Made by DATEXIS (Data Science and Text-based Information Systems) at Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin
Deep Learning Technology: Sebastian Arnold, Betty van Aken, Paul Grundmann, Felix A. Gers and Alexander Löser. Learning Contextualized Document Representations for Healthcare Answer Retrieval. The Web Conference 2020 (WWW'20)
Funded by The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy; Grant: 01MD19013D, Smart-MD Project, Digital Technologies
Brainerd diarrhea is a sudden-onset watery, explosive diarrhea that lasts for months and does not respond to antibiotics; the cause of Brainerd diarrhea is unknown. Brainerd diarrhea was first described in Brainerd, Minnesota in 1983.
It has been associated with the consumption of raw milk and untreated water. Of the ten outbreaks reported since 1983, nine have been in the U.S. The characteristics of each outbreak have been similar to that caused by an infectious agent. Although a comparatively large outbreak (117 patients) occurred in 1996 in Fannin County, Texas., the largest outbreak (122 patients) was the original one in Brainerd, MN. There have been no secondary cases reported in any of the outbreaks, suggesting that the
causative agent cannot be passed from person to person, but boiling water appears to inactivate the Brainerd agent. Although there is no treatment available, the disease does appear to resolve itself, although this process takes months if not years.
Haverhill fever (or epidemic arthritic erythema) is a form of "rat-bite fever" caused by the bacterium "Streptobacillus moniliformis", an organism common in rats and mice. Symptoms begin to appear two to ten days after a rat bite injury. The illness resembles a severe influenza, with a moderate fever (38-40 °C, or 101-104 °F), chills, joint pain, and a diffuse red rash, located mostly on the hands and feet. The causative organism can be isolated by blood culture, and penicillin is the most common treatment. Treatment is usually quite successful, although the body can clear the infection by itself in most cases. Complications are rare, but can include endocarditis and meningitis.
Despite its name, it can present without being bitten by a rat.
The disease was recognized from an outbreak which occurred in Haverhill, Massachusetts in January, 1926. The organism "S. moniliformis" was isolated from the patients. Epidemiology implicated infection via consumption of milk from one particular dairy.
There are many cardiovascular diseases involving the blood vessels. They are known as vascular diseases.
- Coronary artery disease (also known as coronary heart disease and ischemic heart disease)
- Peripheral arterial disease – disease of blood vessels that supply blood to the arms and legs
- Cerebrovascular disease – disease of blood vessels that supply blood to the brain (includes stroke)
- Renal artery stenosis
- Aortic aneurysm
There are also many cardiovascular diseases that involve the heart.
- Cardiomyopathy – diseases of cardiac muscle
- Hypertensive heart disease – diseases of the heart secondary to high blood pressure or hypertension
- Heart failure - a clinical syndrome caused by the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood to the tissues to meet their metabolic requirements
- Pulmonary heart disease – a failure at the right side of the heart with respiratory system involvement
- Cardiac dysrhythmias – abnormalities of heart rhythm
- Inflammatory heart disease
- Endocarditis – inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. The structures most commonly involved are the heart valves.
- Inflammatory cardiomegaly
- Myocarditis – inflammation of the myocardium, the muscular part of the heart.
- Valvular heart disease
- Congenital heart disease – heart structure malformations existing at birth
- Rheumatic heart disease – heart muscles and valves damage due to rheumatic fever caused by "Streptococcus pyogenes" a group A streptococcal infection.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. Cardiovascular disease includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.
The underlying mechanisms vary depending on the disease in question. Coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease involve atherosclerosis. This may be caused by high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, lack of exercise, obesity, high blood cholesterol, poor diet, and excessive alcohol consumption, among others. High blood pressure results in 13% of CVD deaths, while tobacco results in 9%, diabetes 6%, lack of exercise 6% and obesity 5%. Rheumatic heart disease may follow untreated strep throat.
