of motor nerves:

• Muscle atrophy
• Twitching, also known as fasciculation
• Paralysis
• Weakness

Sensory nerve damage may produce the following symptoms:

• Sensitivity
• Burning
• Pain
• Tingling or prickling
• Numbness
• Problems with positional awareness

Sometimes, a patient may experience more than one type of nerve damage. for example, one can have numbness and muscle atrophy simultaneously. All types of nerve damages can be categorized into three categories. All the symptoms of nerve damage are dependent on the following three types of nerve damage: neurapraxia, axonotmesis, neurotmesis.

Neuropraxia: it is caused due to increased pressure in nerves which are vital for cardinal functions. Increased pressure in nerves can block the neurotransmission, hampering proper functionality of the nerves. Loss of blood supply can also cause neuropraxia. this is a mild type of damage that can be recovered very quickly within days or months.

Axonotmesis: this type of damage is a less severe form of damage, which is caused either due to increased pressure of the nerves, which may cause them to be crushed. this type of damage is mainly due to the axons of the nerves keeping other parts intact. Nerves which have suffered this type of damage can regenerate over a matter of months.

Neurotmesis: this is the most dangerous form of nerve damage, which cannot be easily recovered from. Neurotmesis occurs due to severe bruising, stretching or tearing of nerves and surrounding tissue.

Apart from the above three types of nerve damage, there are some other situational types of nerve damage, for instance, diabetic nerve damage, which is caused due to glycosylation in nerves. almost two-thirds of diabetic patients are susceptible to diabetic neuropathy, a severe form of nerve damage.

The common symptoms for diabetic neuropathy are numbness in the extremities, pain, tingling sensations, atrophy of the limb muscles, sexual dysfunction, digestive symptoms as well as weakness. however, some people do not experience any noticeable symptoms at all even if they suffer from diabetic neuropathy.

There are many reasons behind the nerve damage of human body. they include autoimmune diseases, cancer, compression/trauma, diabetes, side-effects of drugs and toxic substances, motor neuron diseases, nutritional deficiencies and infectious diseases. by observing the symptoms and causes of nerve damage, a proper treatment plan can be devised easily.

They seem like they may help for this type of cold and congestion, but I've only ever heard it used for asthma. anyone ever use it for a cold? does it work better then the traditional OTC meds for a cold?

Primatene tablets are dangerous for anything- they cause increased heart rate and blood pressure and can cause stroke. you are better to use Tylenol Sinus or similar for a head cold.

Primitine is not recommended for colds,virus,or flu symptoms

 MANILA, Philippines – last week, we learned that smoking kills. is it about time that we kill (the) smoking (habit)? Like any addiction, it can be almost impossible to stop because of the associated pleasure smoking brings. But quitting may be the only way to get back your health if it’s not too late.

Benefits of quitting. A 2001 University of California study revealed the immediate effects of not lighting up:

Within 20 minutes, blood pressure decreases; pulse returns to its normal level.

After eight hours, carbon monoxide levels in the blood return to normal, oxygen level increases.

After 24 hours, chance of heart attack starts to decrease; breath, hair, and body stop smelling like smoke.

After 48 hours, damaged nerve endings begin to recover; sense of taste and smell improves.

After 72 hours, the body is virtually free of nicotine; bronchial tubes relax and breathing becomes easier;

After 2–12 weeks, lungs can hold more air; exercise becomes easier, and circulation improves.

The long-term effects of quitting include:

After 1 year, the risk of coronary heart disease is cut in half.

After 5 years, the risk of stroke falls to the same as a non-smoker.

After 10 years, the risk of lung cancer is cut in half and the risk of other cancers decreases significantly.

After 15 years, the risk of coronary heart disease drops, usually to the level of a non-smoker.

Smoking cessation. to date, there are seventeen (!) methods of quitting smoking. They all deal with getting off nicotine dependence, the main chemical culprit in the addiction. So make no mistake about it – withdrawal symptoms start as early as four hours after stopping and peaks at 3 to 5 days but tapers off in two weeks. Expect the physical effects of tingling in the hands and feet, sweating, intestinal disorders (cramps, nausea), dizziness, headache, cold symptoms as the lungs begin to clear (sore throat, coughing, and other signs of colds and respiratory problem). and if that’s not enough, watch out for: Temper tantrums, insomnia, anger, depression, irritability, and anxiety. (QuitSmokingSupport.com). and oh by the way, weight gain (nicotine is an appetite suppressant, too).

What works. There’s just stopping (“cold turkey”); pharmacological — nicotine replacements in the form of lozenges, patches, sprays, and inhalers; anti-depressant bupropion, the nicotinic receptor agonist varenicline which controls the withdrawal symptoms; and of course cigarette substitutes like the electronic cigarette or herb preparations (non-tobacco). Hypnosis and acupuncture are alternative approaches.

Individual or group counseling is available in hospitals that offer smoking cessation services. So get help. Don’t do it alone because there are also support groups.

It is not too late to quit smoking. But you must commit to stop. not only restaurants or buildings can be “smoke-free.” Dr. Pujalte is an orthopedic surgeon.

