Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with disease

Does passive tooth eruption exist?

IzzeYum — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:50:42 -0800

I have had some years of gum issue - a few grafts, etc. Despite taking pretty good care of my teeth I am seemingly just cursed. I recently saw a new perio person and they said for most of my mouth it was actually "passive eruption" that only a little bit towards the back of my mouth has actual recession/ gum disease issues. Does this exist? She says passive eruption is basically the gum continuing to slide back to where it wants to be based on the enamel of your teeth. That even if they did a graft it would also slide up as the gum searched for it's natural location. She claims this tends to happen later in life.

I have never heard of passive eruption before, despite seeing at least 4-6 periodontists over the last almost ten years. So did she reveal something new to me that no one else have thought of? Or is she just making stuff up?

Is this anthracnose on my Japanese maple?

reverend cuttle — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:18:48 -0800

What is eating my acer palmatum? Last fall, I bought a ratty bloodgood Japanese maple and planted it. This was to replace a Japanese maple sapling that succumbed to tan spots the previous year. Well, now the new sapling has leafed out and despite my attempts at hygiene cleaning leaf litter and applying a microbial fungicide during bud break, I now see tan spots on the leaves. Pics: hereIs this anthracnose? If not, what is it? What's the best treatment? Thanks green thumbs on the green!

Living with transplanted organs and immunosuppressant drugs

jason's_planet — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:28:12 -0800

So what's it like to be the recipient of an organ transplant and having to deal with immunosuppressant drugs? How does your life change? How often do you have to take your drugs? What are the weird details of daily life that outsiders don't know about? Are there any insurance hassles? I have a fair idea of what it's like to be diabetic because of coworkers who have this condition but I don't know anything about the life of organ transplant recipients and I'd like to know more. Any help you could provide would be deeply appreciated.

Providing care for a disabled woman without getting sued please!

human ecologist — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:32:24 -0800

I have the opportunity to work a 4-month part-time (approx. 26h/week) contract providing in-home support for a woman who is in the early stages of Parkinson's disease, starting next Friday. I have provided intimate care like this for a family member before, but have no professional experience otherwise in this field. What should I keep in mind in terms of covering my ass with respect to liability in the contract? The prospective client received her diagnosis back in November and has experienced a steady deterioration since. She and her husband are seeking to eventually employ a full-time live-in care-aid as her care level increases. For now, all she needs is someone who can come to her home for a few hours a day to cook meals, assist her movement (in and out of bed/chairs, up/down the stairs), ensure she's comfortable and provide companionship.

My main concern is any possible liability I might face in the event that she experiences a health crisis while in my care (e.g. a sudden injury due to her tremors or a fall). I'm aware that in long-term residence facilities for people in her health condition there are specific policies for dealing with a client who has had a fall. Care-aids are specifically instructed NOT to try move or pick up a client who has fallen, for fear of liability over inadvertently aggravating the injury until a nurse can come and make a formal assessment.

I see in the contract (which I have not yet signed) that the employers reserve the right to file an alternate suit against the contractor (me) if gross negligence is alleged -- that seems pretty standard. However I would like to request, as an amendment to the contract in writing, an explicit procedure for any health emergencies that may arise (who to contact in what order, permission to move her to a safe location if necessary in the event of a fall). Would this be a reasonable and professional request? I don't want to find myself debating what constitutes 'negligence' in the event she has a health emergency, to which I would respond in accordance with my Occupational First Aid training. Is there anyone who has done work like this who can see anything I might be overlooking?

Dog disease-Mange

pakora1 — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:46:04 -0800

Family dog overseas has the disease Mange. Need more information around a possible cure for it. Our family dog overseas has Mange. He is a purebred German Sheppard, 8 years old, male. He got this around 2 years back and my family has been trying to get rid of the disease for awhile with no luck. The poor thing suffers a lot as he cannot sit for long periods without itching. We have tried acid baths (the ones recommended by vets) and other medicines available in Asia but with no luck and also these damage the liver as far as we know. Although he is not in the severe condition as you may see some of the dogs in the link given above (he still has a good coat of hair) he still needs regular medication.

