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Breastfeeding boom among older, affluent mothers
Published 20 November 2012
Routine HIV testing recommended by US task force
Published 20 November 2012
Nose Cells Help Paralyzed Dogs Walk
Published 20 November 2012
Ovarian cancer death rates fall
Published 20 November 2012

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ADHD

ADHD is the most common neurobehavioural disorder in children,1 and represents a major public health problem.2 Its prevalence is generally thought to be between 3% and 7% in school-age children,3 and a meta-regression analysis of key studies with similar methodologies estimated a mean worldwide prevalence of 4.5% Read More...

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease which will affect most of us at one point in time, and it’s prevalence increases with age. In the early stages in particular, dementia is often difficult to diagnose, since many symptoms are not recognized as such or are trivialized by the patient. Read More...

Arthritis Quick Guide

There are over 200 diseases that come under the term 'arthritis'. Looking at symptoms such as joint pain, swelling and inflammation allows doctors to classify the condition into a number of groups. The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthrit Read More...

Asthma

Asthma is a disorder defined by its clinical, physiological, and pathological characteristics. The main physiological feature of asthma is episodic airway obstruction characterized by expiratory airflow limitation. Read More...

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a progressive disease defined histologically and characterized by stromal and epithelial cell hyperplasia beginning in the periurethral zone of the prostate. The chief complaint of the patient with BPH is usually bothersome LUTS typified by urinary frequency, urgency, nocturia, decreased and intermittent force of stream and the sensation of incomplete bladder emptying. Read More...

Cholesterol

An elevated level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a form of dyslipidaemia that has been shown to be strongly associated with an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD), leading to cardiovascular events. Read More...

Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia

The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) as a myeloproliferative disease characterised by the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph) or the BCR-ABL fusion oncogene. Read More...

Contraception

The introduction of combined oral contraceptives in the early 1960s made effective reversible female contraception available for the first time. The obvious benefits of oral contraceptives are today well known and includes the prevention of unwanted pregnancy, abortion, the possibility of family planning and sexual liberation. Read More...

Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is caused by a defect in a gene known as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. This gene makes a protein that controls the movement of ions, such as chloride, and water, across cell membranes. Read More...

Diabetes Quick Guide

Diabetes is the common term for several metabolic disorders in which the body no longer produces insulin or uses the insulin it produces ineffectively. It is a common condition and is characterised by abnormally high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is know Read More...

Eczema Quick Guide

Eczema, also called dermatitis, is inflammation of the skin that can appear just about anywhere on the body. Eczema often looks red, dry, and scaly and it can be itchy, sometimes extremely so. There are other symptoms, which depend on the type and severity. Read More...

Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile Dysfunction Read More...

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) Quick Guide

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD, also sometimes known as GORD) or acid reflux disease, is a recurrent condition where gastric juices, containing acid from the stomach leaks back into the esophagus (the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach). Read More...

Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GIST)

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumours of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Before the current definition of GIST evolved, GISTs were classified as benign or malignant smooth muscle tumours including true smooth muscle tumours (leiomyomas, leiomyoblastomas, leiomyosarcomas) and neuronal tumours (schwannomas) Read More...

Hepatitis B and C

Hepatitis can be caused by many different things including viral infections, parasites, bacteria, chemicals, autoimmunity, drugs or alcohol. Of these, viral infection is the most common cause of chronic (long-term) hepatitis, which can lead to severe liver damage including cirrhosis and liver cancer. Read More...

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) & Cervical Cancer

Worldwide, every two minutes a woman dies of cervical cancer. Globally, cancer of the cervix is the second most prevalent cancer in women, causing nearly 500,000 new cases per year, and the third leading cause of female cancer deaths after breast and lung cancer (Ferlay et al 2004). Read More...

Hypertension

Hypertension, an increasingly common and chronic disease, and its consequences like stroke, coronary heart disease, heart failure and renal damage mean an enormous financial burden for the community. Read More...

Influenza

Flu is very different from another ailment such as a cold or just feeling under the weather. Flu is a much more serious illness. Read More...

Insomnia

Insomnia is a very common and debilitating disease with major morbidity and social consequences. Despite the negative impact on the ability to function well during the day, insomnia is underdiagnosed and undertreated. Insomnia is therefore, important to treat. Read More...

Low Testosterone Quick Guide

Testosterone is an essential male hormone produced in the testes that plays a crucial role in the health and well being of our bodies. Read More...

Lysosomal Storage Disorders

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are a group of progressive and often fatal genetic diseases that are caused by an inborn error of metabolism. This genetic defect results in the deficiency of a specific enzyme, which causes accumulation of substrate resulting in irreversible organ damage. Read More...

Meningitis Quick Guide

Meningitis and septicaemia can kill in hours. Meningitis is the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord. Septicaemia is the blood poisoning form of the disease. The two forms of the disease have different symptoms. People who recover Read More...

Migraine

Migraine is a severe, episodic disorder with freedom from symptoms between attacks. Attacks are characterised by transient focal neurological symptoms, headache, or both. Read More...

Multiple Sclerosis Quick Guide

Multiple Sclerosis, often abbreviated simply as MS, is the most common, non traumatic disease of the central nervous system, which is composed of the brain and spinal cord. Another medical name for the condition is Encephalomyelitis disseminate. In other word MS is a chronic inflammory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Read More...

Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) Quick Guide

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a disease that affects some white blood cells that belong to the lymphatic system, known as,lymphocytes. In non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the lymphocytes start to behave like cancerous cells and grow and multiply uncontrollably, and ma Read More...

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

The NSCLCs account for 80% of all lung cancers and can be further subdivided into squamous-cell carcinoma, large-cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma (which includes bronchioloalveolar-cell carcinoma [BAC]). Read More...

Ophthalmics

Opioids & Pain

Types of chronic pain include both cancer and non-cancer pain. Pain is the single most common reason for consultation with a general practitioner and is the most frequent symptom in hospital practice. Pain is also an individual experience and can be measured in a number of ways. Read More...

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis literally means 'porous bone' and is the most common bone disease worldwide. It is also sometimes called 'brittle bones' and is a disorder in which bone strength is compromised, making it more likely that bones will break. Read More...

Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system characterized by the clinically asymmetric onset of resting tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity and postural instability. Read More...

Renal Anaemia

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is characterised by a gradual and permanent loss of kidney function that worsens as it progresses from stages 1 to 5. One of the most common complications of CKD is anaemia. Read More...

Snoring Quick Guide

Snoring is a serious issue. It is the third biggest cause of marriage breakdown after infidelity and financial problems. Snoring can seriously affect peoples' quality of sleep and has been known to lead to domestic violence. Read More...

Thrombosis

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third most common cardiovascular disease after coronary disease and stroke. The clinical diagnosis of VTE is unreliable and VTE is often silent. Only about half the patients suspected of having deep vein thrombosis (DVT) actually have the disease. Unrecognised and untreated VTE may lead to harmful consequences. Read More...