As we all know that our kidneys play a very vital role by eliminating wastes and toxins from our body.Renal failure can be defined as the inability of the kidneys to eliminate these wastes from our body.

This might lead to accumulation of wastes and toxins in our body and may prove fatal also.few symptoms associated with renal failure are blood in stools, loss of appetite, mood swings, weakness, increased blood pressure, disturbed sleep, lack of sensation in certain parts of the body etc.

A number of factors could be responsible for renal failure like an injury, lack of proper circulation of blood due to surgery, diabetes, blood pressure etc.so in order to treat renal failure it is very important to determine the cause that triggered renal failure.

To begin with, it is very important to seek medical supervision to analyse your condition.Meet your doctor and get yourself checked to determine the severity of your case.If your case is not too severe then it can be treated by means of certain modes of treatment like dialysis, medications, etc.

If your case is serious then you might be recommended to go for a kidney transplant.Change in your dietary habits will also be recommended for treating renal failure.Most of these treatments are very effective and work well for treating renal failure.

Make sure that you follow a disciplined and healthy diet while getting treated for renal failure to recover fast.The purpose of your diet will be to eliminate all toxins from your body.Make sure that your diet in rich in carbohydrates.So include foods rich potatoes, rice etc. to your diet.

Also make sure that you have plenty of fruits and vegetables as these are known to detoxify your body.Keep away from salt, potassium and proteins till you recover from this ailment as these might deteriorate your condition.

Drink plenty of water throughout the day to flush out all the toxins from your body.Make sure that you follow a healthy lifestyleand diet and also make regular visits to your doctor to get cured of renal failure.Also indulge in healthy habits to prevent such ailments in near future.

I am 40 years old, and 29 weeks pregnant with baby number eight. I never get sick, and my blood pressure has always been perfect.
However, I have come down with severe head cold/flu type symptoms, and my blood pressure has risen to 155/88.
Should I be concerned? Perhaps get my blood pressure checked again in a few days?

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you can get much information in this website, If you will check anyone blue link in website.

By Paul G. Donohue M.D. December 17, 2010 12:00 AM

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: please write something about polycythemia. My wife was just diagnosed with it. Before she was diagnosed, she complained about severe itching and tried many different creams, lotions and ointments without any relief. Finally a doctor made the diagnosis. she has blood taken periodically. The itching has stopped. how did she get this?

“Polycythemia” (POL-ee-sigh-THEME-ee-uh) literally means “too many blood cells” — poly, many; cyt, cells; emia, blood. no one is able to say how people get it. That’s still being worked on.

All varieties of blood cells — white, red and platelets — are produced in overabundance. Platelets are tiny blood cells whose function is to form a clot when a blood vessel breaks.

Blood, packed with too many cells, becomes thick and moves sluggishly. That gives rise to symptoms such as headache, dizziness, ear ringing and a rise in systolic blood pressure (the first number of a pressure reading). Itching is another sign. A warm shower or warm bath greatly increases itchiness. another polycythemia sign sometimes seen is redness and burning pain in the feet and hands.

One of the most serious consequences is clotting. A clot in a brain artery is a stroke. Bleeding and easy bruising are other common signs. That sounds paradoxical — clotting and bleeding. And bleeding shouldn’t happen with an excess of platelets. it does because often the platelets are of inferior quality.

Treatment is blood removal. once the blood count has been lowered and symptoms have gone, removal can be done less frequently, every three months or so.

If blood removal does not achieve control, medicines can be added to the regimen.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I read what you had to say about gallstones for the woman who didn’t want to have her gallbladder removed. I have gallstones too, and want them out. My doctor insists I don’t need an operation. what if I were to have an attack at some inopportune time? I’d rather plan for surgery. is this a rational approach?

Yes, your approach is a good argument for surgery. however, the odds are that you will never need an operation. You have what is called incidental gallstones, gallstones not kicking up any trouble, discovered by chance. The percentage of people with silent gallstones in the years from 50 to 59 is 12 percent for women and 7 percent for men. between the ages of 60 and 69, the percentages are 16 for women and 17 for men. Most of those gallstones are discovered when people happen to have an ultrasound of their abdomen for some unrelated reason. Only a few of these people will ever have a gallbladder attack. Surgery for silent stones isn’t recommended.

Readers may write to Dr. Donohue or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando FL 32853-6475.

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For the sake of marital harmony, people ?occasionally do things they would rather avoid. That’s why retired ?business consultant Simon D’Arcy went to his doctor for a PSA test. He is glad he did, as is his wife, Gina, because that simple blood test saved his life.

It detected signs of a cancer which is so common that three men in Simon’s family have been struck by it (they are not related by blood).

Prostate cancer kills one man every hour in the UK, yet seven out of 10 who are at risk know nothing about the test.

In the clear: Gina and husband Simon D’Arcy, who had no symptoms. a PSA test revealed he had prostate cancer

The prostate is a tiny gland, around the size of a walnut, located around the urethra, which makes the fluid that carries semen.