Since this is Asia we are talking about and the facilities/medicines available there I am now on a hunt for a solution in USA. Some questions below--

Has anyone had any experience with this?
Do you know if there is a cure?
What kind of veterinarian specialist (if any) should I consult?
What exactly is a Tick doctor as it relates to a veterinarian?
Any links to knowing more on it?

The goal is to see if there is anything out there that we can try and havent done so far.

Thank you.

What has gone wrong with my squash, cucumbers, and peas?

Scientist — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:22:07 -0800

Oh no! My winter squash, cucumbers, and peas are failing. Can anybody tell me why and what, if anything, I can do about it? Pictures inside. In November, my sweetheart and I planted some winter veggies in our community garden. All was well and everything was growing great. The peas in particular were happily producing as much as we could eat, and after some early insect damage from some kind of pentatomid hemipteran everything else was as well. Most of the garden is still doing great; the brussels are sprouting, the carrots are nearing harvest size, etc. However, after coming back from a trip over Christmas, the squash and cukes and peas are all dying back. Here are some pictures of the damage:

Squash/Cucumber Bed
Squash Leaf Closeup
Pea Row
Pea Shoot Closeup

Can anybody tell me what's going on here? Everything else in the garden is fine and the weather has been mild and moist. The affected plants are all in the same corner of the garden but that area is not substantially different from the rest of the plot (it's not in a bowl or anything like that and it gets the same sun). I haven't noticed any insects and the plants are still flowering and trying to produce fruit, especially the squash. Is this a disease of some kind? Some pest I am unaware of? A watering issue? It seems to be getting slowly but progressively worse; can my plants be saved? What should I do?

Who wrote about mapping diseases?

Marky — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:38:07 -0800

I read a quote the other day, and now I can't find it. It was about mapping how different forms of disease spread. It wasn't here, where would I have seen it? The quote was something like "If you want to know what a type of disease is ask an epidemiologist to map it. If it spreads along the highways, it's viral, if it spreads in a circle it's molecular." The quote has a few other examples of distribution defining the type of disease.

I read this two days ago, Google is no help (mostly due to poor user skills, no doubt.)

Anyone else see this?

Fungus on tomato leaf: cause or effect?

Hairy Lobster — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:58:05 -0800

Tomato Disease Filter: what is this fungus looking stuff on my tomato plants? Can I save the plants or does this call for scorched earth tactics in order to protect the rest of the garden? Whatever this is appears to be killing my plants and it progresses as follows:

1) leaves turn dead/brown
2) whitish fuzzy stuff appears that resembles insect cocoon material
3) reddish dots appear in the middle of areas covered with the whitish fuzz

The disease affects the plants from the top down. If a vine starts near the ground, climbs up and then bends back down only the upper part of the vine will be affected. The beginning and end of the vine near the ground are alive and green.

I imagine the white stuff is some sort of fungus and the red dots are its fruiting bodies but I haven't managed to match it up to anything online. Based on the progression I'm not entirely sure if the fungus is the cause or just an opportunist taking advantage of the dead leaves.

Please hope me by helping me figure out what the problem/disease is and if/how the plants can be saved.

Help me understand Polycystic Kidney Disease

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:52:10 -0800

Polycystic kidney disease - what should I be asking my consultant as a newly diagnosed patient? I've just been diagnosed with PKD and I want to get a better handle on how to think about it. I've read articles on the basics, but it's hard to know how much weight to put on different parts of the information.

I have an appointment with a renal specialist coming up. YANMD, but any advice for what to ask about would be appreciated, given my medical background below:

I'm male, white, early 40s. I'm in good general health except for slightly raised BP. Current kidney function is normal. My creatinine is slightly raised. The cysts were found in a scan for kidney stones (I have some of those too, also asymptomatic).

I guess I'm mainly worried about how fast things might progress, how soon I might have serious symptoms of kidney problems, and what the likelihood is of other conditions that are related to PKD (like cardiovascular problems or aneurysms). The consultant was reassuring on the phone, but I'd like to be a bit better prepared for what's worth pushing and what is actually not likely to be a problem in practice.