It is estimated that 90% of CVD is preventable. Prevention of atherosclerosis involves improving risk factors through: healthy eating, exercise, avoidance of tobacco smoke and limiting alcohol intake. Treating risk factors, such as high blood pressure, blood lipids and diabetes is also beneficial. Treating people who have strep throat with antibiotics can decrease the risk of rheumatic heart disease. The effect of the use of aspirin in people who are otherwise healthy is of unclear benefit.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally. This is true in all areas of the world except Africa. Together they resulted in 17.9 million deaths (32.1%) in 2015, up from 12.3 million (25.8%) in 1990. Deaths, at a given age, from CVD are more common and have been increasing in much of the developing world, while rates have declined in most of the developed world since the 1970s. Coronary artery disease and stroke account for 80% of CVD deaths in males and 75% of CVD deaths in females. Most cardiovascular disease affects older adults. In the United States 11% of people between 20 and 40 have CVD, while 37% between 40 and 60, 71% of people between 60 and 80, and 85% of people over 80 have CVD. The average age of death from coronary artery disease in the developed world is around 80 while it is around 68 in the developing world. Disease onset is typically seven to ten years earlier in men as compared to women.
New World Syndrome is a set of non-communicable diseases brought on by consumption of junk food and a sedentary lifestyle, especially common to the indigenous peoples of the "New World" (i.e. of the Americas). Indigenous peoples of Oceania and Circumpolar peoples, and perhaps other populations of Asiatic origin are similarly affected and perhaps genetically predisposed. It is characterized by obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and shortened life span.
Toxic oil syndrome or simply toxic syndrome (Spanish: "síndrome del aceite tóxico" or "síndrome tóxico") is a musculoskeletal disease most famous for a 1981 outbreak in Spain which killed over 600 people and was likely caused by contaminated colza oil. Its first appearance was as a lung disease, with unusual features; though the symptoms initially resembled a lung infection, antibiotics were ineffective. The disease appeared to be restricted to certain geographical localities, and several members of a family could be affected, even while their neighbours had no symptoms. Following the acute phase, a range of other chronic symptoms was apparent.
Exotic ungulate encephalopathy is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), or prion disease, identified in infected organs of zoo animals. This subgroup of the TSEs in captive animals was identified in zoo animals in Great Britain including species of greater kudu, nyala, gemsbok, the common eland, Arabian and Scimitar Oryx, an Ankole-Watusi cow, and an American bison. Studies indicate that transmission likely occurred via the consumption of feed supplemented with meat and bone meal, although some animals died after the British ban on ground offal in animal feed. All animals died during the 1990s, with the last death occurring in 1998.
It is characterized by:
- Obesity
- Growth retardation and retarded sexual development, atrophy or hypoplasia of the gonads, and altered secondary sex characteristics,
- Headaches
- Problems with vision
- polyuria, polydipsia.
It is usually associated with tumors of the hypothalamus, causing increased appetite and depressed secretion of gonadotropin. It seems to affect males mostly.
Many overweight children may appear to have the disorder because of the concurrence of obesity and retarded sexual development; these children have no endocrine disturbances, however, and they mature normally after delayed puberty.
New World Syndrome is linked to a change from a traditional diet and exercise to a Western diet and a sedentary lifestyle. The traditional occupations of indigenous people—such as fishing, farming, and hunting—tended to involve constant activity, whereas modern office jobs do not. The introduction of modern transportation such as automobiles also decreased physical exertion. Meanwhile, Western foods which are rich in fat, salt, sugar, and refined starches are also imported into countries. The amount of carbohydrates in diets increases.
The exact nature of the poison is still unclear. In the U.S. outbreak, the source of the fish was traced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and studies of other fish from the same sources showed a hexane-soluble (and hence non-polar lipid) substance that induced similar symptoms in mice; other food-borne poisons commonly found in fish could not be detected. It cannot be inactivated by cooking, as all six CDC cases had consumed cooked or fried fish. Palytoxin has been proposed as a disease model. It has also been suggested that the toxin may have thiaminase activity (i.e. it degrades thiamine, also known as vitamin B1).
