In recent celebrity news, various media outlets are reporting that Nick Cannon, Mariah Carey’s husband and host of America’s Got Talent, has been hospitalized due to ‘mild kidney failure.’

First, I want to clear something up: There’s not such a thing as mild kidney failure.  That’s like being a little bit pregnant.

Renal failure is either acute or chronic.  Acute renal failure is the fast onset of failure of the kidney to remove waste from your body.

There are many factors that can contribute to kidney failure, ranging from severe dehydration, infection, side effects or toxicity from medications, severe bleeding and auto-immune diseases such as lupus.

Chronic kidney failure tends to develop over a period of years and is mostly due to chronic medical problems like diabetes or high blood pressure. there are some isolated genetic diseases that could also give you kidney disease or kidney failure over time.

However, the most likely explanation behind Nick Cannon’s hospitalization, based on some of the stories circulating, is that he is probably suffering acute renal failure.

Many of the symptoms of acute renal failure are not specific.  They include decreased urine output, fatigue, abdominal pain, confusion, and body swelling.

However, if renal failure is not treated, the symptoms worsen.  Ultimately, the patient develops seizures, then falls into a coma and could die. This is why I consider the kidney to be one of the most critical organs in the human body.

Now, treatment basically involves treating the underlying cause of renal failure.  so, if failure is a result of infection, you would use antibiotics to treat the infection.  if the cause is dehydration, you would hydrate the patient.  for auto-immune diseases, you would likely use steroid therapy.

Sometimes, you can recover fully from acute renal failure, but in many cases, you can damage the kidney enough that it becomes a chronic disease.

Some of the ways doctors monitor patients for renal failure include blood tests looking for the presence of creatine, and ultrasounds or imaging of kidneys.  in some cases, patients may need dialysis to filter out the excess waste that has built up in the body so the kidneys can take a little break.

No matter what, kidney failure is a serious problem, and the media should not trivialize a major health issue. It is important to realize how vital a healthy kidney is to our overall well-being.

And as a reminder, I’m hosting a live chat on my Facebook page next Wednesday from 2-3 pm ET.  start submitting your health questions now through Facebook or Twitter!

O ne of the community partnerships Broomfield Senior Services relies on to deliver wellness services is with the Visiting Nurses Association of Denver. Professional nurses visit the Senior Center the third Tuesday morning of every month to provide foot care, blood pressure checks and diabetes checks, monitoring of heart disease, arthritis and lung disease, as well as an overall medical assessment.

This time of the year, the VNA is busy scheduling flu shot clinics and will be at the Senior Center at 9 a.m. Oct. 7 to administer your annual influenza vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 20 percent of the population gets the flu each year. Flu can lead to pneumonia, bronchitis, sinusitis, ear problems and dehydration. about 75 percent of flu deaths happen to people older than 70. the CDC recommends getting the vaccine as soon as it becomes available in your community, because it takes your body about two weeks to build up immunity. Immunity will last throughout flu season.

So, every year, we have to deal with the flu myths, and by far the one we hear the most, and one of the most dangerous, is you can get the flu from a flu shot. This is simply not true. Why? For one, injected flu vaccines only contain dead virus. Dead virus cannot infect you.

Despite the scientific impossibility of getting the flu from the flu vaccine, many seniors still believe this myth. Experts suspect there are two reasons for its persistence. one, people mistake the side effects of the vaccine for flu. while side effects to the vaccine these days tend to be a sore arm, in the past they often felt like mild symptoms of the flu. two, flu season coincides with a time of the year when bugs that cause colds and other respiratory illnesses are in the air. Many folks get the vaccine and, then, within a few days, get sick with an unrelated cold virus and blame the innocent flu vaccine rather than that relative with a runny nose and cough.