Bonus question: if you have PKD, how did you deal with this initial phase of uncertainty?

I haven't been this worried since I was a kid and afraid of heights.

Tehhund — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:16:07 -0800

I want to start doing Tough Mudders / Warrior Dashes / other types of mud runs. But a (mostly) unfounded fear of disease is holding me back. Help me figure out how (un)reasonable my fear is so I can participate! Before anyone jumps on me, I realize that a Tough Mudder is a very different event from a Warrior Dash. But both sound fun in their own ways, and I the same fear is keeping me out of both.

Early this summer my fiancée recruited me for a Warrior Dash. I was hesitant, but decided to give it a shot. We ended up having a conflict that weekend and didn't get to participate in that run, but said we would do it another time. After the race that we missed, several participants ended up in the hospital with necrotizing fasciitis (warning: an image search for that term is NOT for the sqeamish) and one even lost a limb.

A natural question is "are you sure that happened, and isn't just a rumor / urban legend?" Well, my sources (yes, more than one) treated the patients and I don't know them to exaggerate or present rumors as facts, so I'm as certain as I can be that this happened, that the diagnosis and outcomes are accurate, and that the common thread between the several patients was participating in the aforementioned mud run.

After that, my fiancée and I both got a bit spooked and lost interest.

I'm starting to get interested in these races again, but as soon as I get interested in signing up I find myself obsessing over the chance that I'll contract flesh-eating bacteria instead of committing to the race. This is especially unusual because I enjoy long camping trips, and am perfectly happy to get scraped up and endure endless dirt, mud, grime, and lakewater without worrying about disease. Despite being pretty confident that I'm unlikely to contract anything horrible when I go into the woods for a week, in my mind participating in muddy obstacle course runs is now inexorably linked with flesh-eating disease.

When I go camping, I feel reasonably healthy and prepared and I don't really fear injury in disease - I know things can happen, but I believe that I and my companions will be able to react appropriately and make it out safely. But when I think about mud runs (which I have never done before), I feel like I'm throwing caution to the wind and exposing myself to significant danger since there really isn't a preventative measure besides "don't have any cuts," which is not helpful because I frequently get minor cuts and abrasions. I suspect that's an unreasonable fear, but I have no data to convince me that it's unreasonable.

So help me out, hive mind - help me gauge my likelihood of contracting disease while participating in one of these events and get over my fear of picking up a life-threatening illness so I can go out and have fun! Any advice is welcome, but data such as "you are more likely to die in a car crash than have this happen" tends to work for me, so if you happen to have the statistics similar to (people who contract necrotizing fasciitis) / (people who participate in mud runs) to compare to traffic injuries that might fix me right up.

Divorce & Disease

AloneOssifer — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:28:20 -0800

My mother has decided she wants to leave my Parkinson's stricken father. I need some guidance from folks with similar experience about next steps. My mom has been the only one working for awhile. She cares for my father extensively - including ordering his medication, cooking for him, etc. I highly doubt my father's ability to care for himself on his own as his illness has gotten progressively worse over the last 12 months (not to mention that he has become very accustomed to my mother taking care of him).

Outside of "your father and I are going to start the paperwork to get a divorce" I haven't truly sat and talked to them about this yet. I am still trying to sort out my own emotions from this news and I'm in desperate need of some perspective from anyone who has gone through something like this.

FWIW, mom is 57, dad is 62, I'm 31. Thanks, MeFi.

Eww-lbow

Artw — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:42:18 -0800

So... over the course of the day my elbow has gone weird looking - it's red and swollen and sort of squooshy feeling. The skin feels warm to the touch and it is tender. Doctor Google tells me it's probably Bursitis. So... I should probably go get it checked out. But is it a rush to the docs tonight thing or a wait to tomorrow thing?