An alcohol hangover is associated with a variety of symptoms that may include drowsiness, headache, concentration problems, dry mouth, dizziness, gastrointestinal complaints, fatigue, sweating, nausea, hyper-excitability, anxiety, and a feeling of general discomfort that may last more than 24 hours. Alcohol hangover symptoms develop when blood alcohol concentration falls considerably and peak when it returns to almost zero. Hangover symptoms validated in controlled studies include general malaise, thirst, headache, feeling dizzy or faint, tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea, stomach ache, and feeling as though one's heart is racing. Some symptoms such as changes in sleep pattern and gastrointestinal distress are attributed to direct effects of the alcohol intoxication, or withdrawal symptoms. Drowsiness and impaired cognitive function are the two dominant features of alcohol hangover.
Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) or new variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (nvCJD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy which was identified in 1996 by the National CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is always fatal and is caused by prions, which are mis-folded proteins. Over 170 cases of vCJD have been recorded in the United Kingdom, and around 30 cases in the rest of the world. The fact that the epidemiology of the disease coincided with an epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy led to the hypothesis that consumption of BSE-infected beef caused the disease. It is a different disease from Sporadic and Familial Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, though it is believed to be caused by the same pathogenic agent, a mis-folded protein, known as a prion.
Despite the consumption of contaminated beef in the UK being reckoned to be quite high, vCJD has infected a comparatively small cohort of people. One explanation for this can be found in the genetics of patients with the disease. The human PRNP protein which is subverted in prion disease can occur with either methionine or valine at amino acid 129, without any apparent difference in normal function. Of the overall Caucasian population, about 40% have two methionine-containing alleles, 10% have two valine-containing alleles, and the other 50% are heterozygous at this position. Only a single vCJD patient tested was found to be heterozygous; most of those affected had two copies of the methionine-containing form. Additionally, for unknown reasons, those affected are generally under the age of 40. It is not yet known whether those unaffected are actually immune or only have a longer incubation period until symptoms appear.
Angiolathyrism-"Angio" = Blood vessel, "Lathyrism" = disease due to Lathyrus Sativus. It is commonly associated with osteolathyrism and neurolathyrism and is caused by over consumption of Lathyrus sativus, also known as grasspea. The main chemical responsible is β-Aminopropionitrile, which prevents collagen cross-linking, thus making the blood vessel, especially the tunica media, weak. This can result in Cystic medial necrosis or a picture similar to Marfan syndrome. The damaged vessels are at an increased risk of dissection.
Lathyrism or neurolathyrism is a neurological disease of humans and domestic animals, caused by eating certain legumes of the genus "Lathyrus". This problem is mainly associated with "Lathyrus sativus" (also known as "Grass pea", "Kesari Dal", "Khesari Dal" or "Almorta") and to a lesser degree with "Lathyrus cicera", "Lathyrus ochrus" and "Lathyrus clymenum" containing the toxin ODAP.
The lathyrism resulting from the ingestion of "Lathyrus odoratus" seeds ("sweet peas") is often referred to as odoratism or osteolathyrism, which is caused by a different toxin (beta-aminopropionitrile) that affects the linking of collagen, a protein of connective tissues.
Lathyrism is mainly due to consumption of Lathyrus sativus ( common name : Khesari ) containing Cyanoalanine(neurotoxin) and mainly causes muscle cramps and excessive consumption may even lead to paralysis
The health effects of wine are mainly determined by its active ingredient alcohol. Some studies found that drinking small quantities of alcohol (up to one standard drink per day for women and one to two drinks per day for men) is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome and early death. However, other studies found no such effect. Drinking more than the standard drink amount increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, stroke and cancer. Mixed results are also observed in light drinking and cancer mortality.
Risk is greater in younger people due to binge drinking which may result in violence or accidents. About 88,000 deaths in the US are estimated to be due to alcohol each year. Alcoholism reduces a person's life expectancy by around ten years and excessive alcohol use is the third leading cause of early death in the United States. According to systematic reviews and medical associations, people who are nondrinkers should not start drinking wine.