So step up and get your flu shot this fall. they are offered at every grocery store and drug store around Broomfield. If you want to get your flu shot at the Senior Center, here are the insurance requirements:

Not all insurance companies will pay for the flu vaccination though our VNA clinic. If you would like to use your insurance to pay for the vaccine, be sure you are using your primary insurance. the VNA for this year’s clinic is contracted with Aetna, Great West, Humana, Rocky Mountain HMO and Tricare. Basic Medicare and Medicaid are accepted, but only if it is your primary insurance. If you do not use insurance, the cost for the flu vaccination is $25.

If you have questions about whether your insurance will pay for a vaccine at the clinic at the Senior Center, call Nicki Sabin at 303-698-6349. And if you intend to obtain your flu shot at the Oct. 7 clinic, give Joanne a call at 303-464-5526, so she can get an estimated count for the nurses.

Be safe, get your flu shot and have a healthy and well fall and winter.

I will see you there.

Suzanne Bazinet is director of Senior Services. E-mail her at .

I've heard a nurse talk about this…it causes certain muscle problems and other issues such as an increase in mucus and frequent dehydration.

I can't find any data on this, however. Has anyone had this experience?

what are its causes,symptoms,prevention,treatment and vaccination (if any).

What is cholera?

Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. the infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes can be severe.

What are cholera symptoms?

Approximately 1 in 20 infected persons has severe disease characterized by:

profuse watery diarrhea,
vomiting, and
leg cramps.
In these persons, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.

How does a person get cholera?

A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces (stool) of an infected person. the disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.

The cholera bacterium may also live in the environment in brackish rivers and coastal waters. Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of cholera, and a few persons in the United States have contracted cholera after eating raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico. the disease is not likely to spread directly from one person to another; therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk for becoming ill.

An acute infectious disease of the small intestine, caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae and characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, muscle cramps, severe dehydration, and depletion of electrolytes. Also called Asiatic cholera.
Any of various diseases of domesticated animals, such as chickens, turkeys, or hogs, marked by severe gastroenteritis.

cholera is caused by the virus vibirio choleri and it spreads through the contaminated food , not having clean habits etc.. it is safer to put epidemics any function that will be taking place.

Cholera (also called Asiatic cholera) is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which are typically ingested by drinking contaminated water, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish.
Cholera is transmitted through ingestion of feces contaminated with the bacterium. the contamination usually occurs when untreated sewage is released into waterways, affecting the water supply, any foods washed in the water, and shellfish living in the affected waterway—it is rarely spread directly from person to person.

The resulting diarrhea allows bacteria to spread to other people under unsanitary conditions
Symptoms include those of general GI tract upset: profuse diarrhea (eg 1L/hour), abdominal cramping, fever, nausea and vomiting. Also those of the resulting dehydration: thirst, muscle cramps, weakness, loss of tissue turgor, sunken eyes and wrinkled skin, severe metabolic acidosis with potassium depletion, anuria, circulatory collapse and cyanosis. Death is through circulatory volume shock (massive loss of fluid and electrolytes), and can occur within hours.

The root causes of these symptoms are the enterotoxins that V. cholerae produces. the main enterotoxin, known as cholera toxin, interacts with G proteins and cyclic AMP in the intestinal lining to open ion channels. as ions flow into the intestinal lumen, water follows through osmosis.

Treatment typically consists of aggressive rehydration and replacement of electrolytes, since the death rate is generally high due to the serious dehydration caused by the illness.

Tetracycline antibiotics may have a role in reducing the duration and severity of cholera, although drug-resistance is occurring,[4] and their effects on overall mortality is questioned

I don’t think your friend have to go to an ER because of viral gastroenteritis. Unless she was suffering from dehydration, there’s no specific treatment for it. I would advise against drinks with a high sugar content, clear soups (like bouillon) that are salty and caffeinated drinks.

“but I spent the night at her house last night. Which now I think wasn’t the best idea.” — Uh…you think? Oh well, we all make mistakes.