What's wrong with my grape vine?

cromagnon — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 12:42:27 -0800

UnhealthyGrapeVineFilter: Can anyone help me identify what's causing this leaf discolouration on my grape vine? Is it anything to worry about? I'm not sure if it's natural colour change, disease, mineral deficiency or more than one of these things happening at once. The vine is two years old, fruiting quite heavily, on a very sunny south aspect on a poor mix of clay and various stones. I don't know the variety but it's a standard garden centre dessert grape. The photos are in a what I think is a chronological sequence: http://imgur.com/a/2uITk

Botox injections and neutropenia

conrad101 — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 07:17:09 -0800

Are there risks in having botox injections for a neutropenia sufferer? A relation of mine is determined to have botox injections to get rid of wrinkles, however, they suffer badly from cyclic neutropenia which means that their immune system is often weak and have white blood cell issues and consequently they get infections frequently. I am aware that botox is botulinum toxin and I have kept trying to persuade her to see her doctor before having botox injections, to check whether they are safe for her in light of neutropenia. She is desperate to go ahead with this and it is hard to persuade her to get medical advice on this. From a layman's perspective, I am concerned that this may be dangerous for her. Does anybody with medical knowledge, perhaps haematology, know if this botox is safe for neutropenia sufferers? Many thanks!

What to do about my dog's mouth problem??

GastrocNemesis — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 18:06:59 -0800

My adult dog lost a tooth a couple weeks ago after chewing on a Nylabone. I took the bone away, and was planning to make an appointment for cleaning/ scaling in a month or so, when I could afford it. Today I found another tooth and now I'm more worried that this is something that can't wait. Help please! My dog (a small rescue mutt who I think is about 7 years old, I've had her for 5 years) has always had bad breath. I mentioned my concern about it to her vet before and he just looked at her teeth and said "Actually they don't look that bad to me, you could get them cleaned if you want but I'm not worried." So I didn't worry too much about it, I'd been meaning to get her teeth cleaned soon but hadn't gotten around to it yet.

I make it a point to give her only dry dog food and dry crunchy treats so as not to make her breath worse. Same with bones, I used to give her rawhide sometimes but chewing them makes her kind of gross and stinky so I stopped giving them to her. When I was at home a few weeks ago, my mom bought some stuff for her including a Nylabone. She's had those before, so I figured it would be ok and let her chew on it. A couple days later I noticed one of her front bottom teeth was gone! I took away the bone and planned to schedule a vet appointment for her to get a cleaning soon, like in July. (I'm a student and currently in-between loans now, I can barely even pay my own bills until I get my next loan in July.)

But today, just now, I found another one of her teeth that had fallen out, and I'm really worried about her. (Front top tooth, if it matters, the same side/spot as the other one that fell out.) Now that I think of it, her breath has been kind of worse than usual lately, although it's bad most of the time so I wasn't sure whether I was just imagining it.

She hasn't seemed to be in any pain as far as I can tell- she eats normally, no bleeding, the tooth didn't have any blood on it, etc. That's why originally I figured it could wait a few more weeks- I thought it was maybe just a random thing, mostly caused by the Nylabone. Now I'm concerned there's something more serious going on. I'd take her to the vet this second if I wasn't flat broke, but I am. I don't know what to do.

So my questions are:
-If I keep an eye on what she's chewing (that is, don't let her chew anything but food basically) will she be okay for a few more weeks? Is there anything I can do to help her right now (like, will brushing her teeth help or exacerbate the problem?) Is it possible the second tooth was also mostly loosened by the Nylabone and just took a little longer to come out completely? (Like I said the two teeth she lost were a top and bottom one in the same spot, presumably the spot she was using to chew. So hopefully the other teeth in her mouth are not in immediate danger of falling out.)
-For those of you who have experienced this, what was the outcome and how much did it cost? Is it likely that she will need to get more teeth removed or might this be something reversible? Are there any signs/ symptoms I should be on the lookout for that would indicate that this is getting serious and she needs immediate treatment?
-If this is something that really can't wait, are there any vets that offer payment plans or billing, in Chicago? I know the answer is probably no, but I can't imagine that I'd be approved for CareCredit. My credit sucks at the moment. I guess I could beg her previous vet to work out some sort of billing with me, but I'm hesitant because he was the one that dismissed my concerns in the first place. Plus, I've moved since then so it's a good 45 min to an hour away. I'd been planning to find a new vet. I do *know* a vet in the area that I've done some freelance work for, but have never taken my dog to him- would it be inappropriate for me to ask him to help me out in some way? (E.g. Maybe he'd consider working out a billing plan with me and in return I'd do some work for him for free, or something, I don't know.) I don't know what the etiquette would be on that sort of thing. I could maybe ask my parents to spot me if it's a true emergency (I'm not sure if it is?) or if it was only going to be $100-200 (but I expect it's going to be a lot more than that.)

