Beethoven’s Fifth Disease

Shout out to Laura, the impetus for the post.

When Laura queried me about Fifth disease, and if I had ever heard of it, I was baffled. Fifth disease? Is there a First, Second, Third, Fourth illness too?

Bad joke aside, Laura told me what she knew about the disease; it make children flush persistently, like they had been slapped. Basically, it sounded unappealing, but what sickness is?

Fifth disease is the only human parvovirus, Parvovirus B19. If you put “parvovirus” into Google, you get a lot of dog-related pages. But you can’t catch Fifth disease from your dog or cat or other animal pal. Parvoviruses are some of the teeniest viruses out there, topping out the yardstick at a whopping 20 to 25 nanometers. For my biomedical pals, they’re single stranded in the DNA department and fond of making hairpins.

The disease primarily affects children, and children are the most contagious even before they exhibit the trademark scarlet face. It sounds much like a cold; it’s spread in the same way, and other symptoms in kids can include fever and tiredness, along with a sometimes itchy rash on the body. Adults have it rough though because they will get joint pain. Usually the illness goes away on its own, lasting from about four to fourteen days. During this time, affected individuals should stay away from pregnant ladies due to possible anemia in the offspring and possible miscarriage. Some lucky people are immune or show no symptoms. Nice.

But what I really really want to know about fifth, AKA erythema infectiosum, is why is it called that?

Answer: in ye olden days, wee ones were plagued by five different skin rashes.

1. Rubeola (measles)
2. Varicella (chicken pox)
3. Rubella (German measles)
4. Roseola (controversy! also called sixth disease?)
5. Parvovirus B19

Fun lab fact: the parvovirus is named B19 because of how the lab researcher labeled plates!

References

• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/fifth_disease/article_em.htm
• http://www.fifthdisease.org/
• http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/parvo/2000/parvovirus.html
• http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/parvo_b19.htm
• http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/respiratory/B19&preg.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parvovirus_B19

He’s lost control

Recently I watched the movie Control which is based on the life of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis. Noted music video helmer Anton Corbijn directed the film; he also did the stylish vids for “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers and Coldplay’s “Talk.” Frontman Curtis was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 22. Somehow I thought epilepsy was a disease that you had for life and was diagnosed when you were a child. That is not the case. I did learn in a class that epilepsy isn’t just defined by tonic-clonic (aka grand mal) seizures.

Seizures are caused by altered neuron activity and can be caused by things such as illnesses or brain damage. There are an amazing 30 different kinds of seizures, classified into the focal and general categories. With focal seizures, there is faulty brain activity at one part of the brain, resulting in symptoms such as sudden feelings and sensations or even a loss of consciousness. This was shown in the movie, when Ian is in high school and is asked a question by his chem teacher, but he has zoned out completely while staring at a structure drawn on the chalkboard. With general seizures, these are characterized oftentimes by the well-known twitching and jerking muscle movements. But having a seizure doesn’t automatically mean you are an epileptic. A person of any age can become affected by epilepsy, with more cases diagnosed in the under 10 set and the after 55 gang, and about 0.5 to 2% of the populace has this neurological disorder.

It was unfortunate that Mr. Curtis did not have access to the therapeutic possibilities of this day and age. Epilepsy cannot be cured but can be kept under control. Other famous individuals thought to have epilepsy include Socrates, Napoleon, Dostoevsky, and Alfred Nobel. Who knows, maybe if Ian had access to today’s medicine, he and Joy Division might still be making moody post-punk right now as you are reading this.

P.S. If you are curious about Joy Division, a nice companion documentary to the compelling Control is the not-so-creatively-named Joy Division.

Resources

• http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/epilepsy/detail_epilepsy.htm
• http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/statistics.cfm
• http://www.epilepsy.com/101/ep101_who

Start spreading the news

Lily was leery of catching my cold, and I wondered how long a person with a cold would be infectious.  I had heard something about how the first few days were the most germy, but what about later?

Okay, if you have a cold but have yet physical symptoms to show for it, you are still capable of transmitting the virus to others one to two days before your throat starts hurting, aches and pains pop up, the sniffles show.  That’s scary.  Two to four days after the initial exposure are when colds are most transmittable.  Apparently you can still spread colds up to three days after your cold is kaput.  That’s also scary.  Those sneaky upper respiratory infections. 

References

• http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0533.html
• http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/health/15real.html

The mysterious case of phantom jumping ouchness

J asks:  Sometimes I get a sharp pain in my pinky or thumb, it usually then jumps to my elbow or back/neck area, then goes away. Why should that be? Is there one long nerve that’s being activated? Why does it think there’s pain in two relatively distant places? Is there a reason I get the random finger pain in the first place?

I’m not a neurologist (darn it, I used to have access to neurologists!) but I wanted to try and shed some light on possible causes.