“if you know what some stomach virus symptoms are please answer. I want to know if I have it” — the primary symptoms are vomiting and watery diarrhea. there are different viruses that cause gastroenteritis and these can produce some variation in symptoms. with Rotavirus — vomiting, watery diarrhea, fever & abdominal pain. Rotavirus infection are pretty common Nov. – Apr. with Adenovirus — Diarrhea & vomiting. with Caliciviruses like Norovirus — vomiting and diarrhea, fatigue, headache, and sometimes muscle aches and these are common Oct.- Apr. And with Astrovirus — there’s vomiting & diarrhea and it’s most active during winter.

I put my money on a Norovirus infection. I think this is the virus causing your friend’s gastroenteritis. It’s the leading cause in all ages, the most common cause, is responsible for most epidemics and occurs more frequently during the months from October to April. And the incubation period after exposure is from 1 to 3 days.

“I’m sorry I didn’t really give a lot of details…” — That’s okay, none needed.

Oct. 22: a man suffering from cholera symptoms lies on the floor of the hospital in Marchand Dessalines, Haiti.

GENEVA — the United Nations asked for $164 million Friday to fight the cholera outbreak in Haiti that has already claimed 724 lives and is expected to continue spreading for up to a year.

The funds will be used by U.N. and non-governmental organizations to bring in additional doctors, medicines and water-purification equipment to treat up to 200,000 people who could show cholera symptoms ranging from mild diarrhea to severe dehydration, the global body said.

“We absolutely need this money as soon as possible,” said Elisabeth Byrs, a spokeswoman for the U.N. humanitarian office.

She told reporters in Geneva that the funds need to be provided quickly “otherwise all our efforts can be outrun by the epidemic.”

At least 11,125 cases of cholera have been confirmed in five of Haiti’s 10 districts since the outbreak began last month. ten deaths and 278 cases have occurred in the capital Port-au-Prince.

The World Health Organization said Friday that the epidemic isn’t likely to end soon.

“The projections of 200,000 cases over the next six to twelve months shows the amplitude of what could be expected,” said WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl. he noted that the current fatality rate of 6.5 percent is far higher than it should be.

“No one alive in Haiti has experienced cholera before, so it’s a population which is very susceptible to the bacteria,” Hartl said. “Once it is in water systems it transmits very easily, and it transmits among people who are often asymptomatic.”

“Cholera, now that it is in Haiti, probably the bacteria will be there for a number of years to come,” he added. “It will not go away.”

The cause of the outbreak in Haiti is still unknown. the country hadn’t seen cholera cases for decades before last month.

“The specific origin of this specific outbreak is something which probably will be investigated at some point, but what is important right now is the response on the ground,” Hartl said.

Heat exhaustion is something that usually occurs in people who have spent several days with high temperatures and dehydration have been developed through perspiration. Excessive sweating causes the loss of electrolytes, which then depletes the body of fluids. to combat this, they are exposed to extreme temperatures, be sure to hydrate themselves to help ensure they do not enter a state of heat exhaustion.

There are actually two different types of heat exhaustion. he is the depletion of water, which can cause weakness, headache, excessive thirst, and possibly even loss of consciousness. salt depletion is another way to cause heat exhaustion and muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

Heat exhaustion is not nearly as serious as heat stroke is but still it is something that requires intervention to help less the chances of it becoming more serious. When assessing if someone is suffering from heat exhaustion you will want to note if they have any of the symptoms associated with it such as confusion, pale skin, muscle cramps, headache, fatigue, profuse sweating, rapid heartbeat, fainting, dizziness, or dark urine (which is a sign of dehydration as well).

If you notice any of the above symptoms then you want the person to take a cold shower or bath, use fans and ice to help reduce the temperature of your body, and remove any tight clothing or unnecessary. he also wants to help moisturize with non-alcoholic fluids and no caffeine.

Taking these measures should begin to show an improvement within about hour and if they don’t then you will need to contact a physician immediately because there is the potential for this problem to escalate quickly and without further warning. most of the time self treatments will work but immediately following a bout with heat exhaustion a person will be more sensitive to high temperatures and therefore it is important to make sure that the person stays in a moderate environment for quite a few days following an experience like this.