Any other helpful thoughts or suggestions? Thanks.

Mutaba. It rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? Mutaba.

CarlRossi — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:48:58 -0800

In a cloud of microscopic horrors, should I breathe through my nose or my mouth? Let's say I'm standing in line at the bank. The air is relatively still, patient zero behind me stands a little too close. I can tell because I can hear their wheezing/labored breathing.

Then horror of horrors. They sneeze.

Statistically speaking, which is my better option for protecting myself from catching their diseases, short of running from the building... Breathe through my nose or breathe through my mouth? Should I hold my breath as long as I can to allow the germs to disperse?

How can I get my cat to eat his prescription kidney food

davisnot — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:54:43 -0800

My cat has to eat a special kidney friendly diet. How can I encourage him to eat? He has early stage kidney disease. He is meant to eat both dry food (for the calories) and wet food (since the extra moisture is good for him). Both are prescription diets that are lower in protein and other things that aren't hard on the kidneys.

I have tried heating the food, adding water, mixing the dry and wet food. The thing that helps the most is feeding him by hand but it's still a struggle to get him to finish his food, and his vet does not want him to lose any weight.

For those of you who have had a cat with kidney problems, what helped stoke their appetite? I take it that the prescription food isn't very tasty.

Numerous questions about Huntington's Disease

You Should See the Other Guy — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:48:46 -0800

Multiple questions about Huntington's Disease... I'm researching a story that has a pregnant woman with Huntington's Disease. I've watched a bunch of videos on Youtube and read various sites but have not found answers to specific questions I have. 1. Wikipedia: "The most characteristic initial physical symptoms are jerky, random, and uncontrollable movements...These minor motor abnormalities usually precede more obvious signs of motor dysfunction by at least three years." Can these early symptoms be inconsistent? For instance, is it possible a person who has trouble walking one day can be fine the next or once a symptom reveals itself for the first time, is it permanent and escalating?

Specifically, is it possible that someone who experiences a "minor motor abnormality" today could appear "normal" to an outside observer tomorrow.

2. My question regarding this is probably ridiculous but I'm not in the USA (though my protagonist is), so I'm gonna ask it anyway. Wikipedia says, "Prenatal testing is performed on the understanding that if the fetus is found to carry an expanded HTT gene (or, in exclusion testing, found to be at 'high risk'), the pregnancy will be terminated." I'm not sure I understand this. Certainly a positive result does not insist upon abortion, does it? It is the woman's choice regardless of the test results, yes?

3. "Seizures are also a common symptom of [juvenile] HD." What about non-juvenile HD? Can seizures happen then as well? Can a seizure be an early or even first symptom or someone who is not a juvenile? (My character is 25).

4. Is, or can, stress be a factor in the appearance of symptoms, the way it can be for someone, for instance, who stammers?

5. Is there an anecdote about the illness that you wish to share that is outside of the scope of my questions? Memails welcome if you don't want to share on the green.

Thank you.

In search of a malady...

You Should See the Other Guy — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:49:10 -0800

Writing a story... What is a malady or health issue that is 1) hereditary, 2) difficult to diagnose in an unborn child, 3) makes life particularly difficult (mentally or physically) for someone who has it? I have a pregnant character who wants to abort her child because of fear that she is going to pass on whatever it is that she has. However, I do not know what she has.

I think the above sounds a little ridiculous but it's bugging me as a problem that I need to solve before I can "find its cousin", so to speak, and get to what's really going on here.

Thank you!

