Tularemia is a condition that primarily infects a variety of animal species, including rodents, deer, squirrels, muskrats, and rabbits. Though tularemia is mostly found within these animal populations, it is also possible for it to be transmitted to humans with blood contact, or a bite from a tick, fly, or other insect that is infected with the disease. Tularemia was much more prevalent in the human population during the rugged frontier, when hunters would often skin animals bare-handed, and risk contact with infected blood. The spread of tularemia is most rampant throughout the summer season, and statistics show that a majority of tularemia cases have occurred in the southeastern part of the United States.

Tularemia disease has five potential causes, varying depending on how the bacteria makes contact with your system. The five variations of illness include: oculoglandular, ulceroglandular, oropharyngeal, pulmonary, and typhoidal tularemia. The symptoms of the disease are also relative to the type of infection suffered.

Oculoglandular tularemia is a very rare manner to get the disease, accounting for only one percent of all tularemia cases worldwide. Oculoglandular tularemia is caused primarily by infected hands having contact with eyes, thus the disease transmits. As a result, the eyelid lining and the conjunctiva become inflamed, red, and painful. Additonally, the lymph nodes located on the neck can swell, and bumps and sores may appear in the area around the eye.

Ulceroglandular tularemia is the most common form of tularemia, accounting for approximatelly eighty-five percent of all cases worldwide. The disease is spread by ticks defecating bacteria around the bite. When this occurs, a red bump appears around the wound (which eventually evolves into an ulcer), and the lymph nodes become incredibly swollen and the lymph nodes ooze a pus-like substance. Other common symptoms include: chills, spasms, fatigue, and fever.

Oropharyngeal tularemia occurs when meat is not cooked properly and then digested, or from a contamined water source. It can also occur from extremely poor hygiene. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain, mouth sores, nausea, vomiting, intestinal ulcers and bleeding, and chronic diarrhea.

Pulmonary tularemia, much like oculoglandular tularemia, is a very rare form. This form of tularemia is transmitted through the inhaling of infected chemicals and/or fluids that travel through the lungs and enter the circulatory system. Pneumonia is the most common result of pulmonary tularemia.

Those infected with typhoidal tularemia often don't experience lymph node swelling or skin sores, …

She has Lyme Disease. That's what he said. I'm trying to shake the sleep out of my head and understand what he is saying. She has Lyme Disease. He said it again. I started to cry.

Our daughter started complaining about leg pain and fatigue months ago. The symptoms were so vague and we are dealing with a teenager here after all. We thought she just didn't want to go to school. How could we have known something serious was building in her body? My daughter loves to invent mysterious illness that she's sure she must have. Sometimes a bruise is skin cancer while a bump has got to be a tumor. Most of this is in fun. It has turned into a game really. When she has a bump or bruise we make up things that it could be. Nothing serious has ever been wrong with her, so up until now this was funny. When she came to us complaining of leg and ankle pain we assumed she was blowing it out of proportion as usual. Classic boy calling wolf scenario, right? Wrong.

Then one morning she came to me with tears in her eyes. The pain in her legs and ankles was severe. This is when i got nervous. I immediately called her doctor. I explained the seemingly vague symptoms then she ordered blood work. She didn't tell me what she was tested for nor did I ask. Three days later I was sitting in bed with tears rolling down my cheeks as my husband was telling me that our daughter has an incurable disease. I really couldn't believe she had Lyme Disease. My daughter is not an outdoors person. She doesn't take hikes or play sports.

My first thoughts were that she would have a chronic illness causing fatigue and joint pain for the rest of her life. I was heartbroken. Then I felt guilty for not knowing that something serious was wrong with her. She had contracted this months before and I hadn't known it. But, how could I have known?

Without delay she began taking a 21-day regimen of antibiotics to arrest the disease. The pain continued. She was diligent about taking her pills believing she would finally get some relief from the pain. She finished the pills. The pain continued. I called her doctor to express my concern so she ordered more blood work. …

Do you feel frequent cramping in your legs, buttocks, or feet? Do you have pains or aches in your legs or feet, or have a lower temperature or swelling of your legs and arms? These are just a few of the symptoms of peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD (also known as peripheral vascular disease, PVD) is a serious disease which millions Americans have. While with some people it can have no effect at all (except the above symptoms), in others, it can be crippling or even deadly. People with PAD have a much, much higher chance of having a heart attack, stroke, or even a limb amputation. And whenever somebody has any one of these things, there is always a chance of death.

Even if you have this disease and it never kills you, it can be a great inconvenience. Cuts don’t heal right, body parts constantly fall asleep (and it takes a lot longer for them to return to normal if you have PAD), and sometimes it can just make you feel sick. The problem with PAD is the symptoms are so small and insignificant that many people don’t look into it further. After all, how can your legs irregularly falling asleep be the sign of a possibly deadly ailment?

There are five stages of PAD, and even at stage two one could feel frequently sick and pained. Stage one is mild pain when walking, stage two is severe pain when walking (sometimes even short distances), stage three is pain while resting, stage four is loss of sensation in some body parts, and stage five is the loss of tissue. If one knows the stages and symptoms of PAD, it is easy to go to a doctor and have it treated.

Most people with PAD are smokers or people who are around smokers a lot. Smoking is the #1 modifiable cause of PAD, and simply quitting can help you heal. The chemicals in cigarettes affect blood vessel lining, and the widespread damage of the lining can lead to PAD. Diabetics also have a higher change of this disease, and diabetic smokers have a one in three chance of contracting the disease and needing an amputation. Other people who are more prone to this disease are males, African Americans, seniors, and the obese. While even having all four of these characteristics (the most notable, controllable one is obesity) is not …