The PSA test measures levels of a protein produced by the cells of the prostate gland — prostate specific antigen (PSA) — in the blood. Raised levels can be a sign of a ?problem, which may be cancer.

‘I had no idea what a PSA test was,’ admits Simon, 59, from Headley, Hants. ‘my wife is a practice nurse and two years ago, when I was going to my GP for a blood pressure test, she told me to ask for the PSA test too. I now know the chances of developing prostate cancer increase with age, but I had no symptoms.

‘I was a fit, active, non-smoker. I couldn’t see the point. my brother-in-law Charles had died from it 14 years earlier at 46 but I thought that was an unlucky one-off. I thought if I had cancer, I’d know about it. I was wrong on both points.’

To Simon’s surprise, his PSA reading was high. Two subsequent tests were higher still, and his GP referred him to Haslemere Hospital in Surrey. Gina, 55, advised him not to worry.

‘she explained that there was no reason to expect it to mean cancer,’ says Simon. this is the problem with the test: the results are never clear-cut. Raised levels of PSA can be a sign of prostatitis (often caused by an infection) or benign prostatic hyperplasia, a relatively harmless and fairly common condition in which age and hormones cause the prostate to enlarge.

Complicating matters further, prostate cancer can range from an aggressive form which kills, to a much more common cancer which is so slow-growing most men will die of other causes. The PSA test can’t differentiate between the two, which means men may end up having unnecessary treatment.

This includes radiotherapy, which can lead to bowel and ?urinary problems; hormone therapy, which may cause loss of libido and fatigue, and surgery, which can lead to erectile ?dysfunction and incontinence.

For these reasons the test has been the subject of debate for years among medical professionals. some doctors are ?reluctant to offer it: a survey last year by the Prostate Cancer Charity showed that one in five men who requested the test had been turned down by their GP.

Earlier this month health authorities decided against a national screening programme using the test because the risks posed are greater than potential benefits, the UK National Screening Committee said.

This announcement was described as ‘extremely disappointing’ by John Neate, the chief executive of the Prostate Cancer Charity.

However, experts believe all men should be informed about the test and make their own decision about whether to have it.

‘While there are benefits, there are risks of over-diagnosis and over-treatment,’ explains John Anderson, consultant urological surgeon at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.

Unnecessary? Most men who have the test do not have cancer but go through the fear (posed by model)

‘a European screening study of 200,000 men, published last year inthe new England Journal of Medicine, showed a reduction in the numberwho died from prostate cancer among those who had the test, but therewas also an enormous incidence of over-diagnosis. Forty-eight men weretreated to save one from death.’

Dr Richard Ablin, researchprofessor at the University of Arizona, is the man who identified the?antigen. ‘I believe testing for PSA in healthy men has been a hugewaste of money and led to many men being left unnecessarily frightened,frustrated, impotent and incontinent,’ he wrote in the Daily Mail lastyear.

‘The majority of these patients could have lived painlessly with their tumours until the natural end of their lives.’

Simon takes a different view. His high test results led his consultant to recommend a biopsy.

‘The whole thing brought back vivid memories of Charles’ death. I felt very vulnerable and thought: am I going to go through the same thing?’ Simon recalls. ‘He was incredibly fit, had three teenage children with my sister Sarah and had settled in

Wiltshire where he was a ?senior partner at a GP surgery.

‘one somehow felt that as a GP he’d have spotted the symptoms and known — but like me, he didn’t have any. Charles died three years after the diagnosis.’

Simon and Gina discussed his condition with their three children, then aged 26, 24 and 22, and he had the biopsy at the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford.

When he returned with Gina to get his results on Valentine’s Day last year his consultant confirmed that he had moderately aggressive prostate cancer.‘On the way home in the car I was angry,’ he remembers.

‘why didn’t men know more about this cancer? my stepfather had died two years before in his 90s, and died with the disease rather than of it, but it brought it home to me how common this is.’

In a four-hour keyhole procedure, Simon’s prostate was removed in August last year. ‘I woke up feeling tremendously relieved. They’d managed to avoid most of my nerves, so side-effects should be minimal.

‘Three days later I was out of hospital. I did experience a little incontinence, but things were soon back to normal.’

Two weeks later the surgeon confirmed that there was no ?evidence the cancer had spread, though it was only just ?contained within the prostate.

Simon will have regular PSA tests for three years to check the cancer has not returned, and in response to the experience he has retired to spend more time with his family and doing the things he loves. this summer he sailed solo around the UK in a 24ft Cornish Crabber to raise awareness of the test and highlight that it is available to men over 50 in request from their GP.

‘I understand the test is controversial and not right for everyone, but I believe men ought to know about it,’ says Simon. ‘It’s an absolute tragedy that it won’t be used for national screening.

‘The utterly shocking thing is that I was not in an at-risk group and I had been living a normal, symptomless life with this ?cancer for four or five years.

‘Had I ignored my wife’s ?suggestion to have the test, the cancer would have spread outside the prostate in the not-too-distant future. that is a terrifying thought.’ n To find out more, go to ?prostate-cancer.org.uk or call 0800 074 8383.in the clear: Gina and Simon D’Arcy, who had no symptoms