Suddenly Spotting

dozo — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:02:20 -0800

What is afflicting my ornamental trees? Over the last week I've noticed both of my Red Kapok tree's leaves - I have two, two years old each in the same pots they've been in since I started them from seed - turning yellow and brown with some spots/curling, and what looks like rot on the bottom of where the leaves attach to the stem. I've read quite a bit and I'm assuming it's Leaf Spot Fungus or Elsinoe but it doesn't look exactly like any of the pictures I've found and I don't want to do the wrong thing if they're dying. I'm wondering if it's a deficiency of some sort, but I fertilize with fish emulsion every 2 months or so in the winter here in FL so I think it's getting nutrients. Help!

My sister-in-law is in constant pain from Dercum's disease

Chasuk — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:38:26 -0800

Does anyone know of a cure and/or effective treatment for Dercum's disease? My sister-in-law is suffering from Dercum's disease. Twice a day, she dons a pneumatic suit that that massages her lymph nodes (for several hours each occasion). This treatment helps, but she is still in constant pain.

Here is what Wikipedia says about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiposis_dolorosa

Thanks in advance!

Is this paralyzed dog always going to be in pain?

catatethebird — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:13:39 -0800

Mini Daschund with Intervertebral Disk Disease: Your experiences and advice, should we put her to sleep, or could she improve? My sister's mini Daschund was diagnosed with IVDD about a week ago, and it has progressed very rapidly. She has had episodes before, but we always thought it was an injury (her "sister" is a 110 pound American Bulldog who might have stepped on her.) This time she progressed from limping and tenderness to full paralysis in the last week. She is on cage rest. She cannot urinate and we are trying to learn how to express her bladder. If she could live with a reasonable quality of life my sister would be willing to care for her like this. The problem is she seems to be in pain. What is your experience with this disease? Have you had a dog in this condition that improved? We don't want to put her to sleep if she might improve, but we don't want to keep her alive in pain that is not going to go away.

Numbness in hands and face, headaches, fatigue: what is this?

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:47:17 -0800

Hi, MeFi. I've had a medical condition for the past month which involves numbness in my hands and face, headaches, fatigue, emotional distress, and other unpleasant symptoms. I know YANMD, and I am in fact already seeing a doctor and will soon be seeing a neurologist. I'm sorry about the wall of text, but if any of this sounds familiar, please let me know -- it would really help when talking to my doctors! At the end of October, I was recovering from a very minor cold: my throat was mucousy and I was coughing a bit, but that was it. One day, I started to feel a certain numbness -- you could even call it "pins and needles" -- in my hands. It started innocuously, once every few days, usually when I was driving at night. Soon, it spread to my face and started happening with an increasing frequency, but still mostly in the evenings. The sensation was bilateral.

This didn't pass after a week, so naturally, I started to worry. I started to feel like I had the flu, and I spent a day away from work when I was feeling particularly crappy. On Monday, I went to see the doctor. My blood tests were fine, with only a minor vitamin D deficiency (which I'm taking medicine for now). I was also prescribed an MRI, just in case.

The following week, my symptoms seemed to change. I wasn't getting the pins and needles so much anymore, but I started having more headaches. In addition, whenever I woke up, my fingertips and face felt strangely numb, and I felt like it was probably related to the pins and needles. One time, I went over to a party in Berkeley. It was really stuffy, and I suddenly felt strangely ill. My face and ears were very warm to the touch and I felt a bit dizzy and disoriented, even to the point where my eyes had some trouble focusing. It was almost like I had drank too much. I just wanted to lie down somewhere, and when I did, even though I could still reason quite clearly, my emotional state was completely off: I recognized the house and my friends, but they didn't have all the emotional associations that I usually have with them, if that makes any sense. The next day, I was really tired and still a bit disoriented, and I ended up sleeping for most of it.

Then, a few days later, I suddenly felt fine. Everything was great for a while, but then I started getting a feeling of lightheadedness and slight associated nausea. For a week or two (I think), it really felt like I was alternating between the warm-faced, migrane-like state I experienced at the party, feeling good, and feeling lightheaded.

My MRI was coming up in a week, and I was completely panicking the entire time. My thoughts turned to various horrible diseases with matching symptoms I had uncovered on the internet: what if it was MS, or worse? I thought about death a lot. When I finally went to see my doctor for a followup appointment, it turned out that the MRI came back clean. Whew!

