What is allergen immunotherapy? Allergy immunotherapy involves exposing a person to various allergens over the course of years to sensitize them to the substance, reducing the autoimmune reaction that causes allergic symptoms. Ideally, immune therapy reduces dependence on allergy medication. Allergen immunotherapy is a treatment procedure for preventing/reducing allergic reactions to specific allergens. Immunotherapy reduces …
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How Does a Person Get Hepatitis?
How does a person get hepatitis? There are many different ways in which a person can get hepatitis, including sexual contact, blood transfusion, sharing needles, and more. A person can get hepatitis A through the following sources: Food or water contaminated with the fecal matter of an infected person Sexual contact (rare) A person can get hepatitis B in many …
Read More »How Long Can You Live With Liver Cancer?
How long can you live with liver cancer? The overall survival rate of liver cancer patients is low and a five-year survival rate for all stages of liver cancer is only 15%, but it can vary depending on how far the cancer has spread. Survival of cancer patients depends on the stage of cancer. The overall survival rate of liver …
Read More »How Can Immunotherapy Be Used in Pediatric Cancer?
What is the immune system? Immune therapy in cancer treatement involves stimulating the body's own immune system to attack cancer cells. This approach can be preferable in children with cancer who are less able to tolerate severe side effects of some chemotherapy and radiation regimens. The immune system is a network of cells and proteins that protects the body from …
Read More »What Are Immunosuppressive Drugs?
What is immunosuppression? Immunosupression may be caused by illness or it can be induced therapeutically. Drugs are used to suppress the immune system in organ transplant patients to keep their bodies from rejecting the new organ. Immunosuppression compromises the immune system’s ability to fight infection. A healthy immune system protects the body by detecting and destroying harmful microbes and/or body …
Read More »What Does a Shingles Rash Look Like at First?
If patients have had a history of chickenpox, the risk of reactivation of the chickenpox virus as shingles includes physical or emotional stress, age over 50 years, and others. The typical shingles red rash or blisters occur after pain, itching, and tingling. They are usually limited to one side of the face and body. Shingles on the face, scalp, mouth, …
Read More »How Serious Is Crohn’s Disease?
What is Crohn’s disease? Crohn’s disease in and of itself is not usually life-threatening, although it can cause serious or fatal complications, which include bowel obstruction, fistulas, anal fissures, and others. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that causes inflammation in the gut (the digestive tract) and belongs to a group of conditions known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). …
Read More »How Long Is Shingles Contagious?
Shingles result from the activation of the chickenpox virus already present, but inactive (dormant), in nerve tissues. The virus remains dormant in spinal nerves usually after the person has had chickenpox as a child. The varicella-zoster virus that causes shingles can spread to others causing chickenpox in patients who have not had it in the past. It is not possible …
Read More »What Are the Five Types of Crohn’s Disease?
What is Crohn’s disease? Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease with five types, classified based in symptoms and the general location of the inflammation in the intestine. Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition that causes inflammation in the digestive tract. It belongs to a group of conditions known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It can affect any part of …
Read More »How Can You Detect Breast Cancer Early?
What is breast cancer? Detecting breast cancer early can drastically improve treatment success. Regular checkups, self exams and mammograms as recommended by your doctor can help detect breast cancer early. Breast cancer develops from the cells of the breasts and can spread to other parts of the body (metastasis). It is one of the most common cancers diagnosed in women …
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