Heat exhaustion is something that directly correlates to the heat index and an increase in humidity which can interfere with the body’s ability to cool off. When the heat index is at 90 degrees or more the chance of suffering from heat exhaustion increases dramatically and therefore it is especially important to take care to hydrate more as the heat index rises and to take this matter seriously.

Are you searching for Ppo insurance? Maybe you want some information on Golden rule health insurance. whatever you insurance needs or questions are you can find the answer when you go to gohealthinsurance.com.

Avian Flu is a kind of influenza virus which affects the birds and can be transmitted to humans. the symptoms of avian flu are similar to any other flu and are associated with the following,

1. High to moderate fever (normally above 100 degree Fahrenheit) is commonly associated with upper respiratory tract problems. Dry cough is a common symptom observed along with the fever.
2. Sore throat, difficulty in breathing associated with intermittent attacks of breathlessness are associated with the condition
3. Gastro-intestinal symptoms namely watery diarrhea along with abdominal colic are observed. Diarrhea may be associated with dehydration and the management should focus on reducing the symptoms of diarrhea which include weakness, fatigue, irritation, lack of concentration, lethargy, etc

The severity of the symptoms depends upon the age and underlying medical condition.

Avian flue comprises of a sub variant of influenza virus which is observed in birds. the avian flu strain is H5N1 virus strain. the transmission to humans occurs when an individual gets in contact with the bird. often, in populations that depend upon poultry for their livelihood, this infection is rampant, as the birds tend to excrete the virus along with their feces. When humans get in contact with these species, there is a high possibility of getting infected.

The transmission also occurs from humans to humans in the form of droplet nuclei. Sneezing, coughing or contact with the infected person can spread the disease rapidly.

There is no effective cure for the condition and hence prevention is the best option. Limited contact with birds, especially when they are dying can help prevent the condition. All precautions of covering the face with mask/handcheif, limiting contact with an infected person, etc are essential. Consuming cooked poultry doesn’t result in transmission of the disease.

Viral infections are the most common cause of illness in children. they are highly contagious. Most viruses cause symptoms over a short period of time and produce mild illness. Some viruses can cause significant disease, especially in those who have chronic or debilitating conditions.

Respiratory viruses affect children by causing ear and throat infections, cough, runny nose and difficulty breathing. Some of these viruses can cause wheezing, pneumonia and respiratory failure.

The most common respiratory viruses are the influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus and adenovirus. the Epstein-Barr virus causes mononucleosis, a common upper respiratory infection characterized by enlargement of neck glands and swelling of the throat.

Gastrointestinal viruses cause vomiting and diarrhea. these symptoms can lead to dehydration. Common gastrointestinal viruses are rotavirus, enterovirus and the cholera virus. other gastrointestinal viruses include those responsible for liver disease, including the hepatitis viruses, cytomegalovirus and the Ebstein-Barr virus.

Central Nervous System Viruses penetrate the central nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord, and cause meningitis, which is an inflammation of the tissues surrounding the brain, and encephalitis, an infection of the brain. the most common viral causes of meningo-encephalitis are enteroviruses, arboviruses and the herpes virus.

Herpes can cause a devastating disease, usually presenting with seizures. in newborns, it can lead to permanent brain damage. the rabies virus also penetrates the brain, where it induces encephalitis. the HIV virus causes significant central nervous system disability.

Advances in medicine have lead to the development of several vaccines that protect against viruses which once caused disease. Among these are the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, the varicella vaccine which protects against the virus that causes chickenpox, the hepatitis a and B vaccines, the influenza vaccine and the rotavirus vaccine.

Other medicines act to prevent significant damage by these viruses. for example, Acyclovir is an antiviral that acts against the herpes virus. there is a vaccine against the rabies virus, but it is only used when there is suspicion of an exposure to rabid animals.

abrahamtekola.blogspot.com

If you have cholera, you may have symptoms including:

watery faeces with bits of mucus – this is sometimes called 'rice water' faeces since it looks like water in which rice has been washed
faeces with a mild fishy smell
vomiting
tummy cramps
dehydration
fever, but this is rare and usually only in children