At the moment, my symptoms have transformed somewhat from their original state, but still seem related. A lot of the time, I feel okay -- not great, but okay. I often feel tired and somewhat depressed, and I don't feel like I have the energy to go out and do stuff very often. I still wake up with numb hands and face which often lasts for the entire day, and I seem to have some trouble sleeping. Then, every few days, I get that same warm-faced headache, though to a much lesser degree. (For example, I don't feel the emotional disconnect so much anymore, which is great: when it first happened, I was terrified that I was losing my mind!) I noticed that whenever it happens, my throat feels like it's burning. My skin also sometimes feels sensitive to the touch, as if it's been sunburned (but this usually passes quickly). I've experienced pain in my lower left abdomen, and I've found that I had to go to the bathroom more often than I did in the past. The original pins and needles don't reoccur so much anymore, but when they do, they're often unilateral, on my left side. And throughout all this time, I've had various flu-like symptoms, including coughing and mucous buildup in my throat.

I've been avoiding gluten for the past few days to see if I have Celiac disease -- no help, just got another headache today. And I recognize that many of my symptoms have attributes of panic attacks, which I've had one of in the past -- but I feel like too many of them are physiological to be completely caused by stress.

Any thoughts? Thank you for your time!

What is this disease?

bzzt — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:10:45 -0800

Can anybody identify this disease? My college friend, who evidently had it, recently passed away as a result. I never asked her exactly what was wrong for fear of being insensitive, but now I would like some closure. Description of observable symptoms inside... A friend of mine from college passed away last month, and even though we had lost contact after I transferred to another school in a different state, the news is still very hard to take. Even though I didn't remain close to her after the move, I have fond memories of the times we spent together. Her passing, however, has left me with a big unanswered question: What did she die from?

Despite the fact that we shared many a class and coffee outing together, I never brought up her illness/deformity because I wanted her to know that it didn't matter to me in the least and I figured if she wanted to talk about it, she would bring it up. She never did, and I admired her greatly for her strength and positivity.

The symptoms that I could observe were as follows:

- She was on the shorter side (5'2"-4"), and very very thin (est. 95-100 lbs. - definitely no more than 105 lbs.)
- She had no fingers.
- Her entire body was always almost entirely wrapped in gauze bandages. The only skin she left revealed was her neckline and her face; The skin there looked as if she always was experiencing a rash/shingles, or that she had suffered 3rd degree burns all over her body.

Other than these distinguishing factors, there was nothing else I could see out of the ordinary.

She was a wonderful, strong person and an extremely talented artist, and the world is certainly worse off without her. If anyone has any idea what this disease might have been I would appreciate some insight. Thank you.

What is God trying to tell me through this potato?

Toekneesan — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:01:23 -0800

Why do my potatoes have stigmata? So I've been growing potatoes in my garden for quite a few years. After reading Michael Pollen's book, Botany of Desire, I almost feel obligated to do it, in spite of the fact that there's not a lot of ROI in the endeavor. And because they're so cheap, I don't know a lot of other people who do it, and thus find something of a void of information about the practice. This year, I came across something new. Not all, but quite a few of my potatoes had dark patches that seeped a dark red fluid. Here's a pic.

So I did some poking around and I don't find any obvious diseases. There's nothing I could find below the surface of the skin so if it's an infestation, they are microscopic organisms. I suspect some form of fusarium, but that's just what I'm getting from the Google. Anyone else ever come across this?

Worth noting, these are clones from commercial potatoes. In spring, about when it's time to put potatoes in the ground, any you have in the house exposed to natural light cycles will start to bud in the eyes are perfect for cutting up and throwing in the ground. So that's what I do typically and did this year. The varieties were your run of the mill russet and white potato. This infection seemed to affect the russets more than the whites, but both seemed afflicted, but only about 30% of the harvest for the russets, maybe 10% of the whites. Do you know what caused this?

Other possibly relevant factors—the myth of global warming seems to have expedited this years harvest of almost everything. Things seem more mature this year at this point than they have in the past. We had a pretty early last frost, about three weeks before typical. Also, the potatoes grew next to garlic and some of the plants were likely volunteers from last years crop.