List of Causes of Splenomegaly

Splenomegaly is an enlargement of the spleen. The spleen has to be two and a half times its normal size to become palpable, therefore an enlarged spleen is not always palpable. In ptosis of spleen, it is palpable, though not enlarged.

Signs Suggestive of Enlarged  Spleen

• Predominant left sided abdominal distension
• Splenic mass moves downwards on inspiration
• A notch is felt on the anterior border of spleen
• Left abdominal pain if massive splenomegaly

Causes

Infective:

1. Bacterial: Septicemia, SBE, typhoid, syphilis
2. Viral: Infective hepatitis, infectious mononucleosis
3. Protozoal: Malaria, kala azar, trypanosomiasis
4. Fungal: Histoplasmosis

Congestive

A. Suprahepatic:

1. Congestive cardiac failure
2. Constructive pericarditis
3. Budd Chiari syndrome

B. Hepatic:

1. Cirrhosis
2. Schistosomiasis
3. Sarcoidosis
4. Congenital hepatic fibrosis

C. Intrahepatic: Portal vein thrombosis

Blood Diseases:

1. Polycythemia rubra vera
2. Hemolytic anemia-Thalassemia
3. Leukemias
4. Lymphoma
5. Myelofibrosis

Infiltrative and degenerative disorders

1. Gaucher’s disease
2. Niemann Picks disease

3. Amyloidosis

Neoplastic: Hemangiomas, sarcomas, cysts, metastasis

Miscellaneous:

1. Connective tissue disorders.
2. Rupture of spleen and hematoma.

Scientists Find New Way To Track Cancer In Blood

Tiny sacs released from tumor cells and circulating in the blood carry genetic information about the tumor, offering a new way to track and treat the cancer, US researchers said on Sunday. “They contain a little piece of the tumor cell in the blood stream.

If you just look at these packets, you basically know what kind of mutations are in the tumor cell,” said Xandra Breakefield of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, whose study appears in the Journal Nature Cell Biology.

These membrane covered packets, called exosomes, represent a new way of getting information about a cancer, offering a means of choosing the best therapy, seeing how a patient responds to treatment, and possibly offering a way to deliver therapies back to the tumor, Breakefield said.

Source: TOI

Additives Processed Food May Lead To Lung Cancer

Research on mice has shown that common food additives known as phosphates may help lung cancer tumors grow faster, at least in mice. The research has been conducted in South Korea. Phosphates are additives-found in many soft drinks, baked goods, processed meats and cheese.

A diet that is high in phosphates  significantly increased the lung surface tumor lesions as well as the size.

The research suggests that cutting back on inorganic phosphates “may be critical for lung cancer treatment as well as prevention”.

Phosphates are critical to human nutrition and can be used in compounds that enrich calcium and iron content and prevent food from drying out. But Cho said it is possible that some people get too much. Read more

Migraine Reduces Breast Cancer Risk

In a recent study and puzzling revealation, women who have a history of migraine headaches are far less likely to develop breast cancer than other women.

The study is the first to look at the relationship between breast cancer and migraine and its findings may point to new ways of reducing a woman’s breast cancer risk, they said.

“We found that, overall, women who had a history of migraine had a 30 percent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who did not have a history of such headaches,” said Christopher Li of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Li said the reduction in risk was for the most common types of breast cancers those driven by hormones. Hormones also play a role in migraine.

Source: TOI

You Might Be Programmed To Be Fat

You might have been programmed to become obese  before you were born. A new research has suggested thatt eating a high-fat diet in pregnancy may cause changes in the fetal brain that lead to obesity early in life.

Rat mothers who were fed a high-fat diet had many more brain cells specialized to produce appetite-stimulating proteins, a finding that may help explain why obesity rates have soared in recent years. Read more

MK-677 – The Drug That Could Retain Youth In Elderly

A drug that restores mucle mass in elderly has been found. Scientists claim that with this they have come closer to the fountain of youth

Experts at the University of Virginia Health System said that a daily dose of an investigational medication has been found to restore muscle mass in the arms and legs of older adults and improve some of their biochemistry to levels found in healthy young adults. Read more

Deformity of Vertebral Column with Cause

The vertebral column in a normal upright position has two antero-posterior curves-one with a concavity forwards in the upper dorsal region and the other with a slight convexity forwards in the dorsolumbar region. Normally, there is no lateral curvature. The vertebral column should be examined for any abnormality, angular deformity, swelling or tenderness.

Normally the vertebral column has both anterior as well as lateral mobility. This can be tested by asking the patient to bend forwards, backwards and sideways. Limitation of movements and pain, if any, should be looked for.

I. Scoliosis: Scoliosis is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.

Causes:

1. Congenital
2. Postural: Carrying heavy weight in one arm.
3. Compensatory: Reduced length of one lower limb.
4. Reflex: To relieve pain as in sciatica or renal colic.
5. Neurological: Poliomyelitis, syringomyelia, muscular dystrophy, hereditary ataxia.
6. Rickets
7. Functional

II. Kyphosis: Kyphosis is an abnormal anterio-posterior curvature of the spine with forward concavity and dorsal prominence.

Causes:

1. Congenital: Wedge shaped vertebra
2. Postural: Carrying weights on the back
3. Disease of bone and joints: Tuberculosis (Pott’s spine), rheumatoid arthritis, rickets, osteoarthritis, osteitis deformans, fracture of the vertebral body, new growth of the spine.
4. Neurological: Muscular dystrophy, hereditary spastic paraplegia, Friedreich’s ataxia, sryingomyelia, poliomyelitis, cerebral palsy, neurofibroma, etc.

III. Lordosis: Lordosis is an abnormal anterior-posterior curvature of the spine with forward convexity.

Causes:

1. Physiological: Pregnancy
2. Secondary to hip disease and congenital
3. Muscular dystrophy
4. Large abdominal tumors

List of Causes of Intermittent Claudication

Intermittent claudication is theCramping pain or weakness in the lower extremities during use of limbs, caused by blockage of the circulation.

• Arterial
  • Atheroma
  • Embolism
  • Buerger’s disease.
• Systemic
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Syphilis
  • Anemia
  • McArdle’s disease
  • Overexertion.

Causes of Vertigo

• Cerebellar
  • Cerebellitis
  • Cerebellar injury
  • Infarction
• Brain Stem
  • Vertebrobasilar insufficiency.
• Vestibular
  • Neuronitis
  • Acoustic neuroma
  • Cerebello pontine angle tumou
• Auditory
  • Acute labyrinthitis
  • Meniere’s disease
  • Toxic effects of alcohol
  • Streptomycijn therapy
  • Salicylates toxicity
  • Eustachian tube blockage
• Miscellaneous
  • Migraine
  • Aura of epilepsy
  • Anemia
  • hypotension
  • Head injury