What is Huntington’s chorea? - Information about Causes and Symptoms

Huntington’s chorea is a very rare degenerative nerve disease that starts in early middle age. Uncontrollable body movements, called chorea, gradually develop and are followed by mental deterioration. Sometimes mental deterioration occurs first. No treatment has yet been discovered to halt the progress of the disease or control its symptoms. The word “chorea” literally means “dance.” The term is a rough description of the swift, jerky movements that occur in people who have this disease.

Huntington’s chorea is an inherited disorder that seldom produces symptoms before marriage and childbearing. Therefore, a person with this disease may not know it until after having a child. If you know of anyone in any branch of your family who has had the disease, consult your physician about possible risks for yourself and your children.

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Acute Bronchitis - Treatment and Fast Cure for Acute Bronchitis

Inflammation of the mucous membrane that lines the bronchi, or main air passages of the lungs, is called bronchitis. If you have a respiratory infection, you may develop acute bronchitis, since the disorder is caused when the same viruses that cause colds and pharyngitis spread into the bronchi. If you have a healthy heart and healthy lungs, bronchitis usually clears up in a few days. In chronic bronchitis , prolonged, recurrent attacks cause gradual deterioration of the lungs.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptom of bronchitis is a deep cough that brings up grayish or yellowish phlegm, or sputum, from your lungs. Other symptoms are breathlessness, wheezing and a fever. You may also have pain in the upper chest, which gets worse when you cough

What are the risks?

Virtually everyone has an occasional attack of acute bronchitis. If you do not smoke cigarettes and you do not have chronic lung or heart trouble, you may have it once every few years. If you smoke, have a chest disorder such as asthma or bronchiectasis or live in an area where the air is very polluted, you are more likely to get the disease. If your lungs are congested because of heart failure you may also be particularly susceptible to acute bronchitis.

If you are a non-smoker who is generally healthy, there are few risks of complications from acute bronchitis. If you are particularly susceptible to bronchitis for any of the reasons mentioned above, you may have repeated attacks. These can damage the lining of the bronchi, impairing your ability to clear mucus from your air passages and leading to chronic bronchitis.

What should be done?

Do not ignore repeated attacks of acute bronchitis. Consult your physician to find out if there is an explanation. If you have not had bronchitis before, or if this is your first attack in several years, follow the self-help procedures suggested below.

What is the treatment?

Self-help: If you have a fever, take aspirin three or four times a day to bring it down. Take an over-the-counter cough medicine recommended by your physician, and follow the instructions on the label, to help soothe your cough. Stay home, not necessarily in bed but in a warm room. Use a vaporizer, a humidifier, or steam from hot water to moisten the air. This may help to clear your nasal passages and bronchi. This simple treatment is usually all that is needed. Call your physician if you become breathless, cough up blood, have a temperature above 101°F (38.5° C), or do not feel better in 48 hours.

If you have repeated attacks of bronchitis, remember that cold, damp living or working conditions can make you more susceptible to this disease. You may want to consider moving or changing your job.

Professional help: Because acute bronchitis is usually a viral infection, no specific treatment is possible. However, it is possible to relieve the symptoms. If your breathing is wheezy, your physician may prescribe a bronchodilator drug, which is usually taken by inhaling it. If your chest is sore from repeated attacks of coughing or if your cough is dry, your doctor may prescribe a cough suppressant. If your sputum becomes greenish­yellow, which indicates that you probably have a secondary bacterial infection, the physician may prescribe an antibiotic. Some physicians prescribe antibiotics in the early stages of the disease to try to prevent the occurrence of secondary bacterial infection.

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Cholesteatoma - Definition, Causes, Symptoms and Cure

In cholesteatoma the eustachian tube, which leads from the middle ear cavity to the nose and throat, either failed to open properly in infancy or has become blocked due to repeated middle ear infections. As a result, the air in the middle ear cavity becomes isolated. The air is gradually absorbed by the cells that line the cavity, and the air pressure in the cavity drops. The higher air pressure in the outer ear pushes the weakest part of the eardrum inwards. This forms a pocket in the eardrum. In that pocket, skin cells routinely shed by the eardrum collect into a ball called a cholesteatoma. The ball becomes infected, and produces pus. This erodes the bone that lines the cavity, and damages the delicate bones in the middle ear.

What are the symptoms?

Mild to moderately severe hearing loss is a common symptom. Sometimes pus will seep from the ear. Headache, earache, weakness of facial muscles and dizziness are also symptoms of cholesteatoma.

What are the risks?

If the cholesteatoma is not treated effectively, it can eat away the roof of the middle ear cavity. This sometimes causes epidural abcess or meningitis ). An abcess can also form behind the ear.

What should be done?

If you have any of the symptoms described. especially if you had a history of ear trouble as a child, see your physician. If your doctor suspects that you have a cholesteatoma, you will probably be referred to an ear, nose and throat specialist for an examination and perhaps a hearing test .

If the cholesteatoma is small, or in an early stage, it may be possible to remove it and clean out the middle ear cavity thoroughly in a minor operation.

If the cholesteatoma is large or in a later stage, damage to the middle ear may be extensive. Then, removing the cholesteatoma becomes more complicated, involving an operation to rebuild the hearing structures and mend the broken eardrum.

In about 20 per cent of cases of cholesteatoma, the infection recurs. These infections are only dangerous if they are not treated right away. Your physician will probably check your ears at least once a year to make sure they are free of infection.

If your hearing is damaged badly, a hearing aid may help.

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