Wine has a long history of use as an early form of medication, being recommended variously as a safe alternative to drinking water, an antiseptic for treating wounds, a digestive aid, and as a cure for a wide range of ailments including lethargy, diarrhea and pain from child birth. Ancient Egyptian papyri and Sumerian tablets dating back to 2200 BC detail the medicinal role of wine, making it the world's oldest documented human-made medicine. Wine continued to play a major role in medicine until the late 19th and early 20th century, when changing opinions and medical research on alcohol and alcoholism cast doubt on its role as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Zeism is any condition attributed to excessive use of maize (corn) in the diet, such as pellagra, because maize is low in zinc, niacin and tryptophan, and the limited niacin found in maize is not assimilated in the intestinal tract unless it has been treated with alkalis, as in the preparation of tortillas. A type of pellagra attributed to amino acid imbalance is common in India among people who eat a millet with a high leucine content. The deficiencies are usually seasonal.
The (now confirmed) "zeist hypotheses" that pellagra might be a deficiency disease related to corn consumption has been stated in 1810 by the Italian Giovanni Battista Marzari.
Haff disease (German: "Haffkrankheit") is the development of rhabdomyolysis (swelling and breakdown of skeletal muscle, with a risk of acute kidney failure) within 24 hours of ingesting fish.
The impact of alcohol on aging is multifaceted. Evidence shows that alcoholism or chronic alcohol consumption can cause both accelerated (or premature) aging – in which symptoms of aging appear earlier than normal – and exaggerated aging, in which the symptoms appear at the appropriate time but in a more exaggerated form. The effects of alcohol abuse/misuse on the aging process include hypertension, cardiac dysrhythmia, cancers, gastrointestinal disorders, neurocognitive deficits, bone loss, and emotional disturbances especially depression. On the other hand, research also shows that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect healthy adults from developing coronary heart disease. The American Heart Association cautions people not to start drinking, if you are not already drinking.
Acute alcohol poisoning is a related medical term used to indicate a dangerously high concentration of alcohol in the blood, high enough to induce coma, respiratory depression, or even death. It is considered a medical emergency. The term is mostly used by healthcare providers. Toxicologists use the term "alcohol intoxication" to discriminate between alcohol and other toxins.
The signs and symptoms of acute alcohol poisoning include:
- severe confusion, unpredictable behavior and stupor
- sudden lapses into and out of unconsciousness or semi-consciousness (with later alcoholic amnesia)
- vomiting while unconscious or semi-conscious
- seizures
- respiratory depression (fewer than eight breaths a minute)
- pale, bluish, cold and clammy skin due to insufficient oxygen
The relationship between alcohol and breast cancer has been a subject of much research, and debate . It is commonly considered a risk factor for breast cancer in women. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has declared that there is sufficient scientific evidence to classify alcoholic beverages a Group 1 carcinogen that causes breast cancer in women. Group 1 carcinogens are the substances with the clearest scientific evidence that they cause cancer, such as smoking tobacco.
A woman drinking an average of two units of alcohol (also known formally as ethanol) per day has 8% higher risk of developing breast cancer than a woman who drinks an average of one unit of alcohol per day. A study of more than 1,280,000 middle-aged British women concluded that for every additional drink regularly consumed per day, the incidence of breast cancer increases by 1.1%.. A study of 17,647 nurses found that high drinking levels more than doubled risk of breast cancer with 2% increase risk for each additional drink per week consumed. Binge drinking of 4–5 drinks increases the risk by 55%.
However, studies of mortality show that drinkers have no greater risk of dying from breast cancer. An analysis of various causes of death of middle aged and elderly Americans found that, of the 251,420 women in the study, 0.3% of the zero and super-light drinkers died from breast cancer, over the 10 years of study observation. And exactly the same proportion, 0.3%, of the moderate to heavy drinkers (1 to 4+ drinks per day). In another mortality study of 85,000 women, the chance of death from breast cancer during the 12 year follow-up period was 0.4%, and again this was identical for zero-to-super-light drinkers as with moderate-to-heavy drinkers.
This paradoxical difference between the results for diagnoses and those for mortality appears to be due to drinkers screening more for breast cancer potential reasons for the higher rates of screening among drinkers are because they are wealthier, more urban, more health conscious, closer to screening clinics. Studies that control for screening rates show no association between drinking and being diagnosed with breast cancer .
