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Primary Aldosteronism
Primary aldosteronism (PA)'','' also known as primary hyperaldosteronism, refers to the excess production of the hormone aldosterone from the adrenal glands, resulting in low renin levels and high blood pressure. This abnormality is a paraneoplastic syndrome (i.e. caused by hyperplasia or tumors). About 35% of the cases are caused by a single aldosterone-secreting adenoma, a condition known as Conn's syndrome. Many patients experience fatigue, Hypokalemia, potassium deficiency and arterial hypertension, high blood pressure which may cause poor vision, confusion or headaches. Symptoms may also include: muscular aches and weakness, muscle spasms, low back and flank pain from the kidneys, trembling, paresthesia, tingling sensations, dizziness/vertigo, nocturia and excessive urination. Complications include cardiovascular disease such as stroke, myocardial infarction, kidney failure and Heart arrhythmia, abnormal heart rhythms. Primary hyperaldosteronism has a number of causes. Ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aldosterone
Aldosterone is the main mineralocorticoid steroid hormone produced by the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex in the adrenal gland. It is essential for sodium conservation in the kidney, salivary glands, sweat glands, and colon. It plays a central role in the homeostatic regulation of blood pressure, plasma sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+) levels. It does so primarily by acting on the mineralocorticoid receptors in the distal tubules and collecting ducts of the nephron. It influences the reabsorption of sodium and excretion of potassium (from and into the tubular fluids, respectively) of the kidney, thereby indirectly influencing water retention or loss, blood pressure, and blood volume.Marieb Human Anatomy & Physiology 9th edition, chapter:16, page:629, question number:14 When dysregulated, aldosterone is pathogenic and contributes to the development and progression of cardiovascular and kidney disease. Aldosterone has exactly the opposite function of the atrial nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, 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. It is estimated that dietary risk factors are associated with 53% of CVD deaths. Coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease involve atherosclerosis. This may be caused by high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes mellitus, lack of exercise, obesity, high blood cholesterol, poor diet, excessive alcohol consumption, and poor sleep, among other things. High blood pressure is estimated to account for approximately 13% of CVD deaths, while tobacco accounts for 9%, di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Excessive Urination
Frequent urination, or urinary frequency (sometimes called pollakiuria), is the need to urinate more often than usual. Diuretics are medications that increase urinary frequency. Nocturia is the need of frequent urination at night. The most common cause of this condition for women and children is a urinary tract infection. The most common cause of urinary frequency in older men is an enlarged prostate. Frequent urination is strongly associated with frequent incidents of urinary urgency, which is the sudden need to urinate. It is often, though not necessarily, associated with urinary incontinence and polyuria (large total volume of urine). However, in other cases, urinary frequency involves only normal volumes of urine overall. Definition The normal number of times varies according to the age of the person. Among young children, urinating 8 to 14 times each day is typical. This decreases to 6–12 times per day for older children, and to 4–6 times per day among teenagers. Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nocturia
Nocturia is defined by the International Continence Society (ICS) as "the complaint that the individual has to wake at night one or more times for voiding (''i.e., to urinate'')". The term is derived from Latin ''nox'' – "night", and Greek '' �αούρα'' – "urine". Causes are varied and can be difficult to discern. Although not every patient needs treatment, most people seek treatment for severe nocturia, waking up to void more than 2 or 3 times per night. Prevalence Studies have shown that 5–15% of people who are 20–50 years old, 20–30% of people who are 50–70 years old, and 10–50% of people 70+ years old urinate at least twice a night. Nocturia becomes more common with age. More than 50 percent of men and women over the age of 60 have been measured to have nocturia in many communities. Even more over the age of 80 are shown to experience symptoms nightly. Nocturia symptoms also often worsen with age. Contrary to popular belief, nocturia prevalence is about the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paresthesia
Paresthesia is a sensation of the skin that may feel like numbness (''hypoesthesia''), tingling, pricking, chilling, or burning. It can be temporary or Chronic condition, chronic and has many possible underlying causes. Paresthesia is usually painless and can occur anywhere on the body, but most commonly in the arms and legs. The most familiar kind of paresthesia is the sensation known as ''pins and needles'' after having a limb "fall asleep" (''obdormition''). A less common kind is formication, the sensation of insects crawling on the skin. Causes Transient Paresthesias of the hands, feet, legs, and arms are common transient symptoms. The briefest electric shock type of paresthesia can be caused by tweaking the ulnar nerve near the elbow; this phenomenon is colloquially known as bumping one's "funny bone". Similar brief shocks can be experienced when any other nerve is tweaked (e.g. a pinched neck nerve may cause a brief shock-like paresthesia toward the scalp). In the older a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muscle Spasm
A spasm is a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ, such as the bladder. A spasmodic muscle contraction may be caused by many medical conditions, including dystonia. Most commonly, it is a muscle cramp which is accompanied by a sudden burst of pain. A muscle cramp is usually harmless and ceases after a few minutes. It is typically caused by ion imbalance or muscle fatigue. There are other causes of involuntary muscle contractions, and some of these may cause a health problem. A series of spasms, or permanent spasms, is referred to as a "spasmism". Description and causes Spasms occur when the part of the brain that controls movement malfunctions, causing involuntary muscle activity. A spasm may be a muscle contraction caused by abnormal nerve stimulation or by abnormal activity of the muscle itself. Causes The cause of spasms is often unknown, but it can be due to an inherited genetic problem, a side effect of medicatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypokalemia
Hypokalemia is a low level of potassium (K+) in the blood serum. Mild low potassium does not typically cause symptoms. Symptoms may include feeling tired, leg cramps, weakness, and constipation. Low potassium also increases the risk of an abnormal heart rhythm, which is often too slow and can cause cardiac arrest. Causes of hypokalemia include vomiting, diarrhea, medications like furosemide and steroids, dialysis, diabetes insipidus, hyperaldosteronism, hypomagnesemia, and not enough intake in the diet. Normal potassium levels in humans are between 3.5 and 5.0 mmol/L (3.5 and 5.0 mEq/L) with levels below 3.5 mmol/L defined as hypokalemia. It is classified as severe when levels are less than 2.5 mmol/L. Low levels may also be suspected based on an electrocardiogram (ECG). The opposite state is called hyperkalemia that means high level of potassium in the blood serum. The speed at which potassium should be replaced depends on whether or not there are symptom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adenoma
An adenoma is a benign tumor of epithelium, epithelial tissue with glandular origin, glandular characteristics, or both. Adenomas can grow from many glandular organ (anatomy), organs, including the adrenal glands, pituitary gland, thyroid, prostate, and others. Some adenomas grow from epithelial tissue in nonglandular areas but express glandular tissue structure (as can happen in familial polyposis coli). Although adenomas are benign, they should be treated as pre-cancerous. Over time adenomas may malignant transformation, transform to become malignancy, malignant, at which point they are called adenocarcinomas. Most adenomas do not transform. However, even though benign, they have the potential to cause serious health complications by compressing other structures (mass effect (medicine), mass effect) and by producing large amounts of hormones in an unregulated, non-feedback-dependent manner (causing paraneoplastic syndromes). Some adenomas are too small to be seen macroscopically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tumors
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists in growing abnormally, even if the original trigger is removed. This abnormal growth usually forms a mass, which may be called a tumour or tumor.'' ICD-10 classifies neoplasms into four main groups: benign neoplasms, in situ neoplasms, malignant neoplasms, and neoplasms of uncertain or unknown behavior. Malignant neoplasms are also simply known as cancers and are the focus of oncology. Prior to the abnormal growth of tissue, such as neoplasia, cells often undergo an abnormal pattern of growth, such as metaplasia or dysplasia. However, metaplasia or dysplasia does not always progress to neoplasia and can occur in other conditions as well. The word neoplasm is from Ancient Greek 'new' and 'formation, creation'. Types A neoplas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperplasia
Hyperplasia (from ancient Greek ὑπέρ ''huper'' 'over' + πλάσις ''plasis'' 'formation'), or hypergenesis, is an enlargement of an organ or tissue caused by an increase in the amount of Tissue (biology), organic tissue that results from cell proliferation. It may lead to the Gross anatomy, gross enlargement of an organ, and the term is sometimes confused with benign neoplasia or benign tumor. Hyperplasia is a common preneoplastic response to stimulus. Microscopically, cells resemble normal cells but are increased in numbers. Sometimes cells may also be increased in size (hypertrophy). Hyperplasia is different from hypertrophy in that the Cellular adaptation, adaptive cell change in hypertrophy is an increase in the cell size, ''size'' of cells, whereas hyperplasia involves an increase in the ''number'' of cells. Causes Hyperplasia may be due to any number of causes, including proliferation of basal layer of epidermis to compensate skin loss, Chronic inflammation, chr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraneoplastic Syndrome
A paraneoplastic syndrome is a syndrome (a set of signs and symptoms) that is the consequence of a tumor in the body (usually a cancerous one). It is specifically due to the production of chemical signaling molecules (such as hormones or cytokines) by tumor cells or by an immune response against the tumor. Unlike a mass effect, it is not due to the local presence of cancer cells. Paraneoplastic syndromes are typical among middle-aged to older people, and they most commonly occur with cancers of the lung, breast, ovaries or lymphatic system (a lymphoma). Sometimes, the symptoms of paraneoplastic syndromes show before the diagnosis of a malignancy, which has been hypothesized to relate to the disease pathogenesis. In this paradigm, tumor cells express tissue-restricted antigens (e.g., neuronal proteins), triggering an anti-tumor immune response which may be partially or, rarely, completely effective in suppressing tumor growth and symptoms. Patients then come to clinical attention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