The nervous system is quite vast and complex.  It consists of nerves throughout the entire body that feed into the spinal cord which connects to the big bad brain.  Nerves are a bit like water systems in that creeks (teensy nerves) can feed into bigger streams (moderately-sized nerves) which feed into rivers (jumbo nerves).

The neuropathic pain being described here seems to be affecting the ulnar nerve aka “funny bone.”  Maybe caused by repetitive stress?  I know you are more than likely doing a lot of manual writing and typing.  The ulnar nerve innervates the pinky and half of the ring finger, and the median nerve innervates the other half of the ring finger and the rest of the digits. These nerves run the length of the arm and link up with the brachial plexus, a collection of nerves around the upper chest.  Could be carpal tunnel or cubital tunnel syndrome? 

From the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons on carpal tunnel (kinda sounds like what you’re describing):

Symptoms usually begin gradually, without a specific injury.

• Numbness, tingling, and pain in the hand are common.
• An electric-like shocking feeling in the fingers or hand.

The thumb side of the hand is usually most involved.

Symptoms may occur at any time. Symptoms at night are common and may awaken you from sleep. During the day, symptoms frequently occur when holding something, like a phone, or when reading or driving. Moving or shaking the hands often helps decrease symptoms.

Sometimes strange sensations and pain will travel up the arm toward the shoulder. Symptoms initially come and go, but over time they may become constant. A feeling of clumsiness or weakness can make delicate motions, like buttoning buttons, difficult.

One of the chief difficulties in pain treatment and management is the fact that pain is so difficult to describe.  Each person experiences pain differently, very subjective.  So many adjectives can be used to flesh out pain: sharp, tingling, mild, and so on and so forth. Good luck and hope the jumping pain stops bothering you! 

References

• http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00005
• http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00025
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_nerve
• http://www.assh.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PatientsPublic/HandConditions/CarpalTunnelSyndrome/Carpal_Tunnel_Syndr.htm

Salmonella ella ella, eh eh eh

It is wrong to secretly love “Umbrella” by Rihanna?  If it is, I surely do not want to be right.  Maybe it’s the presence of the brilliance known as Jay-Z that makes the ditty so catchy.  Yeah, I know I’m so last summer.

 

A few weeks I bought a tomato and was told by my pops that there was a small outbreak of salmonella.  Being the hypochondriac that I am, I freaked out for a second, but then realized that I had little to worry about.  I did buy the red fruitvegetetable at a farmer’s market and we all know that farmer’s markets are magical venues of pure health and goodness.

 

Then I said, “Self, I don’t know exactly what salmonella is.  How about I enlighten myself?”

“Very wise!” I replied.

So far, tomatoes, basil, and jalapeños have been linked to the bacteria.  Why not cilantro?  We don’t need no cilantro.

 

Technically, Salmonella are the bacteria which causes salmonellosis, and the strains S. typhimurium and S. enteritidis are the most common in the United States.  These buggers are transmitted via foodstuffs, primarily raw meat and poultry but also by produce.  And by reptiles.  Symptoms can last up to a week and include diarrhea, pains in the abdominal area, fever, and headache, with other signs being nausea and vomiting and appetite loss.  Most healthy folks with recover without special medical treatment. 

 

Advice

• Wash your hands before and after you handle food
• Scrub down kitchen goods used to prepare your yummy meals that were thoroughly cooked
• Soap up your paws following pet lizard time  
• Don’t be all Rocky Balboa and chug raw eggs

References

http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/healthscience/healthtopics/salmonellosis/Overview.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/salmonellosis_gi.html

 

Whooping cough is a zombie! An old terror returns from the grave

Whooping cough, or if you please, pertussis, is back with a vengeance. To most of us, whooping cough was nothing to fear, one of those diseases from the old days just like polio, read about but not experienced.

Well, no more.

Pesky little bacteria called Bordetella pertussis are responsible for the disease. Even though colds are caused by viruses and therefore cannot be cured, whooping cough shares similarities with the old common cold. It is highly contagious and primarily strikes children, especially those who haven’t been vaccinated. Also, whooping cough spreads through direct contact, much like with those colds. Symptoms are milder in adults and teens.

But what is whoop?
Instead of ending like a regular cough with the inhale, there is a whoopee cushion-like noise at the tail end.

This is nothing to sneeze at. Those with whooping cough endure persistent fits of coughing and vomiting, and complications like pneumonia and seizures may result. If that isn’t enough, death can occur, with 13 children in the United States passing away in 2003. Annually, 5000 to 7000 cases are reported each year in the United States.

Lasting several weeks, whooping cough can be treated by antibiotics. Prevention is key…get vaccinated!

References
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/pertussis_t.htm
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2005/305_cough.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001561.htm