Thursday, 5 October 2023

PATIENTS and their MALADIES, part #4

previous poetic posts (part#3)
hives
hoarding disorder
horseshoe kidney
knee effusion
lichen sclerosus
male infertility
nervous bladder
-OMAs, (subdural hematoma, atheroma)

CURRENT CONTENTS  (part #4):

Hemiplegia
Polyps, colonic
Vitamin A deficiency
Vitreous detachment
more to follow.

(Please note that many of the verses originally collected in this blogpost were moved to appropriate specialty collections as described below.) 





Authors' Note: In medical jargon, a stroke (cerebro-vascular accident) that leaves the victim with complete loss of function in the affected area is said to be dense. Patients like our old friend Dave, who have had a stroke with severe one-sided weakness (hemiplegia) in mid-life, may survive with appropriate early treatment of atherosclerotic lesions in the opposing carotid artery and other arteries, to prevent further loss of function. With appropriate physiotherapy, targeted at flexibility in the affected area and strength on the unaffected side, such patients can get through several decades, walking hesitatingly, with the use of canes and other assistive devices. As these courageous persons age, mobility issues become even more problematic than for the rest of us.






Authors' Note: The first step is to find a colonoscopist, usually done by enlisting your primary physician to arrange a referral.

You can find a poem about colonoscopists by your favorite blog-authors by clicking HERE.





Authors' NoteAvitaminosis, an absence of vitamins, causes specific deficiency diseases, as discussed for some other vitamins by (Dr.) SheilaB, a prolific contributor to OEDILF.
  Avitaminosis A, i.e. absence of vitamin A, is the most common cause of childhood blindness in parts of Africa and South Asia, resulting in specific eye damage including corneal ulceration and retinal damage. Early symptoms include xerophthalmia (severely 'dry eyes') and loss of night vision, although, it is noted that in appropriately nourished populations (developed countries), these symptoms are due to other causes.




Authors' Note:  The near-spherical posterior chamber of the eye ('the vitreous') is filled with a translucent gel that shrinks with age, and becomes 'stringy'. Fibrous strands in this space leads to the appearance of floaters, a common symptom.
  Progressive shrinkage may result in more sudden vitreous detachment with a marked increase in floaters, but generally no harm to vision, and symptoms regress spontaneously over several months. Occasionally, the initial event is accompanied by detachment (tearing –TAIR) of a portion of the light-detecting retina, so careful initial assessment and follow-up are warranted.



HERE'S A LIST OF LINKS to collections of intriguing verses on other medical/dental topics that can now be found on the following posts. (for the larger collections, grouped in multiple sets, follow the links at the bottom to proceed from 'part #1' to the next set on that topic.)
  
Doctors and their Practices (parts #1 and #2)
Funny Bones (parts #1 and #2)
Patients and their Maladies (parts #1, #2 and #3)
Sleek Greek Prefixes


DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 
To resume daily titillations on our related blog "Daily Illustrated Nonsense", click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2023, there are over 1200 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on "Edifying Nonsense" in topic-based collections.) The Daily format also has the advantage of including some videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.

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