Meta-analysis of the epidemiological studies looking at drinking and breast cancer mortality/survival after diagnosis shows no association between levels of drinking (before or after diagnosis) and risk of breast cancer death, nor reoccurrence of the cancer . Two recent studies looking at patients already diagnosed with breast cancer both found that women who drank before their breast cancer diagnosis had no higher risk of dying from the cancer than the non-drinkers . Similarly a large study with long follow-up of women with breast cancer showed breast cancer patients had better chances of survival if they were regular drinkers before diagnosis. If they altered their drinking after diagnosis this did not alter their chance of dying from breast cancer. But an increase in drinking was associated with an overall improvement in life expectancy (largely due to substantially fewer heart disease deaths among those who increased their alcohol consumption).
Alcoholic beverages are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Group 1 carcinogen (carcinogenic to humans). IARC classifies alcoholic beverage consumption as a cause of female breast, colorectum, larynx, liver, esophagus, oral cavity, and pharynx cancers; and as a probable cause of pancreatic cancer.
3.6% of all cancer cases and 3.5% of cancer deaths worldwide are attributable to consumption of alcohol (also known formally as ethanol).
Chronic use of alcohol used to induce sleep can lead to insomnia: frequent moving between sleep stages occurs, with awakenings due to headaches and diaphoresis. Stopping chronic alcohol abuse can also lead to profound disturbances of sleep with vivid dreams. Chronic alcohol abuse is associated with NREM stage 3 and 4 sleep as well as suppression of REM sleep and REM sleep fragmentation. During withdrawal REM sleep is typically exaggerated as part of a rebound effect.
Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) is caused by the consumption of shellfish contaminated by breve-toxins or brevetoxin analogs.
Symptoms in humans include vomiting and nausea and a variety of neurological symptoms such as slurred speech. No fatalities have been reported but there are a number of cases which led to hospitalization.
Individuals with an alcohol use disorder will often complain of difficulty with interpersonal relationships, problems at work or school, and legal problems. Additionally, people may complain of irritability and insomnia. Alcohol abuse is also an important cause of chronic fatigue.
Signs of alcohol abuse are related to alcohol's effects on organ systems. However, while these findings are often present, they are not necessary to make a diagnosis of alcohol abuse. Signs of alcohol abuse show its drastic effects on the central nervous system, including inebriation and poor judgment; chronic anxiety, irritability, and insomnia. Alcohol's effects on the liver include elevated liver function tests (classically AST is at least twice as high as ALT). Prolonged use leads to cirrhosis and liver failure. With cirrhosis, patients develop an inability to process hormones and toxins. The skin of a patient with alcoholic cirrhosis can feature cherry angiomas, palmar erythema and — in acute liver failure — jaundice and ascites. The derangements of the endocrine system lead to the enlargement of the male breasts. The inability to process toxins leads to liver disease, such as hepatic encephalopathy.
Alcohol abuse can result in brain damage which causes impairments in executive functioning such as impairments to working memory, visuospatial skills, and can cause an abnormal personality as well as affective disorders to develop. Binge drinking is associated with individuals reporting fair to poor health compared to non-binge drinking individuals and which may progressively worsen over time. Alcohol also causes impairment in a person's critical thinking. A person's ability to reason in stressful situations is compromised, and they seem very inattentive to what is going on around them. Social skills are significantly impaired in people suffering from alcoholism due to the neurotoxic effects of alcohol on the brain, especially the prefrontal cortex area of the brain. The social skills that are impaired by alcohol abuse include impairments in perceiving facial emotions, difficulty with perceiving vocal emotions and theory of mind deficits; the ability to understand humour is also impaired in alcohol abusers. Adolescent binge drinkers are most sensitive to damaging neurocognitive functions especially executive functions and memory. People who abuse alcohol are less likely to survive critical illness with a higher risk for having sepsis and were more likely to die during hospitalization.
Adiposogenital dystrophy is a condition which may be caused by tertiary hypogonadism originating from decreased levels in GnRH. Low levels of GnRH has been associated with defects of the feeding centers of the hypothalamus, leading to an increased consumption of food and thus caloric intake.