Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Congenital heart block
Congenital heart block occurs when there is an interference with the normal conduction of electrical impulses that control the heart muscle, particularly between the upper and lower heart chambers. Varying degrees of this condition exist: In first-degree heart block, the contractions of the lower chambers (ventricles) lag slightly behind the two upper chambers of the…
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Hearing impairment
Hearing impaired is a term used to describe individuals who have a significant hearing loss. Hearing loss can be classified into four types: conductive, sensorineural, mixed, or central. Sensorineural loss, or nerve deafness, is the most common hearing impairment (Better Hearing Institute, 1999). Hearing impairment can also be defined by severity of loss. A decibel…
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Hay-wells syndrome of ectrodermal dysplasia
Hay-Wells syndrome (H-WS) is a disorder of ectodermal dysplasia (malformation of skin, hair, nails, and teeth) in association with cleft lip, cleft palate, or both, and string-like, fibrous band between the upper and lower eyelids (ankyloblepharon). H-WS is a congenital, hereditary condition with the previously listed abnormalities present at birth.
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Hand-foot-mouth disease
Hand-foot-mouth disease is a childhood illness caused by various members of the enterovirus family. The most common cause is Coxsackie A16. Other common causes include other strains of Coxsackie A and enterovirus 71 (Ministry of Health, 2000). The virus is commonly recognized by a blister-like rash that appears most commonly on the hands, feet, and…
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Hallucinogen abuse
Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, cause the distortion of a person’s senses, emotions, perceptions, thinking, and self-awareness. These distortions are known as hallucinations. For example, vision can be perceived as sound, and smell can be perceived as vision. Pseudohallucinations are also possible; in these, the user knows that the perceptions are not reality and are…
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Hallermann-streiff syndrome
Hallermann-Streiff syndrome is a rare inherited disorder affecting an equal number of males and females. More than 150 cases have been reported in the medical literature, and no known cause has been found other than most likely a new spontaneous genetic mutation. Hallermann- Streiff syndrome is typically diagnosed shortly after birth and usually by the…
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Growth hormone deficiency
Growth hormone deficiency is a condition resulting in impaired physical growth, caused by a partial or total absence of the growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland. The affected child will have normal body proportions and yet often look younger than his or her peers (Human Growth Foundation, 2000). If other pituitary hormones are lacking,…
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Constitutional growth delay
Constitutional growth delay is a disorder that is characterized by a temporary delay in skeletal growth (National Organization for Rare Disorders [NORD], 1991). It is often a cause of parental concern about growth. This pattern occurs when a child (usually short) has a slowdown in growth just before puberty and possibly a delay in beginning…
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Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome
Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome is characterized by craniofacial anomalies and polydactyly and syndactyly of the hands and feet. This syndrome is inherited as a fully penetrant autosomal dominant disorder. It has four major malformation components: postaxial polydactyly, preaxial polydactyly, syndactyly, and craniofacial anomalies. These four manifestations are quite variable, making the diagnosis difficult in mildly affected…
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Goodpasture disease
Goodpasture disease is a multisystem, rapidly progressive autoimmune disease that initially presents as a pulmonary- renal syndrome and—if not treated—progresses to respiratory and renal failure. Goodpasture disease in characterized by the presence of autoantibodies in the immune system that attack the lungs and kidneys and cause hemorrhaging in the basement membrane lining of the lungs…
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