Health Information Snippets
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What is meningitis?

Meningitis is specifically an inflammation of the meninges – which are the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can be caused by viruses or bacteria and less commonly something like a fungal infection. The problem that you have is that a lot of the bugs that do cause meningitis in some are pretty common and are often associated with everyday illnesses. Although there are some culprits that do crop up on most occasions, others are just your everyday enteroviruses (stomach ‘flu bugs’). So in general most doctors when they suspect a patient of having meningitis will want to know (and will conduct tests to find out) whether the patient has bacterial meningitis or viral meningitis.

Viral meningitis symptoms

Viral meningitis more common and tends to be far less serious than bacterial meningitis. The symptoms of viral meningitis often mimics the flu and therefore a lot of the times it remains undiagnosed. Due to the link to particular viral agents eg enteroviruses (your stomach bugs), doctors will tend to see more cases in the warmer months of summer and fall. It used to be the mumps virus which was the main virus causing meningitis but now with the advent of MMR vaccinations, the number of cases has dropped dramatically.

Symptoms may include :

• usually starts off with a cold and runny nose
• diarrhea
• vomiting
• fever
• lethargy
• irritability
• headache
• stiff neck
• avoiding the light – photophobia
• seizures
• rash – petechiae – little spots or larger bruising spots

Bacterial meningitis symptoms

Bacterial meningitis is often a lot more severe than viral meningitis and can be potentially life threatening. These are the cases you often see highlighted in current affair shows where the patient ends up with neurological deficits if prompt treatment wasn’t given. The se neurological problems include hearing loss, visual problems, seizures, and learning disabilities. Other organs like the heart, kidneys, and adrenal glands may also be affected. Prompt diagnosis and treatment is the key to have the disease resolve with no long term complications.

Bacterial meningitis symptoms are similar to that mentioned above in the list under viral meningitis although most bacterial meningitis cases, the fever does tend to be higher and the patient more ‘ill’.

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Pneumonia – what is it

Put simply, it’s an infection involving the lungs. Sometimes it’s referred to as bronchopneumonia (involving the bronchi or bronchioles – which are the larger airways in the lungs) or pneumonitis (inflammation of the lungs).

Pneumonia symptoms

Okay it’s going to be hard to miss. Most people with pneumonia have the following symptoms :

• severe coughing – often productive and pus like secretions with the cough
• chest pains
• breathing difficulties – often increased rate of breathing
• wheezing
• fatigue from usual everyday activity and feeling breathless with minor activity (short of breath)
• fever with cold chills

These symptoms are often difficult to pick in young infants or children but any child that has a persistent cough and a fever that lasts for more than 48 hours should be checked by a doctor. Young children have smaller airways which tend to clog up with mucus and also constrict more readily which can result in wheeziness and an increased risk in developing complications from cold/flu/pneumococcus virus. It’s often best to try to catch the illness early BEFORE it develops into pneumonia and treat it before it gets any worse.

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Multiple sclerosis – what is it?

In short, multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammation of the central nervous system ie your brain and spinal cord. Nervous tissue is divided into grey matter or white matter. Multiple sclerosis affects the white matter. People with multiple sclerosis develop plaques (patches) on the white matter (this is where myelin – the conductive sheath surrounding the nerves is damaged or lost) and this affects the conductivity of signals passing through the spine and brain. So symptoms of multiple sclerosis will vary between people if only because if different parts of your nervous system is affected, then different parts of your body will be affected. This is why multiple sclerosis is often very hard to diagnose and pick up.

Multiple sclerosis symptoms – general

Sufferers can experience one or more of the following :

• numbness
• tingling
• pins and needles
• muscle spasms
• vision problems
• speech problems
• urinary control problems
• sexual disfunction
• breathing problems
• coordination and balance problems
• intense fatigue
• depression

MS symptoms vary in severity between individuals, note that it’s a progressive disease and not something that you can ‘stop’. Some people will end up in wheelchairs, others only get such mild symptoms that they never even get diagnosed till at post mortem.

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What’s an allergy?

