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Infections

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is infection and inflammation of the female reproductive organs, caused most often by a sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as chlamydia or gonorrhea. Infection may travel up through the vagina and cervix to involve the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, and surrounding tissues. While PID may occur at any age, sexually-active adolescents and young women are most likely to suffer from it. Treatment with antibiotics is usually effective in curing the disease. If left untreated, long-term complications may include chronic or persistent pelvic pain, infertility (difficulty in falling pregnant) and increased risk of ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy developing outside the uterus usually in the fallopian tube).

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Cellulitis is an inflammatory condition involving the deeper layers of the skin – dermis and subcutaneous tissue. It tends to almost always occur due to a bacterial infection. Cellulitis tends to arise in the periphery of the body, more commonly on the legs and less frequently in the arms. Most cases are associated with impaired immune defences and poor circulation. Although cellulitis is easily treated with antibiotics, it is a serious medical condition that can quickly progress and lead to complications and even death.

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Antiretroviral drugs are medication that are active against retroviruses. These days it is employed as a cocktail of drugs (HAART) in the treatment of HIV infection. Antiretrovirals are a sub-class of antiviral drugs.

How do antiretroviral drugs work?

The traditional antiretroviral drugs inhibit reverse transcriptase enzyme or protease enzyme. The reverse transcriptase enzyme is responsible for synthesis of DNA from the viral RNA and the protease enzyme is responsible for breaking down larger proteins to smaller functional proteins. Some drugs act by preventing the entry of the virus into human cell and some by preventing integration of viral DNA into the human DNA.

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Antiviral drugs (antivirals) are medicines that are used to treat or prevent the infections caused by virus. Antivirals act specifically against particular groups of viruses and its actions are limited to these groups alone. A virus has no cell membrane and can multiply when it infects a cell’s nucleus in the human (host) body. The virus invades the host cells and multiplies rapidly thereby resulting in the particular infection.
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