9
votes
Accepted
Medical relevance of tetanus vaccination
Clostridium tetani is the causative organism in tetanus. It requires an anaerobic environment to grow so is found in soil and in the gut of animals. Person to person transmission is not possible. ...
- 13.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Multiple Sclerosis and Chemotherapy
Is there any truth behind chemotherapy actually curing Multiple Sclerosis?
Unfortunately, no. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic illness - meaning that it cannot be completely cured. There are, ...
- 2,833
7
votes
Accepted
Is Tourrettes considered a condition requiring medication?
The severity of Tourette's varies from person to person and can range from mild, requiring no treatment, to severe, requiring medication and/or behavioral therapy. The tics that are the hallmark of ...
- 9,694
6
votes
Accepted
What does metformin do to treat polycystic ovarian syndrome?
PCOS can make your body resistant to insulin. When your body's cells become too resistant to insulin, that's called type 2 diabetes. Metformin makes your body more sensitive to insulin, so it can help ...
- 711
6
votes
Accepted
How fast and effective does an epi-pen work against a peanut allergy reaction?
Mild case of artistic license.
The effects of epinephrine are rapid and can be dramatic, but they're not long-lasting. EpiPens are only intended as a delaying tactic to buy time for the patient to ...
- 9,694
6
votes
Are there a maximum number of times for surgical ablations on patients with Atrial Fibrillation?
In 2013, a systematic review and meta-analysis (see ref in source) examined the long term outcome of catheter ablation in patient with atrial fibrillation.
They first looked at single procedure ...
- 3,194
6
votes
How to calculate my "approximate" mortality rate while in ICU?
An individual person does not have a mortality rate: it means the fraction of people out of a group who die over a specific time period. It may seem like your particular chance of dying is that same ...
- 3,829
6
votes
When could chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine be widely available for Covid-19 treatment?
Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.. chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine (and possibly in concert with azithromycin) have been touted over the past few days as a possible treatment regimen.
And there's ...
- 1,272
5
votes
Accepted
Excessive sweating of hands/feet: what is it, and how is it dealt with?
What you are describing is most likely hyperhidrosis, a disorder that causes excessive sweating. It This sweating usually occurs on the underarms (axillary) or the palms of the hands and soles of the ...
- 7,747
5
votes
How does one manage sarcopenia as one ages?
Morley (2016) states (with more references than I am copying across here),
At a basic level, protein synthesis and/or degradation are controlled by activation of the insulin or IGF-1 receptor.
...
- 6,154
5
votes
Why are some viruses harder to make vaccines for?
This is a very broad question. Addressing all aspects may result in an answer that is too long. Therefore only some examples can be looked at.
Since the premise starts with chicken pox vaccine as an ...
- 6,867
5
votes
Does astaxanthin help prevent or heal a tendinopathy?
Source 3 is a book sponsered by Cyanotech Corporation claiming beneficial effects for the human health using Astaxanthin. The author is employee of Cyanotech Corporation.
There is a small chapter ...
- 171
4
votes
Accepted
Is there any treatment for autism?
This is really interesting, and really difficult.
First, let's get Miracle Mineral Supplement out of the way. There is a lengthy article on this up on the blog "Science-based Medicine" called ...
- 6,982
4
votes
Overcome emotions when talking to people
Person with social anxiety here.
I want to share some personal experience with you. Most of the symptoms you described (both mental and physical) are familiar to my own.
Get help
First, I totally ...
- 313
4
votes
Overcome emotions when talking to people
Usually on health SE the question about specific steps and/or medication to help you would be closed as personal medical advice question, and you would be prompted to ask a medical professional's help....
- 2,833
4
votes
Why is FMT an effective treatment for Clostridium difficile?
It seems to be unclear and likely some kind of combination of several factors.
The paper Fecal microbiota transplantation in relapsing Clostridium difficile infection mentions two theories as to why ...
- 6,982
4
votes
Root canal therapy for diabetes patient?
Is there any risk for a diabetes patient to undergo this procedure?
Yes, root canals carry some risks for everyone, and the degree of risk depends on your health status. Surgical risks for diabetics ...
- 5,754
4
votes
Safety data on chloroquine?
We now have some data from randomized studies that provide some indications of safety considerations when using Hydroxychloroquine/Chloroquine in the management of Covid-19. The first study (non-peer ...
- 13.2k
4
votes
Why are antibodies not used as treatments for infectious diseases?
Where do you get the antibodies from?
You could theoretically use donor blood from infected patients, but apparently it is still unclear if the transmission of those antibodies is safe. Also, those ...
- 6,742
4
votes
Accepted
Why is sepsis more common with leukemia than with cancers involving physical tumors?
It's a combination.
By definition, leukemia affects the production and/or development of white blood cells (MedlinePlus - Leukemia). If not enough white blood cells are produced (AKA neutropenia) or ...
- 246
3
votes
Is there a cure for bad breath?
You may actually want to try cutting out the mouthwash. There's some evidence that the bacteria being killed with frequent use of mouthwash may include the healthy sort that your mouth needs, not to ...
- 49
3
votes
Can a past psychiatrist share information with your current psychiatrist?
Does this mean my previous psychiatrist can share information with my current psychiatrist?
Yes.1,2
There is an exception for 'psychotherapy notes', a term with a very specific meaning3 under ...
3
votes
How can I quickly know whether a medical treatment is supported by evidence?
A quick way to know if a certain treatment method is supported by scientific evidence without asking a physician is to check some free and easy-to-read evidence-based medical articles on sites like:
...
- 15.8k
3
votes
How much tuna can I eat a week without running into mercury issues?
Worried about tuna giving you mercury poisoning? Here's the exact study that caused this concern. It's recommendations are much higher than that of the FDA and online calculators: http://www.atsdr.cdc....
- 1,094
3
votes
Accepted
Are there a maximum number of times for surgical ablations on patients with Atrial Fibrillation?
This is a subject I'm very well versed in since I've had paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and atrial flutter (AFL) for a number of years and I've undergone no fewer than five ablation procedures. ...
- 9,694
3
votes
Accepted
Healthy way to become numb
These could be symptoms of different medical problems, depression, anxiety, or other issues. In lieu of personal advice or a discussion of treatments, I advise seeing your primary care provider as a ...
- 5,754
3
votes
Law and Ethics - Refusing to treat intoxicated patients
If there's a field of medicine that deals with this issue more than any other, it's emergency medical services. Drunks are a daily staple for them, even in "nice" communities. So the following is ...
- 9,694
3
votes
Accepted
What are these perfectly circular red shapes on the back of that person?
Disclaimer: we cannot give individual medical advice or diagnoses. This is a general discussion.
What you are describing is most consistent with bruising left by the process of cupping. Cupping is a ...
- 5,754
3
votes
How are surgical patients kept still while awake?
I am an anesthetic nurse and have been present at different neurosurgical operations while patients were awake. Mainly brain tumors, but also some stimulation electrodes to fight tremor in Parkinson ...
- 381
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible