Glossary

Irrritable Heart Dieases

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder that affects your large intestine (colon). Irritable bowel syndrome commonly causes cramping, abdominal pain, bloating gas, diarrhea and constipation. Despite these uncomfortable signs and symptoms, IBS doesn’t cause permanent damage to your colon.

Most people with IBS find that symptoms improve as they learn to control their condition. Only a small number of people with irritable bowel syndrome have disabling signs and symptoms.

Fortunately, unlike more-serious intestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome doesn’t cause inflammation or changes in bowel tissue or increase your risk of colorectal cancer. In many cases, you can control irritable bowel syndrome by managing your diet, lifestyle and stress.

Juvenlie Arthritis

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, also known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis, is the most common type of arthritis in children under the age of 16. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis causes persistent joint pain, swelling and stiffness. Some children may experience symptoms for only a few months, while others have symptoms for the rest of their lives.

Some types of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis can cause serious complications, such as growth problems and eye inflammation. Treatment of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis focuses on controlling pain, improving function and preventing joint damage.

Juvenlie Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes in children is a condition in which your child’s pancreas no longer produces the insulin your child needs to survive, and you’ll need to replace the missing insulin. Type 1 diabetes in children used to be known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes.

The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in children can be overwhelming at first. Suddenly, you and your child – depending on his or her age – must learn how to give injections, count carbohydrates and monitor blood sugar.

Although type 1 diabetes in children requires consistent care, advances in blood sugar monitoring and insulin delivery have improved the daily management of type 1 diabetes in children.

Kawasaki Syndrome

Kawasaki disease is a condition that causes inflammation in the walls of small- and medium-sized arteries throughout the body, including the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle. Kawasaki disease is also called mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome because it also affects lymph nodes, skin, and the mucous membranes inside the mouth, nose and throat.

Signs of Kawasaki disease, such as a high fever and peeling skin, can be frightening. The good news is that Kawasaki disease is usually treatable, and most children recover from Kawasaki disease without serious problems.

Kidney Diseases/Failure

Chronic kidney failure, also called chronic kidney disease, describes the gradual loss of kidney function. Your kidneys filter wastes and excess fluids from your blood, which are then excreted in your urine. When chronic kidney failure reaches an advanced stage, dangerous levels of fluid, electrolytes and wastes can accumulate in your body.

In the early stages of chronic kidney failure, you may have few signs or symptoms. Chronic kidney failure may not become apparent until your kidney function is significantly impaired.

Treatment for chronic kidney failure focuses on slowing the progression of the kidney damage, usually by controlling the underlying cause. Chronic kidney failure can progress to end-stage kidney disease, which is fatal without artificial filtering (dialysis) or a kidney transplant.

Knee Joint Osteo-Arthritis

Knee Joint Osteo-Arthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people around the world. Often called wear-and-tear arthritis, osteoarthritis occurs when the protective cartilage on the ends of your bones wears down over time.

While Osteo-Arthritis can damage any joint in your body, the disorder most commonly affects joints in your hands, neck, lower back, knees and hips. Osteo-Arthritis gradually worsens with time, and no cure exists. But Osteo-Arthritis treatments can slow the progression of the disease, relieve pain and improve joint function.

Leukemia

Leukemia is cancer of the body’s blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system. Many types of leukemia exist. Some forms of leukemia are more common in children. Other forms of leukemia occur mostly in adults.

Leukemia usually starts in the white blood cells. Your white blood cells are potent infection fighters – they normally grow and divide in an orderly way, as your body needs them. But in people with leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells, which don’t function properly.

Treatment for leukemia can be complex – depending on the type of leukemia and other factors. But there are strategies and resources that can help to make your treatment successful.

Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis

Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis is an inflammation of your blood vessels. Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis causes changes in the walls of your blood vessels, including thickening, weakening, narrowing and scarring.

There are many types of vasculitis. Some forms last only a short time (acute) while others are long lasting (chronic). Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis, which is also known as angiitis and arteritis, can be so severe that the tissues and organs supplied by the affected vessels don’t get enough blood. This shortage of blood can result in organ and tissue damage, even death.

Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis can affect anyone, though some types of leukocytoclastic vasculitis are more common among certain groups. Some forms of leukocytoclastic vasculitis improve on their own, but others require treatment — often including taking medications for an extended period of time.

Lichen Planus

Lichen planus (LIE-kun PLAY-nus) is an inflammatory condition that can affect your skin and mucous membranes.

On the skin, lichen planus usually appears as purplish, often itchy, flat-topped bumps. When mucous membranes are affected – such as tissues inside the mouth or vagina – lichen planus appears as lacy white patches or sores that can be painful.

Lichen planus can’t be passed from one person to another. The disorder occurs when the immune system mounts an attack against cells of the skin or mucous membranes. The reason for this abnormal immune response is unknown.

Mild cases of lichen planus may need relatively simple at-home care or no treatment. When symptoms are severe, such as pain or significant itching, treatments may include drugs that suppress the immune system abnormalities.

Lichen Sclerosus

Lichen sclerosus (LIE-kun skluh-ROW-sus) is an uncommon condition that creates patchy, white skin that’s thinner than normal. Lichen sclerosus may affect skin on any part of your body, but most often involves skin of the vulva, foreskin of the penis or skin around the anus.

Anyone can get lichen sclerosus, but postmenopausal women are at highest risk. Left untreated, lichen sclerosus may lead to other complications. You may not need treatment because sometimes lichen sclerosus improves on its own. If you do need treatment, your doctor can suggest options to return a more normal appearance to your skin and decrease the tendency for scarring.

Ligneous Conjunctivitis

Ligneous Conjunctivitis is a rare form of chronic conjunctivitis characterized by recurrent, fibrin-rich pseudomembranous lesions of wood-like consistency that develop mainly on the underside of the eyelid (tarsal conjunctiva). It is generally a systemic disease which may involve the periodontal tissue, the upper and lower respiratory tract, kidneys, middle ear, and female genitalia. It can be sight-threatening, and death can occasionally occur from pulmonary involvement.

Linear IgA Disease

Two cases of adult linear IgA disease (LAD) with oral and colonic involvement are presented. Oral findings, for both patients, were of widespread painful ulceration present for two to three months and diagnosis was confirmed by biopsy and direct immunofluorescence. Colonic symptoms preceded oral symptoms in both cases and a number of investigations were undertaken, including routine histological examination, which suggested either lymphocytic colitis or Crohn’s disease. Immunofluorescence studies showed linear IgA deposition confined to the distal colon. These cases highlight that large bowel involvement can be a feature of linear IgA disease and for the first time demonstrate IgA deposition at that site.

Lupus (SLE)

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. Inflammation caused by lupus can affect many different body systems – including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.

Lupus can be difficult to diagnose because its signs and symptoms often mimic those of other ailments. The most distinctive sign of lupus – a facial rash that resembles the wings of a butterfly unfolding across both cheeks – occurs in many but not all cases of lupus.

Some people are born with a tendency toward developing lupus, which may be triggered by infections, certain drugs or even sunlight. While there’s no cure for lupus, treatments can help control symptoms.

Lyme Diseases

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in North America and Europe. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Deer ticks, which feed on the blood of animals and humans, can harbor the bacteria and spread it when feeding.

You’re more likely to get Lyme disease if you live or spend time in grassy and heavily wooded areas where ticks carrying the disease thrive. It’s important to take common-sense precautions in areas where Lyme disease is prevalent.

If you’re treated with appropriate antibiotics in the early stages of the disease, you’re likely to recover completely. In later stages, response to treatment may be slower, but the majority of people with Lyme disease recover completely with appropriate treatment.

Major Depressive Illness

Depression is a medical illness that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depression can cause physical symptoms, too.

Also called major depression, major depressive disorder and clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave. Depression can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and depression may make you feel as if life isn’t worth living.

More than just a bout of the blues, depression isn’t a weakness, nor is it something that you can simply “snap out” of. Depression is a chronic illness that usually requires long-term treatment, like diabetes or high blood pressure. But don’t get discouraged. Most people with depression feel better with medication, psychological counseling or other treatment.