More About The Corona Virus Infection

Toronto Health Authorities have declared the  first official case of corona virus infection in Canada.

There are now nearly 2000 (TWO THOUSAND) cases confirmed World-wide

56 Million (FIFTY SIX MILLION) People in China are under QUARANTINE. 

President Jing says that China faces a GRAVE SITUATION as the virus transmission is accelerating

Russia has put plans in motion to EVACUATE all Russian Nationals in China back to Russia

Australia and Malaysia have joined the list of Nations harbouring the corona virus, in addition to France, Pakistan, Singapore, the US, Nepal. The number of Countries is increasing by the day.

The US and France have chattered planes to EVACUATE DIPLOMATS in containment zones.

The Director of CDC in the US says she expects cases of human to human transmission in the US

Wuhan(the home of the corona virus)  is building a second Emergency Hospital with 1300 beds

3 Medical Doctors in Beijing who visited Wuhan are confirmed to have the virus

Beijing has sent Medical Doctors and other para-Medical Professionals to Wuhan and other cities to help the overwhelmed Hospitals

It is being rumoured that China has brought its Military Medicals to take over all Hospitals in Wuhan

Wuhan, the city of 11 Million People, would soon be under COMPLETE LOCKDOWN. Private vehicles have been banned from entering into Wuhan since Sunday. Travel into and out of Wuhan has been SHUT DOWN.

Some form of travel restrictions is now in place in 18 other Cities in China

It is being said that China, the US and other Countries where the corona virus has been wrecking havoc on human lives are being economical with the truth about the virus.

It is claimed that Beijing became aware of the virus in mid December 2019 but did not notify the WHO until the 31st of December 2019

These are the elements that make this corona virus so dangerous

1.    the virus is new and so people have not developed antibodies to resist it.

There is no natural immunity to it, accounting for why it is spreading so fast amongst the human population

2.    the virus is said to be a cross-species jump - DNA sequencing shows that it began as a virus in bats and crossed over to snakes and then made the jump to humans

3.    it has a transmisivity rate of between 1.5 to 2.4

4.    It is LETHAL

Early data has shown that a little over 3% of those who contract it will succumb to it

5.    the LATENCY WINDOW (PERIOD) of the virus is between 9 to 14 days

This means, when someone contracts this virus they won't feel any symptoms, they won't feel sick from between 9 to 14 days after contracting it BUT during that period of time, they are INFECTING OTHERS.

6.    the virus can be transmitted through the eyes as well as the mouth and the nose

7.    the virus is NON-ENVLOPED so it can live for up to 5 days on the surface of the orifices

ADVICE

1.    NO TRAVEL during this period if you can help it

2.    Avoid crowded places

3.    Protect your eyes - wear GOGGLES

4.    Always wash your hands with soap and water

5.    Use Hand Sanitizer

6.    Cover your mouth with handkerchief when sneezing or coughing

7.    If you feel anyhow that you don't understand, go to the Hospital

8.    All Medical Personnel are advised to be on red alert and to exercise a high sense of suspicion.

9.    They are to always wear their PPE when attending to Patients who complain of Malaise, Fever of unknown origin, excessive sneezing, cough, upper respiratory tract infections, diarrhoea, and vomiting

Culled

JerrytheFirst @toptipsabthealth

Sometimes It’s Better Not To Know

“I don’t know if I’m looking forward to being 98.”

My 97-year-old patient revealed this to me during our first meeting in my clinic examination room.

He had just moved to an assisted living facility in Cleveland to be near his son and daughter-in-law, who also sat in the room.

They were quiet as they watched us interact.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He rested both forearms on the high arms of his wheelchair, which caused his shoulders to hunch and gave the impression that he was about to spring into action.

He spoke deliberately, choosing his words carefully. His eyes were rheumy but sharply focused, commanding my attention. I got the impression he was used to being in charge.

“I don’t want to end up… you know, blotto,” he said, quickly pantomiming a person slouched to one side of his chair, mouth open.

