Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

A few decades ago, we got all cocky and thought we had bacteria beat.

"Antibiotics!" we said. "Take that, bacteria!" And then, one day, they laughed at us.

Little did we know that bacteria had their own set of tricks up their sleeves (or would have, if they had sleeves). As common bacteria evolved resistance to antibiotics, many of them became real threats, colonizing wounds and spreading in hospitals full of immune-compromised patients. Hospital-borne bacteria like MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus),Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa can spread through the body, leading to pneumonia and sepsis (a whole body, systemic infection).

MRSA in particular has gotten a lot of notoriety recently for its ability to chomp through flesh (doctors call that symptom "necrotozing faciitis"), while Acinetobacter baumannii gained the nickname "Iraqibacter" for its prevalence among wounded Iraq War veterans. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, for its part, made the news recently when it infected a Brazilian beauty queen and caused her to lose her hands and feet, and then her life. Scary stuff.

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Rabies

Foaming at the mouth, difficulty swallowing, a maniacal fear of water, anger and hostility, delusions and hallucinations, general all-round insanity.

You may recognize these symptoms from that pack of rabid raccoons in your backyard, but a couple of hundred years ago, a lot more humans found themselves acting like those unfortunate animals.

Back before Louis Pasteur's groundbreaking vaccine hit the scene in 1885, rabies was a widely feared disease (and it still is in some parts of the world). Spread through saliva (usually through dog bites), the rabies virus attacks the nervous system; once it's gotten to your brain, it's pretty much over.

Today, mandatory animal vaccination programs have pretty much wiped out the disease in humans in the developed world, but the disease still kills millions of animals and up to 50,000 people worldwide each year. Consider that a reminder to vaccinate Fluffy.

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Ebola, Hanta & Hemorrhagic Fevers

Drowning isn't fun; neither is bleeding. Hemorrhagic fevers find a way to mix the two: as the entire body oozes and bleeds, the lungs can bleed into themselves, causing some victims to literally drown in their own blood.

Ick.

Hemorrhagic fevers are the result of some very scary viruses like Ebola and Hanta, most of which are spread via animal feces and transmitted either through the air or through direct contact.

Once in the body, the viruses attack the cells that line blood vessels, causing internal organs throughout the body, from the intestines to the kidneys to the brain, to ooze blood.

There's no band-aid big enough to stop that bleeding.

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HIV/AIDS

It's the scourge of our time. And what it does is pretty scary, too. HIV itself doesn't kill you; it lets other infections do the dirty work.

The virus attaches to immune system cells, particularly the helper T cells, which regulate much of the body's immune response. From there, the retrovirus uses your cells to replicate, killing many of those infected host cells in the process.

HIV takes time to do its work: years can pass before the virus wreaks enough havoc to cause AIDS, the syndrome that inspires fear worldwide. Though antiretroviral drugs can prolong life and delay the onset of AIDS, they're often prohibitively expensive, meaning that many patients are left to succumb to the opportunistic infections that will ravage their weakened bodies.

Imagine going up against pneumonia, tuberculosis, MRSA, herpes viruses, skin infections and even common respiratory ailments with no ability to fight back.

Now that's scary, and it'll make you appreciate how amazing your (healthy) immune system really is.

See more ; http://science.discovery.com/life-earth-science/10-infectious-diseases.htm

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Names of infectious diseases

An infectious disease is a sickness that happens when an organism (a living thing such as a plant or animal) is attacked by a pathogen. Pathogens (such as bacteria, viruses, and other germs) are too small to see. Some infectious diseases are contagious, which means that the sick plant, animal, or person can get other things sick. The pathogen can get from one organism to another through air, food, water, blood, or physical touch.

Usually, the sick organism heals. Then, the organism's body learns how to fight the pathogen. If the pathogen attacks again, the immune system knows how to fight it. Thanks to the immune system, people can not get the same disease twice. When an organism's body knows how to fight a disease, the body is immune to that pathogen.

Infectious disease is a large cause of pain and death. The World Health Organization says that infectious diseases cause about 25% of all deaths. These three pathogens cause the most deaths: HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Source; wikipedia.org

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Name and Kind of Diseases

This is a list of common, well-known or infamous diseases. This is neither complete nor authoritative. This is not intended to be a list of rare diseases, nor is it a list of mental disorders.

This list includes both common names and technical names for diseases. This is deliberate; where multiple names are in common use for the same disease, all of those names should link to the main article for the disease.

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Depression Treatment Tips

image;fitnizz.com

When you’re depressed, it can feel like you’ll never get out from under a dark shadow. However, depression is a treatable problem. So, if your depression is keeping you from living the life you want to, don’t hesitate to seek help. Learning about your depression treatment options will help you decide what approach is right for you. From therapy to medication to healthy lifestyle changes, there are many effective treatments that can help you overcome depression and reclaim your life.

Exploring your depression treatment options

Just as no two people are affected the exact same way by depression, there is no “one size fits all” treatment that cures depression. What works for one person might not work for another. The best way to treat depression is to become as informed as possible about the treatment options, and then tailor them to meet your needs.  

Depression treatment tips:

• Learn as much as you can about your depression. It’s important to determine whether your depression symptoms are due to an underlying medical condition. If so, that condition will need to be treated first. The severity of your depression is also a factor. The more severe the depression, the more intensive the treatment you're likely to need.
• It takes time to find the right treatment. It might take some trial and error to find the treatment and support that works best for you. For example, if you decide to pursue therapy it may take a few attempts to find a therapist that you really click with. Or you may try an antidepressant, only to find that you don't need it if you take a daily half hour walk. Be open to change and a little experimentation.
• Don’t rely on medications alone. Although medication can relieve the symptoms of depression, it is not usually suitable for long-term use. Studies show that other treatments, including exercise and therapy, can be just as effective as medication, often even more so, but don't come with unwanted side effects. If you do decide to try medication, remember that medication works best when you make healthy lifestyle changes as well.
• Get social support. The more you cultivate your social connections, the more protected you are from depression. If you are feeling stuck, don’t hesitate to talk to trusted family members or friends, or seek out new connections at a depression support group, for example. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.
• Treatment takes time and commitment. All of these depression treatments take time, and sometimes it might feel overwhelming or frustratingly slow. That is normal. Recovery usually has its ups and downs. Source; http://www.helpguide.org/mental/treatment_strategies_depression.htm

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