Health Information

How to study fungi and protozoa under a microscope?

Both are only slightly larger than bacteria and can be identified using a microscope. Oral candidiasis or thrush is caused by a fungus (yeast) class of yeast. Candida infections in the mouth or genitals can be identified using samples from these locations.

The protozoa can be found in stool samples in corneal swabs, genital exudates, blood, etc.. Can cause various diseases, including: sexually transmitted infections (trichomonas), malaria (Plasmodium), babesiosis (Babesia) button east (Leishmania), amoebic dysentery (amoebic), intestinal infections (Giardia, etc.). His study under the microscope, like the fungi, is similar to the bacteria.

Parasites such as worms, can often be identified by observing their eggs or adult forms in the stool. (more…)

How is microscopy study of the bacteria?

Samples containing bacteria are spread on a glass plate called “slide”, dried and then fixed (usually heating), so as not to dislodge and to preserve their morphology.

Then the sample is usually dyed. For this there are many procedures, but the most used is called “Gram stain”. This system allows us to better appreciate the shape of the bacteria (cocci are spherical, elongated bacilli, etc.). And allows us to divide them into two groups according to the adopted color: gram-positive and gram negative bacteria.

Sometimes the samples had “fresh”, ie directly without fixing or staining. This way you can see the characteristic movement with some bacteria.

Some of the important bacteria that cause infection are: (more…)

How is the crop?

The sample is sent to the microbiology laboratory for study, and until it is processed, will seek to be altered as little as possible. Therefore be transported and kept in appropriate conditions (eg temperature and oxygen content in it).

Once in the laboratory, the process usually begins by the “seeding”. This extends the sample on a glass or plastic plate (Petri dish) containing a gel (agar) to which were added substances needed by bacteria to grow. We call this “medium”. Sometimes added other kinds of substances, for example, to prevent the growth of other bacteria that could contaminate the crop.

Planting can be done in other types of culture media, such as gel glass tubes, flasks with liquid nutrient for microorganisms, and so on. (more…)

Normally, the skin of our body is colonized by different species of microorganisms. Among them, prominently, there are different types of bacteria.

Also, the mucous membranes (mouth, pharynx, nostrils, genital mucosa, etc.). And digestive tract (especially in its final part, which is the large intestine) are also living places a variety of species bacteria.

Many of these bacteria are harmless and usually incapable of causing infection. They are even beneficial because they prevent the proliferation of other pathogenic or because they produce substances (vitamins, for example) that our body needs. (more…)

Bacteria

They are unicellular organisms (consisting of a single cell) very small (at most a few thousandths of a millimeter in length). In general they are able to develop independently in the environment in which they live. They are prokaryotes, since its core is not differentiated and are usually covered with a thick cell wall.

Mycoplasmas and other organisms of the class mollicutes

A type of bacteria lacking cell walls, making them difficult to see under a microscope and also difficult to cultivate. They are the smallest known organisms capable of living independently.

Chlamydiae and rickettsiae

Chlamydia and Rickettsia bacteria are very small, they can only live within other cells. (more…)

Diarrhoea is a health condition related to the abnormal way of bowel movements. The stool is usually in the watery form, and most often there is an urgency to go to the toilet because of the upset of the stomach. This condition can be caused by improper intake of food, usually those that are not properly cooked or already been contaminated.

Usually it will take you about two days to recover, and some people might even experience it for a week. However, if the symptoms do prolong it is better if you get a proper diagnose because your condition might be caused by something else.

Before you take any medications to treat diarrhoea, it is recommended that you allow the process of bowel movements to go on for at least twenty hours. This is especially important if the cause of the illness is caused by bacteria. Delaying the intake of medication is done to allow the bacteria to be ridded off the natural way. Additionally, if you try treating your condition with medication and it happens that the cause is bacteria, you can actually increase the symptoms and not curing them.

If your symptoms do occur after twenty four hours, then you need to find suitable medication to treat your condition. Taking Imodium can effectively stop diarrhoea. Make sure you drink a lot of water during the process of treatment so that your body won’t experience dehydration.

Liver cirrhosis may be “balanced” or “decompensated.”

Treatment of compensated cirrhosis

The compensation is the absence of complications: bleeding from ruptured varices (veins dilatations) in the esophagus or stomach, ascites (accumulation of fluid in the abdomen), jaundice and encephalopathy (confusion, behavioral disorders, decreased level of consciousness and even coma). Compensated cirrhosis treated with alcohol withdrawal and proper nutritional support, as explained above.

Treatment of decompensated cirrhosis

Patients with decompensated cirrhosis may require specific treatment to combat the various complications of the disease:

Varices bleeding: bleeding from ruptured esophageal varices is one of the most serious complications that can occur in a cirrhotic with a short-term mortality of 30%. (more…)

- Treatment of ALD depends on the stage of the disease is.

- Fatty liver or minimal changes

- Alcohol withdrawal and proper nutrition, avoiding obesity. (more…)

What other diseases should be ruled?

The research cited above allow the exclusion as a cause of the disorders the following conditions:

- Virus liver disease, especially hepatitis B and C.

- Hemochromatosis, a hereditary disorder of iron metabolism that accumulate in the liver and other organs and injured.

- Wilson’s disease, a hereditary disorder of copper metabolism, which accumulates in the liver and brain.

- Autoimmune hepatitis, a liver disease caused by the immune system attack the individual. (more…)

How is it diagnosed?

Given a history of excessive alcohol consumption, can cause liver damage, diagnostic tests can detect it and establish its severity.

The information provided by the blood test is only approximate and does not allow an accurate forecast. There are other more specific tests to confirm diagnosis and establish the severity:

(Ultrasound imaging test) to visualize the liver and other abdominal organs and serves to identify the region most suitable for liver biopsy (sampling tissue for examination under a microscope). In addition, ultrasound provides data on the severity of disease and exclude other common causes of deterioration of the LFTs as gallstones. (more…)