His son and daughter-in-law glanced at each other and then at me as they arched their eyebrows in surprise.

“Why do you think that might happen?” I asked.

“Because of my medical condition, or whatever you’re going to recommend I treat it with,” he answered, matter-of-factly.

He had abnormal blood counts, but no established diagnosis.

He was anemic, requiring a blood transfusion every two months, just often enough to be a nuisance for anybody.

His platelets were low, but not low enough to put him at risk for bleeding or to require platelet transfusions.

And his white blood cell count was decreased, though again, not enough to render him prone to infections.

I had already pulled up his labs on the computer and had walked him through the results.

Given his age and these laboratory values, it seemed likely that he had a condition called myelodysplastic syndromes, a group of cancers in which the bone marrow fails to make enough healthy blood cells.

The only way to be sure of the diagnosis was to perform a bone marrow biopsy. For that, we would have to stick a needle into the flat part of his pelvis, just below his spine, and remove a sample of marrow from deep within the bone, to be analyzed by a pathologist.

Bone marrow biopsies have been used to evaluate diseases of the blood for over a century.

The contemporary biopsy needle, invented by the Iranian hematologist Dr. Khosrow Jamshidi in 1973, is almost comically long, long enough to reach the bone that is sometimes buried deep beneath the skin. It looks like a prop for a movie mad scientist.

A few years ago, I probably forfeited any “parent of the year” aspirations I may have had by pulling one out at my son’s elementary school during a lesson to his classmates on how blood was made. Not surprisingly, they recoiled at the sight of it.

Patients can have the same reaction. An alternative to the needle is a drill that was shown in one study to be just as effective at obtaining bone marrow specimens.

Though some patients have told me they feel less pain with the drill, others say it gives them even more anxiety, telling me it evokes the sounds they normally hear emanating from the dentist’s office.

I wondered whether I really needed to make my patient go through this procedure just to establish his diagnosis.

His blood counts had been low for some time, implying a chronic condition that didn’t appear to be worsening anytime soon.

Even if I did diagnose a bone marrow cancer such as myelodysplastic syndromes, I wouldn’t treat it, as the therapies I might suggest would necessitate even more frequent trips to the doctor’s office for him and wouldn’t fix the underlying problem.

More important, he had already told me that he didn’t want to be incapacitated by his disease, or by its treatment. He valued his quality of life. I worried that if we went down this path, I might make that worse.

“To really figure out what’s going on with your blood counts, we would have to put you through a bone marrow biopsy…” I started to say.

He waved his hand impatiently, cutting me off.

“I don’t want it,” he said. “I don’t want to go through it.”

I met his gaze for a few seconds and nodded in agreement, as did his son.

“I’m O.K. not knowing if you’re O.K. not knowing,” I told him. This time he nodded.

“See you back in a month,” he replied, finishing the doctor visit. He had put an end to our encounter. On his terms.

Source:     NY Times

12 Diseases That Altered World History

 It's often taught that the course of history hinges upon great battles, both in war and among competing ideas.

The stars are a few powerful individuals—presidents, monarchs, dictators—whose actions can shift a society's development one way or another.

But some influential actors are nasty and ruthless—and microscopic.

In his book Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World, Irwin Sherman, a professor emeritus of biology at the University of California Riverside, describes how bacteria, parasites, and viruses have swept through cities and devastated populations, felled great leaders and thinkers, and in their wake transformed politics, public health, and economies. 

U.S.News  & World Report spoke with Sherman about how 12 key diseases—smallpox, tuberculosis, syphilis, AIDS, influenza,bubonic plague, cholera, malaria, yellow fever, two noninfectious diseases (hemophilia and porphyria), and the plant disease behind the Irish Potato Famine—have altered history.

Sherman also answered our questions about how the threat of disease outbreaks is affecting our world today.

1.      Smallpox. 

It's the only infectious disease that has been eradicated through vaccination.

The medical science of vaccination was a direct result of the devastating effects of smallpox.

