This book offers exciting and often surprising insights into one hundred diseases that have emerged over the past century. The authors focus on the period from 1923, when Radboud University was founded, to 2023, the university's centennial anniversary. All of the diseases included in this book have left an indelible mark on the century in which they emerged, in either a scientific and/or socio-…
The emergence of strange new diseases is a frightening problem that seems to be getting worse. In this age of speedy travel, it threatens a worldwide pandemic. We hear news reports of Ebola, SARS, AIDS, and something called Hendra killing horses and people in Australia?but those reports miss the big truth that such phenomena are part of a single pattern. The bugs that transmit these diseases sh…
According to etiology, erythrocytosis is divided into acquired and hereditary. In accordance with pathogenesis it is divided into true (absolute, which is caused by erythropoiesis activation in the bone marrow and an increase of circulating erythrocyte mass) and false — relative and hemoconcentration (results from plasma volume decrease and thus is not accompanied by an increase of circulatin…
Almost anything can cause ‘disease’ if the conditions are right. For example, water is essential for life but if taken in extreme excess or given intravenously, particularly in a patient with kidney failure, it can cause problems. In this situation, the body is unable to respond adequately so homeostasis is not maintained and a ‘disease state’ occurs.What may be harmless to one person m…
Anthrax has not been diagnosed in SA for many years, but the risk of an outbreak is heightened with occasional detections in NSW and Victoria as well as isolated outbreaks in WA and Queensland. Anthrax is caused by a bacterium that affects many species including cattle, sheep, goats and humans. The bacterium produces spores when exposed to air that persist in soil for many years. The disease is…
Knowledge of the usual course of a disease from its onset and pretreatment phase through to its final outcome is important for several reasons. It enables predictions to be made about a patient’s likely recovery or degree of eventual disability, i.e. the prognosis. It also helps in judging whether improvements in a patient’s condition are due to treatment or to natural remission. Many chron…