Isabel Healthcare Blog

Appendicitis is an acute medical condition where the appendix becomes inflamed and can eventually burst. It requires urgent medical attention, and usually surgery to remove the appendix.

In a recent blog we covered psychiatric disorders which can occur during pregnancy, but there are also some psychiatric disorders which can occur after the woman has given birth. The postpartum period is up to a year after giving birth,  If a woman has experienced mental ill health in the past, then she is more likely to become mentally unwell during pregnancy or in this postpartum period than at other times in her life.

A story currently doing the rounds on the web reports how Mark Givens, recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, lost his driving license due to dangerous driving. This was caused by the mental trauma he was experiencing as a result of his diagnosis. The story is all the more significant because it turns out Mr Givens, from Northern Ireland, could have been spared the trauma as he had in fact been misdiagnosed and was instead suffering from a cyst on the brain. This story illustrates two points. Firstly, the mental trauma caused to patients suffering from a brain tumor and secondly, the fact that this often fatal condition can be misdiagnosed as something relatively minor, albeit a condition that can cause identical symptoms to a brain tumor.

Yesterday saw 31st October, a day when many choose to celebrate Halloween, dressing up in scary (and some not so scary) costumes and to do a round of trick or treat. Isabel started out as a tool for pediatrics following the misdiagnosis of a 3-year-old girl, before extending into all ages and regions. For that reason, children’s medicine and hospitals will always be close to our hearts and we wanted to highlight the great work they do. The world of costumes, entertainment and imagination is never too far away from a children’s ward, so Halloween is an opportunity to truly get into the spirit - after all, the holidays are only around the corner! We’ve taken our favourite tweets and pictures of the incredible pediatric staff in US and UK hospitals, sported a costume or two this Halloween.

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a worldwide campaign helping to spread awareness, education and promote further research into the most common form of cancer in both the UK and US. In these two countries combined, there are over 300,000 diagnoses every single year, so chances are you've been affected by breast cancer at some point, either directly or through someone you know. We’ve written about the signs, symptoms and cause of breast cancer before, so today we’re giving you some stats and facts surrounding breast cancer, to help spread awareness of just how far we've come, and how far we have to go.

In a post from 2015, we reported how important the Internet had become, over the previous decade, in enabling health information to be available to all patients. We also suggested that health technology including symptom checkers are becoming tools used in everyday life. A survey published this week by the University of Phoenix supports this and conveys that patients are utilizing healthcare technology to take control of their health.  The September survey involved 2,006 US adults of whom 1,215 had been a patient within the previous three months and some of the findings were:

20 October is World Osteoporosis Day, calling for global action to help improve bone health and prevent fractures caused by this condition that, much too often, is diagnosed too late to make a difference. Osteoporosis is a growing problem around the world affecting one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50. Fractures caused by osteoporosis can have a devastating impact, not only on the sufferer but on costs to society and healthcare systems. And yet despite effective medical advances, only 10% of women with fractures will receive osteoporosis therapy. In 2010 in Europe alone it was estimated that 12.3 million high-risk patients were left untreated. Increased awareness is undoubtedly the key, both among the medical profession and among patients who should look out for the early warning signs and make lifestyle choices to help prevent osteoporosis from defining their old age.

Meningitis is a disease that can affect anyone, although it is most common in babies, children and young adults. The condition can be bacterial, viral or fungal, and the severity and treatments depend on the type contracted. As the most common condition to affect children, spreading awareness and encouraging research in the field is important to Isabel, as we started out as a pediatric tool following the misdiagnosis of 3 year old Isabel Maude, only later expanding to include all ages in the Isabel DDx Generator. In this blogpost we go over the basics of meningitis, the causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of this sometimes acute and potentially fatal disease.

Childhood Absence Epilepsy (CAE) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have similar symptoms and are often incorrectly diagnosed in children. There are many reasons as to why children are misdiagnosed, including failing to obtain a good history, or poor information from the family. The child’s school teacher may have contacted the parents  as they have noticed the child’s lack of attention, ‘blanking out’ or daydreaming episodes in class, which are affecting the child’s learning.  CAE and ADHD need careful evaluation as they have different treatment options and the wrong diagnosis can make the child’s symptoms worse or cause them to develop new symptoms due to incorrect medication being prescribed.

Our blog this week is devoted to cardiovascular disease, or heart disease, to tie in with the new online ‘Heart Age Test’ recently launched by Public Health England (PHE) in the UK. PHE decided to launch the campaign to try and help reduce the number of people who die unexpectedly and unnecessarily each year from heart attacks and strokes. According to PHE, “Millions are at risk of cardiovascular disease but don’t know it, putting themselves at real risk of suffering ill health or dying younger”. While the death rate from cardiovascular disease has seen a massive drop, falling more than 75% since 1961, it still causes more than a quarter of all deaths in the UK with similar figures in the US.