Essentially, studies of immunity and vaccines emerged from studies of smallpox. That gives hope that other diseases, too, will be eradicated by similar means.

2.      Tuberculosis. 

The struggle against TB stimulated some of the first quests for antibiotics.

The disease most likely promoted pasteurization, which heats and kills TB and other pathogens that can contaminate milk.

The infectious nature of tuberculosis also prompted the building of sanitariums, where people could be isolated and treated.

3.      Syphilis. 

Once treated with heavy metals like mercury, which had devastating effects on patients, syphilis inspired the discovery of chemotherapeutic agents.

The sexually transmitted disease prompted chemotherapy pioneer Paul Ehrlich to look for what he called a magic bullet, which turned out to be the drug salvorsan.

The history of many drugs can be traced to Ehrlich's work with dye materials that stained not only fabrics but organisms as well, spurring him to look for drugs that could bind to and kill parasites.

4.      HIV/AIDS.

 "You can't talk about infectious diseases without discussing AIDS," Sherman declares.

While today's chemotherapy cocktails—when available—are effective at reducing the number of AIDS-related deaths, it's a disease that also can be controlled by what he calls the most difficult intervention: behavioral control. "It's also a disease that is modern and yet has its parallels with the past in the kind of reactions that populations have when there's an unforeseen epidemic," he says.

5.      Influenza. 

Few diseases have had such widespread effects on the number of deaths in the modern world as the flu, which remains a major threat worldwide despite the existence of vaccines against it.

The disease very likely influenced the course of World War I by sickening and killing soldiers and straining military healthcare systems.

Some have suggested that President Wilson's negotiations during the Treaty of Versailles were affected by the influenza infection he had at the time.

6.      Bubonic plague. 

Quarantine—the isolation of infected or potentially infected people as a way to stem the spread of disease—developed from Europeans' long and storied history with bubonic plague.

Sherman notes parallels between popular reactions to the plague in medieval times and reactions to HIV/AIDS in the modern era. Fear and ignorance, anxiety, prejudice, isolation, and panic can all result from not understanding the nature of a disease, he says.

7.      Cholera. 

Spread via paltry or nonexistent sewage systems and lack of clean water, cholera was—and still is—rampant in many parts of the world.

But improvements in sanitation have reduced cholera's impact in a number of regions.

The power of epidemiology allowed 19th-century English physician John Snow to deduce that the disease was present in the water, even though the bacterium wasn't identified until many years later.

8.      Malaria. 

One of the most lethal infectious diseases in history, malaria causes over 300 million cases worldwide and up to 3 million deaths a year.

It's one of the earliest examples of the importance of controlling vectors—animal or insect carriers (in this case, mosquitoes)—in preventing the transmission of disease.

One of the reasons Europeans managed to colonize Africa, according to Sherman, was that they utilized quinine, an antimalarial drug derived from the bark of the cinchona tree.

9.      Yellow fever. 

Although vanquished in some countries, this mosquito-borne disease hasn't been eradicated and probably never will be, says Sherman.

The disease influenced the building of the Panama Canal, the Louisiana Purchase, and, in fact, the pre-World War II development of the southern United States. "The stereotypes of the lazy, drawling southerner and the energetic, bright northerner were typical characterizations due to disease or the absence of disease," Sherman says. "In the North, mosquitoes couldn't survive overwintering, so there wasn't yellow fever. In the South, on the other hand, you had a population that was either decimated or debilitated by the disease."

10.    Hemophilia and 11.  Porphyria. 

As genetic blood disorders, hemophilia and porphyria had serious effects on the crowned heads of Europe.

According to Sherman, the rise of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco can be traced to the lack of an heir to the throne because of hemophilia.

Another example is the collapse of the Romanov dynasty in Russia, which was due to hemophilia in the family.

The czar was debilitated and couldn't take over, setting the stage for the rise of the Bolsheviks.

Many of the British monarchs were unable to manage their kingdoms because of porphyria, which can cause a variety of mental problems, like hallucination, paranoia, and anxiety.