We’ve heard it bantered around but what is an allergy? Is it any different from an intolerance? ie When someone says ‘I have a dairy allergy’, is it any different from someone with ‘lactose intolerance’?

Allergies develop as the body’s immune system reacts to different proteins we are exposed to (whether it’s via inhaling them, ingesting them, touching them or being exposed to them inadvertently eg via a bee sting). The triggers (these proteins) are called allergens. What happens in an allergic reaction is that the body reacts to these allergens as potential ‘threats’ and therefore unleashes antibodies (principally IgE – immunoglobulin E) in an attempt to counter them. It’s believed that allergic reactions in the past were reserved primarily for parasitic infections eg like worms, protozoa. However, in our increasingly ‘clean’ society where we’ve pretty much eradicated worms and the like from our system, scientists believe that we’ve therefore rendered that part of the immune system ‘unemployed’ and in so doing it’s started to pick out other protein elements to ‘attack’. Children living in rural communities have a much lower incidence of food and dust allergies – living in less ‘hygienic’ environments seem to be ‘good’. Whilst it’s not as simple as that, it is a likely explanation as to why children and adults living in urban city environments seem more likely to be allergic to something in some form or another. The hypothesis is that if you give the immune system something else to worry about (ie worms, bacteria, protozoa), then it’s less likely to pick on something like a food item or dust mites instead.

Allergy symptoms

Allergy symptoms can be seasonal – if you’re allergic to grass pollens then the symptoms will appear to subside in the cooler months only to be full blown unbearable in the warmer months.

• Sneezing and runny nose
• Runny and itching eyes
• Wheezing, chest tightness and difficulty breathing (asthma type reaction)
• Headaches
• Skin rash, hives, welts (urticaria)
• Swelling
• Difficulty swallowing
• Feeling faint
• Sneezing
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

Allergy symptoms vary depending on the type of allergic reaction it is – food allergies would result in the vomiting, diarrhea (not always but it is common) which can extend to full blown anaphylactic reactions where the body pretty much shuts down (severe drop in blood pressure), difficulty breathing as the throat swells so much that you can’t breathe, wheezing. Adrenaline is usually administered in these instances and the patient is rushed to hospital.

See other medical symptoms.

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Yeast infections – candidiasis

Yeast infections commonly afflict men, women and children alike. You would hear it spoken of as ‘thrush’. Yeast infections are the result of Candida albicans and the medical symptoms of the disease varies with the site of infection and the individual.

Yeast infection symptoms in women

Vaginal thrush is the most common yeast infection in women, typically women with yeast infections will have :

• a white cheesy discharge from the vagina
• itching around the vagina
• irritation in the vaginal area
• pain during sexual intercourse
• a burning sensation when urinating

Yeast infection symptoms in adults and children (primarily infants)

1. Oral thrush is the one of the ways yeast infection can manifest itself. Often what women will find is that if their breast feeding child has oral thrush, they may find that their nipples may get a dose of it too and they may require treatment as well. Symptoms of oral thrush include :
   • white patches on the tongue and mouth area – a lot of people think that it looks like milk curds but unlike milk curds these cannot be wiped off. If you try to wipe these patches off, the underlying area will start to bleed and painful oral lesions will take their place.
   • irritability and food refusal (more likely in infants and children as their mouth becomes too sore for them to want to eat or drink) – care should be taken to ensure that they receive adequate fluids and soft foods in the meantime to prevent dehydration.
2. Yeast infection in the nappy area or skin folds – typically occuring when the area remains moist for long periods of time eg in nappy rash – these appear as flat red rash spots which cause pain and discomfort. If your baby has these spots or a bright red nappy rash then it’s time to visit your doctor.

Yeast infection symptoms in people with depressed immunity

People with HIV or on immune suppressive drugs often will get yeast infections in their internal organs including the gut resulting in painful ulcers. Dehydration and poor food absorption is common in these circumstances. Candida in some cases can spread via the blood stream into your brain resulting in behavioral changes and other nervous system signs (this isn’t common in people with a healthy immune system but can happen with people who have a depressed immune system).

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