Impetigo is the name given to sores on the skin which have become infected. These are usually scabbed over and often drain pus. They can spread rapidly to other parts of the body and are also highly contagious. Cause The surface layers of the sore are infected with a germ (either Streptococcus or Staphylococcus aureus). [...]

Many health professionals are involved in the care of children. Virtually every child will periodically visit a general practitioner, who will assess and treat the common illnesses that are an inevitable part of childhood. Most children come into contact with other health professionals, although less frequently. Listed below is a who’s who of professionals your [...]

SEXUAL PROBLEMS – DECREASED AROUSAL I can tell you now that I have lost my sex drive. I just don’t feel like it, want it. or really even want to talk about it. There isn’t much time for that sort of thing anymore. My mind and feelings are on the kids right now. The first [...]

The crises we have had seem to have-strengthened us somehow. We get better at solving things as we go along. HUSBAND With every setback, our marriage is set back. We just can’t take much more. MALADAPTIVE: CRISES WEAKEN MARRIAGE, LOSS DRAWS SPOUSES APART WIFE ADAPTIVE: MARRIAGE IS STRENGTHENED AT TIMES OF LOSS AND OTHER CRISES [...]

The condition where the fingers go cold, white or blue in response to exposure to cold is called Raynaud’s phenomenon first described by Maurice Raynaud, a medical professor in Paris, in 1862. We now call Raynaud’s disease only those cases which appear to occur spontaneously and use the term Raynaud’s phenomenon for those where there [...]

The person may feel that no one really cares for him. He may blame others for his problems. The depression may deepen and self-pity turn to self-blame and guilt. He feels he is letting down his family, his employer and his friends. He assumes he is worthless and nothing can help him. Depression may not [...]

Diphtheria, the severe disease of childhood, is now rare, mainly due to widespread immunisation. But we should not be complacent and neglect to immunise our children as isolated outbreaks still occur, especially in unimmunised children, and the germ is still common, even if the infection is rare. Some people, especially adults, while not actually developing [...]

Without effective treatment, the primary cancer continues to grow at a fairly steady rate, pressing on, and eventually growing through, nearby structures. Sooner or later, nearly all untreated or unsuccessfully treated cancers give rise to secondary growths. For each particular type of cancer, there is a characteristic or average pattern. For example, a cancer starting [...]

There is a list of relative contraindications to HRT, that is those conditions in which you and your doctor will need to consider the balance between the risks and the benefits: • Angina, or if you have a family history of heart disease, was previously thought to be an absolute contraindication, but with research now [...]

For most women, hysterectomy does not adversely affect sexuality. In studies of the effects of the operation on sexual interest and response, a minority of women — between 7 and 20% depending on the study — report some decrease in sexual function after hysterectomy. About the same proportion report an improvement, and more than half [...]