Life, Health and Enjoyment

If mainstream media has made one thing clear, it’s that we the people crave the bizarre. And sometimes, the bizarre is beyond what anyone could have imagined. Such is the case with certain rare and crazy diseases — disorders that seem to defy reality. Unfortunately for the many sufferers out there, some d iseases, however crazy they may be, are very real — and equally as frightening. Here are just a few crazy diseases to whet your appetite for the bizarre:

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After eight years Mara Candedario can finally see again. Doctors in Tampa were able to perform a complicated surgery on the legally blind woman to restore her sight. Watch the latest video at <a href="http://video.foxnews.com">video.foxnews.com</a>

Early breast cancer can now be treated with a lumpectomy plus radiation given on the operating table. True? If so, how safe is this? "One-step" breast cancer treatment, as it's being called, is so new that it is still considered experimental. The procedure was pioneered four years ago in Britain, where more than 800 women are participating in an international clinical trial. The one-step treatment is also being studied at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Technically, the new procedure is known as "intraoperative radiation therapy" and involves delivering a radiation dose to the site of a breast tumor during surgery to destroy any remaining local cancerous tissue. In theory, this can save patients a lot of treatment time, protect the skin, heart and lungs from unnecessary radiation administered externally, and minimize side effects that can occur during conventional radiation treatment given after surgery. Using a probe attached to a device called the porta...

ACCORD eye study finds 2 therapies slow diabetic eye disease progression WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. A– Friday, July 23, 2010 A– In high-risk adults with type 2 diabetes, researchers have found that two therapies may slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that is the leading cause of vision loss in working-age Americans. Intensive blood sugar control reduced the progression of diabetic retinopathy compared with standard blood sugar control, and combination lipid therapy with a fibrate and statin also reduced disease progression compared with statin therapy alone. However, intensive blood pressure control provided no additional benefit to patients compared with standard blood pressure control. Results of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) Eye Study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and presented at the 70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Associatio...

Don’t clamp umbilical cords straight after birth, urges expert Personal view: Why do obstetricians and midwives still rush to clamp the cord?  Obstetricians and midwives should wait a few minutes before clamping the umbilical cords of newborn infants so that babies are not harmed by the procedure, argues Dr David Hutchon in an article published on bmj.com today.  Hutchon, a retired consultant obstetrician from the Memorial Hospital in Darlington, says it’s time for the UK to follow guidance from the World Health Organisation and the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics and refrain from early cord clamping.  Despite evidence for the benefit of delayed cord clamping, clinicians in the UK seem reluctant to change their practice, he says, and the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is not advising them to do so.  One explanation for the apparent resistance of clinicians to follow the evidence is that that cord clamping “has...

 A man appeared to have several asthma attacks which five doctors from Italy explain appeared after he had logged into Facebook and gone to a specific page, according to a Correspondence in today's issue of The Lancet . The doctors explain that seeing his girlfriend's details on Facebook seemed to bring on hyperventilation and then asthma. The man, 18, was very sad because his sweetheart had jilted him. She had also erased all details of him from her Facebook, while at the same time developing friendships with young men. The man assumed a new Facebook nickname, and disguised as such managed to become her online friend. He eventually got to view her photograph in the profile section of her Facebook. On seeing the photograph, he would become short of breath. This would occur several times, and only when looking at her profile, with the photo of her on that page. Dr Gennaro D'Amato, High Speciality Hospital A Cardarelli, Naples, Italy, said: "The (man's) mot...

What is snoring? Snoring, like all other sounds, is caused by vibrations that cause particles in the air to form sound waves. For example, when we speak, our vocal cords vibrate to form our voice. When our stomach growls (borborygmus), our stomach and intestines vibrate as air and food move through them. While we are asleep, turbulent airflow can cause the tissues of the nose and throat to vibrate and give rise to snoring. Essentially, snoring is a sound resulting from turbulent airflow that causes tissues to vibrate during sleep.         Stop Snoring Mouth Piece - Anti Snore Device Sleep Apnea Cessation Aid How common is snoring?Stop Snoring Mouth Piece - Anti Snore Device Sleep Apnea Cessation Aid Any person can snore. Studies estimate that 45% of men and 30% of women snore on a regular basis. Frequently, people who do not regularly snore will report snoring after a viral illness, after drinking alcohol, or when taking some medications. Pe...

Botulism & Babies Overview Human botulism is a serious but relatively rare disease. The disease is an intoxication caused by extremely potent toxins preformed in foods. The toxins are produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Person to person transmission of botulism does not occur . There are seven recognized types of botulism. Four of these (types A, B, E and rarely F) cause human botulism. Types C, D and E cause illness in mammals, birds and fish. The sporulated form of the bacterium is commonly found in soils, aquatic sediments and fish. The spores are heat-resistant. Under anaerobic conditions, botulinum spores can germinate, and the bacterium grow and produce the toxin. Ingestion of the toxin present in improperly prepared food is dangerous and may be fatal. Botulism is mainly a foodborne intoxication but it can also be transmitted through wound infections or intestinal infection in infants. Symptoms The symptoms are not caused by the organism itself, but b...