Some describe George III's treatment of his American subjects, which helped to trigger the American Revolution, as being in part affected by his porphyric attacks.

12.    Potato blight (cause of the Irish Potato Famine). 

Sherman expanded the range of maladies to indicate to readers that diseases affect not only humans but also sometimes what we eat.

Potato blight had a profound impact because it devastated a staple food that fed much of Ireland in the mid-1800s.

Other plant diseases could have similarly far-reaching consequences today, says Sherman.

Many agricultural economies focus on a particular crop, so a single disease could be a big threat—and a major historic force.

The Irish famine influenced America by generating an influx of Irish immigrants to U.S. cities; those newcomers expanded the Democratic Party, participated in the development of labor unions, and molded the nation's character in numerous other ways.

Source:     USNews

10 Rarest Diseases In The World

 Top 10 Rarest Diseases in the World

Each one of us must have heard of cancer or HIV but have you ever heard of Dercum’s disease or Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency?

Apart from the most common diseases that takes away the attention of media and charities or we have heard of or seen someone suffering from them, there are many more deadly diseases.

Such diseases are found in the rarest of the rare cases and are so uncommon that even a successful doctor is not able to diagnose more than one such disease in their lifetime.

Here is a list of 10 diseases that rarely affect people and you may have never heard of and hope that nobody has to encounter them up close.

1. Human Pappiloma Virus: The Tree Man

 

 

Human Pappiloma Virus (HPV) is a skin disorder which is lifelong.

It is a rare disease which is hereditary in nature.

HPV is extremely rare and only 195 cases have been documented till now all over the world.

It is due to some immunity deficiency which results into a typical skin disorder, mostly severe.

The immunodeficiency allows this virus present on our skin to develop themselves on the person’s skin.

They are present all over the body, but sometimes it can be concentrated to the parts of the body which are exposed to the sun, like face, legs and hands. Yet no significant treatment has not been found, physicians have proposed treatments but none of them is working

2. Hypertrichosis: Werewolf Syndrome

Also known as Werewolf Syndrome, Hypertrichosis is medical hormonal imbalance which triggers an unusual amount of hair growth on the body.

It can occur in male or female anyone and can be hereditary in nature.

The disorder causes abnormal growth of hair in body areas where hair does not grow normally.

It can be over the entire body, or in one or more areas. It’s not innate.

Some are born with it while some develop it later in their life.

This rare case was also seen in India in 2008, where an 11 year old boy was suffering from excessive hair on his face and body.

The family took various measures from homeopathy to traditional Ayurvedic remedies even they took help of laser surgery but could not find a permanent cure.

3. Hereditary angioedema (HAE)

 

Hereditary angioedema is an inherited disorder.

The symptoms include recurrent episodes of swellings.

The swelling is due to accumulation of fluids outside the blood vessels, jamming the normal flow of either blood or fluid which causes rapid swelling.

Swelling can be seen in the various parts of the body like hands, feet, limbs, face, intestinal tract and airway.

The symptom does not show any sign of itching.

This is a rare case which affects only one among 50,000 people worldwide.

These swellings make daily activities hard to perform for the patient.

Swelling in the gastrointestinal leads to cramping, swelling in airway lead to obstruction, patient suffers very serious complication.

The disease is due to deficiency or inappropriate functioning of certain proteins in the body system which maintain the normal flow of fluids or blood through very small blood vessels.

4. Argyria: Blue Skin

 

The Blue skin disorder is a real life smurf disease.

The Fugate family was suffering from this disease for nearly last 200 years.

The members of the family suffer from inherited disorder which gives their skin a shocking blue or purple color.

Medically known as methemoglobinemia, it is an outcome of a blood disorder that leads to excessive amount hemoglobin.

Patients have blue skin, purple lips and somewhat brown blood due to insufficient levels of oxygen in the body.

High levels of met hemoglobin can result into heart disorders or even can lead to death.

This disorder is permanent.

The main symptoms include shortness of breath, headache, fatigue, dizziness, and mental changes.

