viruses

Nose Issues [Show Notes]

 in Podcasts  tagged allergies / blood pressure / blood thinner / cancer / congestion / deviated septum / episode / hypertrophy / infection / nose bleed / polyps / smell / smoking / viruses by

Nose issues that cause your breathing to fail

  • Congestion from allergies, viruses, or infections.
  • Deviated septum – the septum (the bone that separates the nasal cavity and divides your nostrils) can get crooked and change the size and access of the nostrils or nasal cavity.  Can be from trauma, or may gradually get crooked from chronic pressure.
  • Turbinate Hypertrophy – over-growth of tissue covering the turbinates (tissue-covered bones that add warmth and moisture to the air you breathe). This can lead to snoring.  May be treated by steroid nasal sprays or surgery to remove extra tissue.
  • Nasal Polyps – uneven overgrowth of mucus membranes (symptoms may be runny nose, post-nasal drip, stuffiness).  They are not cancerous.  Treated by snipping them out.
  • Sinus cancer – a single growing tumor that causes bulging, either around the eye, face, or mouth.

Nose issues that cause your smelling to fail

  • Age
  • Deviated septum (see above)
  • Polyps (see above)
  • Chronic sinus infections – the smelling sensors are inflamed or covered with mucus so much that they become damaged or less sensitive.
  • Smoking – smoke and toxins can damage smelling receptors in your nose.  Also, the receptors become so clogged up with smoke and tobacco molecules that there’s no room for other molecules to be detected.  This can be temporary or permanent.

Nosebleeds

  • In kids, this is usually from trauma (either bumps and bonks or picking).  Can also be caused by dry air in the wintertime (use vaseline in the nostrils).
  •  In adults, can be from hypertension (high blood pressure) or chronic use of blood thinners.

PSA: Treatment for a nosebleed:  DO NOT tip your head backwards!!!!!  It makes you swallow that blood!  THAT’S GROSS!!  Proper treatment:  pinch the nose and tip the head forward.  This allows a clot to form and clots stop the bleeding.

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Meningitis [Show Notes]

 in Brain / Podcasts  tagged bacteria / fungus / inflammation / meningitis / parasites / surgery / vaccines / viruses by

Basics

Meningitis = inflammation of meninges

Generalized symptoms:  fever, headache, stiff neck, light sensitivity, confusion, lethargy, 

4 types of infectious meningitis

  1. Bacterial – we have a vaccine for that! 3-7 days; spreads in close communities (like college dorms).  Spreads through prolonged contact.  Confirmed through spinal tap and cerebrospinal fluid culture
  2. Viral – most common type; can be caused by lots of viruses: enterovirus, mumps, measles, flu, west nile.  7-10 days.  This is why I believe in vaccines!
  3. Fungal – not contagious; most common in patient with suppressed immune systems or secondary from surgery.
  4. Parasitic – Rare yet fatal.  Amoeba enters through nose from warm contaminated fresh water sources or pool, even hot springs (warm up to 115* F).  Only 31 cases in the 10 years between 2002 and 2012.  Destroys brain tissue ~ 5 days. 

Non-infectious causes:  Surgery, injury, lupus, cancer

The most important thing is that all of this be monitored by a doctor – ALWAYS!!

2 quick tests for meningitis

Kernig’s sign 

Brudzinski’s sign

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Music Credits:  “Radio Martini” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/