A stroke, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is an acute neuralgic injury in which the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted. That is, stroke involves sudden loss of neuronal function due to disturbance in cerebral perfusion. This disturbance in perfusion is commonly arterial, but can be venous. The part of the brain with disturbed perfusion no longer receives adequate oxygen. This initiates the Ischemic cascade which causes brain cells to die or be seriously damaged, impairing local brain function. Stroke is a medical emergency and can cause permanent neuralgic damage or even death if not promptly diagnosed and treated.
Symptoms The symptoms of stroke depend on the type of stroke and the area of the brain affected. Ischemic strokes usually only affect regional areas of the brain perfuse by the blocked artery Muscle weakness (hemiplegia) Sudden numbness, weakness, or paralysis of your face, arm or leg. Usually on one side of your body Reduction in sensory or vibratory sensation Sudden dizziness, loss of balance or loss of coordination In most cases, the symptoms affect only one side of the body. The defect in the brain is usually on the opposite side of the body (depending on which part of the brain is affected). However, the presence of any one of these symptoms does not necessarily suggest a stroke, since these pathways also travel in the spinal cord and any lesion there can also produce these symptoms.
Diagnosis It is diagnosed through different techniques a neurological examination, blood tests, CT scans (without contrast enhancements) or MRI scans, Doppler ultrasound, and arteriography.Before treating a stroke, your doctor must diagnose the type of stroke and its location. Other possible causes of your symptoms, such as a tumor, also need to be excluded
Treatment It is important to identify a stroke as early as possible because patients who are treated earlier are more likely to survive and have better recoveries. If a patient is suspected of having a stroke, emergency services should be contacted immediately. Treatment itself depends on the type of stroke. The Alberta Provincial Stroke Strategy (APSS) is a two year $20M project funded by the Alberta Provincial Government to improve stroke prevention and care in the province. It is a collaborative partnership between the Alberta Health and Wellness, all nine health regions and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, NWT and Nunavut.
Pyelonephritis, a kidney infection, is usually caused by Escherichia Coli, a bacteria type that is found in the large intestine. Being more common in women than in men, this infection makes its way from the genital area through the urethra to the bladder, up the ureters and then it reaches the kidneys. It is known that if a person has any physical obstruction to the flow of urine, like a kidney stone, an enlarged prostate, or the backflow of urine from the bladder into the ureters, it is very likely the risk of pyelonephritis to rise. The bloodstream can be also a source of infections. If a person has another part of the body infected, the bloodstream can carry the infection to the kidneys.
There are certain categories of people who are more exposed to the risk of developing pyelonephritis. Pregnancy causes the ureters to dilate and reduces the muscle contractions that propel urine down the ureters into the bladder. In this way, the risk of reflux of urine grows. Also a partially obstruct of the normal flow of urine may appear because the enlarged uterus puts pressure on the ureters. The persons with a weakened immune system, or which have diabetes, have a great risk of developing pyelonephritis.
Persons with pyelonephritis might experience painful urination, tightly contraction of the abdomen muscles, one or both kidneys may be enlarged and tender, and cystitis symptoms can appear also. Usually, pyelonephritis starts suddenly, with pain in the lower part of the back on either side, fever, chills, nausea and vomiting, but very often, in children these symptoms are slight and difficult to recognize.
There can appear chronic pyelonephritis in people who have major underlying abnormalities like the reflux of urine from the bladder into the ureters, large kidney stones that persist, or a urinary tract obstruction. The chronic pyelonephritis can have vague symptoms, fever may come and go easily, or it may even not occur, and the pain doesn't cause much sufferance.
If the doctor believes that a patient has pyelonephritis, he will perform some tests, to see if the kidney is infected. A urine specimen will be demanded from the patient, and the doctor will examine that sample to determine which bacteria is present. The doctor will also perform blood tests, to find out if there are bacteria or if elevated white blood cells are present in the blood. Sometimes, there are necessary some more tests, for example if the patient does not respond to antibiotic treatment within 48 hours, if there is an intense back pain from renal colic, or if, after the treatment is finished, the symptoms return in a short time. The doctor will perform ultrasound or x-ray studies, and that might reveal structural abnormalities, or kidney stones, or other causes of urinary obstruction.
When the doctor suspects the patient has pyelonephritis, he will demand a urine sample and will perform a blood test, and send the tests to the laboratory. Right away, he will start the treatment with antibiotics, but this treatment might change after the lab results are ready. If the patient has no nausea or vomiting, no signs of dehydration, fever or chills, the treatment with antibiotics given by mouth might be successful. Otherwise, the patient is treated in hospital, being injected intravenous antibiotics. After 1 ore 2 days, the treatment can be switched to antibiotics given by mouth. The antibiotic treatment may continue for 2 up to six weeks, to prevent recurrence of the infection. After that, a urine sample is taken, to see if the infection disappeared for good.
It is not known which is the ideal duration of such therapy, but if the infection comes back, medication will continue indefinitely.
Both Manisha Bhatra & Groshan Fabiola are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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