Power failure, liver failure
Article Abstract:
A case of fatal food poisoning illustrates one of the mechanisms of liver failure. A 17-year-old boy died of liver failure four days after eating rewarmed spaghetti. Analysis of samples of the spaghetti and the boy's liver revealed the presence of the bacterium Bacillus cereus. This bacterium secretes a toxin that can damage mitochondria. The mitochondria can no longer provide energy to cells and the cells die. There have been reports of similar fatalities in Japan and Thailand, since the bacterium favors cooked rice.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Body-mass index and symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux in women
Article Abstract:
The association between body mass index (BMI) and symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux diseases explored by determining the relative risks among a broader range of categories of BMI and among persons with various degrees of frequency, severity, and duration of symptoms. BMI is found to be associated with symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease in both normal-weight and overweight women, where even moderate weight gain in persons of normal weight might cause or exacerbate symptoms of reflux.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 2006
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Asymptomatic carriage of Clostridium difficile and serum levels of IgG antibody against toxin A
Article Abstract:
Some people who become infected with Clostridium difficile will have a mild form of the disease because their immune system produces antibodies against the bacterial toxin that causes diarrhea. In a study of 271 hospital patients, 37 were infected with Clostridium difficile at the time of admission and 47 became infected while hospitalized. Thirty-seven had no symptoms. Those with high blood levels of IgG antibody against Clostridium toxin were less likely to develop diarrhea.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 2000
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Preventing postnatal illness. The assessment and treatment of postnatal depression. Postnatal depression: how can the distress be alleviated? (includes related article)
- Abstracts: Policy imperatives for nursing in an era of health care restructuring. Profession building in the new health care system
- Abstracts: A nurse-driven patient placement system. Perioperative managed care reimbursements. Automated medication dispensing systems
- Abstracts: Between the lines: a look behind the scenes at M&F. Toys of summer. Super spuds: how to turn a baked potato into a mega meal
- Abstracts: The elusive Reed-Sternberg cell. Neonatal diagnosis and treatment of Menkes disease. Immunologic analysis of a spinal cord-biopsy specimen from a patient with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I-associated neurologic disease