5. Alien Hand Syndrome

  Alien hand syndrome is a rare disorder in which neurologically one hand functions involuntarily.

The victim is completely unaware of its actions and doings.

The affected person's hand seems to take a mind of its own.

They are not in the control of the sufferer, hands do not exist for them.

The terrible symptoms include uncontrolled reaching and grasping for things, touching the face or tearing of clothes.

This disorder occurs after conditions like brain surgery, infection, stroke, tumor and specific degenerative brain conditions.

AHS is the condition in which the affected limb does not have any purpose and are not goal-oriented.

Patients keep all sense of feeling in the hand, but they still have the feelings of disassociation.

They may exhibit strange behaviors like talking to the hand or claiming demonic possession.

Extreme cases involve involuntarily stuffing food into the mouth and preventing hand from simple daily tasks.

Since 1909 there have been only 40 to 50 cases.

6. Fatal familial insomnia: No sleep

The nightmare of FFI is never to have a nightmare or a dream.

It starts with a mysterious sleeplessness starting from middle age and rapidly develops as the person grows old.

For years, the members of an Italian family suffering from this disorder have been dying as they were unable to sleep.  

It is generally resultant of a genetic mutation which leads to a prion disease, related in nature to diseases like Mad Cow, Kuru and even Alzheimer’s.

Till date this disorder has only been found only in 40 families worldwide.

FFI is a rare genetic sleep disorder.

The main symptom includes the inability to sleep, high pulse, blood pressure, excessive sweating and sometimes loss of coordination and motor abilities.

7. Porphyria

Weird but true that 18th century English King George III suffered from this infamous disease.

Porphyria leads to purple urine and feces which is caused due to complications in the production of a protein forming a vital part of the red blood cells.

Affecting skin and the nervous system, common symptoms of this disease are vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, stomach disorder, increasing sensitivity to sun, swelling, itching and nausea. In few cases, the hair growth of forehead increases.

Toxins after exposure to sunlight due to deficiency of heme protein causes coloring of skin areas like reddish teeth and nails, dark urine etc.

Some of the known people suffered from Porphyria are Mary Queen of Scots, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Vincent Van Gogh.

8. Laughing Death or Kuru

 Also known as Laughing Death, Kuru is so rare that it was found only amongst the tribal Fore people of New Guinea.

The main symptom of the disease is sudden burst of maniacal laughter which ultimately leads to death with a hole in the brain.

The disease was a result of cannibalism, a ritualistic practice where tissues of the brain of the deceased were cooked and consumed.

The sufferers are usually not able to eat and stand, begin to sway and stumble, lose power of speech and ultimately die in a comatose state.

However, in most of the parts, Kuru has disappeared because of government intervention to put an end to cannibalism.

9. Water Allergy

 Also known as Aquagenic Urticaria, this disease is extremely rare and has affected only 30 people till date.

Water Allergy is a disease confirmed by Medical Review Board where sufferers are allergic to water.  

Mostly it occurs in the latter part of the life and is often caused due to hormonal imbalance brought about by giving birth.

In a case in UK, a 21 year old female developed this allergy where she could not drink water or touch water because her skin develops a burning rash.

She could only consume diet coke, bath for 10 seconds in a week and not get caught in the rain. 

This is basically a hypersensitivity to the ions present in non-distilled water.

10. Progeria

 If you have seen the movie Paa, you must be familiar about this disease.

Affecting one in about 8 million children, Progeria is a genetic condition where aging of the patient begins in childhood.

The usual life span of the people affected by this disease is 13 years while few others have been able to survive till their early twenties.

Progeria is not inherited in most of the cases and is an incurable disease though various cures like anti cancer drugs and hormone treatment have been tried by doctors. 

Victims of this fatal disease have an appearance resembling premature aging leading to abnormal development of body parts like bulging eyes, abnormally small face and wrinkled skin.

The hair starts falling at the age of two.

 In 90% of the cases, the victim dies due to a heart attack or stroke.

Source:     ListDose