Papovavirus

Papovavirus family is one of the virus families that cause disease in humans, the most common one being the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Ultrasound

Ultrasonography is a medical imaging technique that is also called ultrasound scanning or sonography. High frequency sound waves and their echoes and used in this technique for obtaining images from inside the human body. The echoes of sound waves reflected from the human body are recorded and displayed as a real-time visual image. This technique is similar to the echo location used by bats, whales and dolphins. The sonar used by submarines also operates the same technique. Ultrasound is useful method to examine many of the body's internal organs like heart, liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, kidneys and bladder.

Movement of the internal tissues and organs are captured in ultrasound. Ultrasonography enables the physicians to diagnose a variety of disease conditions and also assess the damage caused to the systems. The ultrasound machine transmits high frequency sound pulses into the human body by using probes. These sound waves that travel into the body hit a boundary between the tissues inside the body and reflect the sound waves to the probe. Some waves travel even further and they reach another boundary and then get reflected back. The waves that are reflected are picked up by the probe and relayed back into the ultrasound machine.

The ultrasound machine in turn calculates the distance from the probe to the tissue or organ by using the speed of sound tissue and the time of each echo's return. The machine displays these distances and intensities of the echoes on the screen. Through the echoes that are produced the sonologist can identify how far away an object is, how large it is, its shape and consistency (fluid, solid or mixed). Two dimensional images are formed and reflected on the screen. Different types of ultrasound are used for different disease conditions. Ultrasound is used in a variety of clinical settings including obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology and cancer detection.

Cerebral Palsy

The terms cerebral is derived from the Latin word Cerebrum meaning 'brain - top of the head, skull', the dominant part of the brain in human beings. Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition that causes physical disability in human development by affecting the brain and nervous system. While the cerebral area in the brain gets affected, there is a complete or partial muscle paralysis. Most often, this is accompanied by a loss of sensation and there are uncontrollable body movements or tremors.

Cerebral palsy shows up as early as the first three years of life. Some prominent signs and symptoms being delay in developmental milestones like crawling, walking or speaking, crawling in an unusual manner, abnormal muscle tone, difficulty in feeding and sucking, lying in awkward position, gets startled easily, stiff / involuntary slow and limited movements and bad balance, problems in hearing, problems in eyesight, control problems in bladder and bowel movements, occurrence of seizures and problems in swallowing.

Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the cerebrum. Since the cerebrum is responsible for memory and learning skills, persons with cerebral palsy have problems in communications and learning. Hearing and sight are also affected due to damage to cerebrum. At least one tenth of the babies affected by cerebral palsy are due to deprived oxygen during labor and delivery. And most of the cases occur before they are born.

The mother's medical history during her pregnancy is examined for diagnosis of cerebral palsy in the child. The affected child is examined and postures, movements, and child's reflexes are studied by the doctor. Sometimes the doctor refers to a psychologist to assess intellectual development of the victim while diagnosing cerebral palsy.

The treatment for cerebral palsy is entirely dependent on individual needs of the person. Treatment for cerebral palsy is done with by an interdisciplinary team of health professionals including a general Physician, a pediatrician, a social worker, a health care visitor, and a physiotherapist, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. Each of these specialists draws up their individual plants and addresses the needs of the child. Whatever be the line of treatment, the aim is to help the child get as much independence as possible throughout their life.

Abundant precaution during pregnancy is one way to avoid risk of cerebral palsy in the child. However, many of the medical conditions associated with cerebral palsy can be treated and quality of life of the victim, improved.