Heart attacks occur when heart muscles do not receive enough oxygen rich blood and therefore start to die. This can happen for a variety of reasons, but usually occurs when a blood clot forms in one of the blood vessels leading to the heart. If this clot gets large enough it can block the blood supply to the organ.

When an individual suffers a heart attack, the symptoms can include a plethora of conditions. These include coughing, chest pain ranging from a mild discomfort to a crushing pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, ashen colored face (a gray appearance), nausea, vomiting and clammy and sweaty. Pain is usually felt in the chest initially, but can then spread to the arms, wrist, neck, jaw and ears. Less common is pain in the shoulder blades, the abdomen and the back.

Some of the main causes of heart attacks include age (this is thought to be the largest contributing factor, and men over 45 and women over 55 years of age see their risk rise dramatically); angina; high cholesterol levels; diabetes; diet; genetic makeup (hereditary); blood pressure; heart surgery; obesity; physical inactivity; and smoking.

Heart Attack

The quicker a heart attack victim is treated, the more successful their treatment tends to be. Some treatments that can be administered during a heart attack are CPR, manual chest compression, use of a defibrillator, a 300mg dose of aspirin, and sometimes, morphine.

People with personality disorders may have conditions such as not being able to live with others, not being able to maintain relationships with other people, finding it difficult to control emotions or upsetting other people when distressed.

Causes of personality disorders can include genetic makeup, mental or emotional state or brain problems. There are three types of personality disorder: suspicious, emotional and impulsive, and anxious.

Suspicious personality disorders are where the sufferer is often paranoid of other people, and finds it difficult to interact with others, preferring their own company instead.  The person with a suspicious personality disorder is often seen by others as strange or peculiar.

Emotional and impulsive personality disorders are where the sufferer is indifferent to other people’s feelings and can be quite aggressive.  They often find it difficult to control emotions and will do this spontaneously without thinking about the consequences.  Sufferers will also self harm if they feel really bad about themselves.

Anxious personality disorders are where the sufferer worries about everything.  They are very indecisive and worry constantly about doing the wrong thing.  Anxious sufferers are overly sensitive to criticism and can often feel worthless or incompetent.

There are therapies which can help such as psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.  There is also medication available to help with the different groups of personality disorders.  Antipsychotic drugs can help those in the suspicious group while antidepressants can help to relieve the symptoms of those in the emotional group.  There are also some antidepressants which have been shown to help those in the anxious group such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).

Personality Disorders

Tuberculosis is a condition which primarily affects the lungs.  The bacteria which cause tuberculosis are slow moving bacteria and a person who has been infected might not have any symptoms for months or years afterwards.  The infection can spread to other parts of the body such as the nervous system or the bones.  Symptoms of tuberculosis include a cough that won’t go away, night sweats and weight loss but most of the time the immune system will kill off the bacteria and there will be no symptoms.  Sometimes, if the immune system cannot kill the bacteria it will build up a defense to the infection and it will stay in the body but no symptoms will be experienced, however, sometimes the body just cannot fight the bacteria and the infection spreads to the lungs and becomes known as active tuberculosis.  It can happen that in cases where the infection has lain dormant in the body in can become active at a later date.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis was a major disease many years ago and resulted in many deaths, but the introduction of antibiotics and vaccinations helped to reduce this.  In recent years though, tuberculosis cases have been increasing again, especially in ethnic minorities who have come from areas where tuberculosis is still widespread. Areas where the disease is widespread include countries of Africa south of the Sahara desert, Eastern Europe, Central America, South East Asia, and Russia.

If tuberculosis is not treated it can be deadly as it can result in the person not being able to breath properly. Treatment with antibiotics for tuberculosis usually involves taking a course for at least six months.