NursingLink

Not everyone gains weight when they stop smoking. Among people who do, the average weight gain is between 6 and 8 pounds. Roughly 10 percent of people who stop smoking gain a large amount of weight - 30 pounds or more.

Klinefelter syndrome, also known as the XXY condition, is a term used to describe males who have an extra X chromosome in most of their cells. Instead of having the usual XY chromosome pattern that most males have, these men have an XXY pattern. Klinefelter syndrome is named after Dr. Henry Klinefelter, who first described a group of symptoms found in ...

Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) is a relatively rare type of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB). It is resistant to almost all drugs used to treat TB, including the two best first-line drugs: isoniazid and rifampin. XDR TB is also resistant to the best second-line medications: fluoroquinolones and at least one of three injectable drugs (i.e., amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin).

There are a number of problems that affect the oral health of children, including tooth decay, thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, lip sucking, and early tooth loss. Even though baby teeth are eventually replaced with permanent teeth, keeping baby teeth healthy is important to a child's overall health and well-being.

Newborn infant hearing screening programs are designed to identify hearing loss in infants shortly after birth. All states have implemented these screening protocols within hospitals and birthing clinics. About 95% of hearing screening tests are done prior to discharge from the hospital or birthing clinics. Typically, nurses or medical assistants are trained extensively on how to operate automated equipment for testing ...

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is a condition characterized by abnormal electrical pathways in the heart that cause a disruption of the heart's normal rhythm (arrhythmia). The heartbeat is controlled by electrical signals that move through the heart in a highly coordinated way. A specialized cluster of cells called the atrioventricular node conducts electrical impulses from the heart's upper chambers (the atria) to the ...

Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease of the connective tissue. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses which occur when the body's tissues are attacked by its own immune system. Scleroderma is characterized by the formation of scar tissue (fibrosis) in the skin and organs of the body. This leads to thickness and firmness of involved areas. Scleroderma, when it's diffuse or widespread over the ...

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is breathing failure that can occur in critically ill persons with underlying illnesses. It is not a specific disease. Instead, it is a life-threatening condition that occurs when there is severe fluid buildup in both lungs. The fluid buildup prevents the lungs from working properly—that is, allowing the transfer of oxygen from air into the body ...

The human nervous system develops from a small, specialized plate of cells along the back of an embryo. Early in development, the edges of this plate begin to curl up toward each other, creating the neural tube—a narrow sheath that closes to form the brain and spinal cord of the embryo. As development progresses, the top of the tube becomes the ...

Pheochromocytoma is a very long word, even for someone who speaks "medical language." If you happen to be a fan of TV dramas involving young confused doctors, you may have heard the word a few times. It is made up of four parts: pheo-chromo-cyt-oma. If you are one of the few people who have had a personal experience or know someone ...

Ponder this: if a cat is dropped upside down, it will land right side up on all four paws. If a newborn infant is tilted backward, its eyes will roll downward so that its gaze remains fixed on the same point. If, as you read this article, you shake your head rapidly from side to side, the print nonetheless will stand ...

Cushing's syndrome is a hormonal disorder caused by prolonged exposure of the body's tissues to high levels of the hormone cortisol. Sometimes called "hypercortisolism," it is relatively rare and most commonly affects adults aged 20 to 50. An estimated 10 to 15 of every million people are affected each year.

Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a childhood disorder. A major feature of LKS is the gradual or sudden loss of the ability to understand and use spoken language. All children with LKS have abnormal electrical brain waves that can be documented by an electroencephalogram (EEG), a recording of the electric activity of the brain. Approximately 80 percent of the children with LKS ...

Tylenol is currently the most popular painkiller in the United States. Americans take over 8 billion pills (tablets or capsules) of Tylenol each year. Acetaminophen is the general (generic) name for Tylenol, which is a brand name. Although acetaminophen is contained in over 200 medications, most of them do not have the name "Tylenol" on their labels. Moreover, just about every ...

If a woman is sexually active and she is fertile and physically able to become pregnant, she needs to ask herself, "Do I want to become pregnant now?" If her answer is "No," she must use some method of birth control (contraception). Terminology used to describe birth control methods include contraception, pregnancy prevention, fertility control, and family planning. But no matter ...

Ablation is used to treat abnormal heart rhythms. It can be performed both surgically and non-surgically. Non-surgical ablation is performed in a special lab called the electrophysiology (EP) laboratory. During this non-surgical procedure a catheter is inserted into your heart and then a special machine is used to direct energy to the heart muscle. This energy either "disconnects" or "isolates" the ...

Objective.  To determine the excess cost of health care services for three illnesses in formula-fed infants in the first year of life, after adjusting for potential confounders.  

Infants following World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding appear to show a fall-off in weight and length in the first year of life compared with the existing WHO/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reference,1 which is based on predominantly formula-fed infants. Previous studies are fairly consistent in showing a downward trajectory in z scores beginning at ...

Feeding newborns soy protein-based formulas may favourably boost the bone strength later in life, according to a new study with mice. Whether the effects are repeatable in humans is not currently known, but the study has potential implications for soy-based infant formula as a means of reducing osteoporosis later in life, a condition that affects half of all women over ...

The role of caffeine in the health of premature and low birth weight babies has come under scrutiny with two studies, one investigating the impact of mothers' intake during pregnancy and the other adding to existing evidence that caffeine can improve the symptoms of apnea in prematurity.