HowToDoThings.com Illness & Treatment

How To Cure Ringworm

Staff468 — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 17:35:00 -0600

"Ringworm" may be one of the most visibly appropriate, yet factually misleading medical terms. Looking at a patch of ringworm, you could easily imagine that an actual worm is the culprit, but in reality ringworm isn't a worm at all. It's a fungus! Were it not for the itching and the spreading, and the discomfiting redness, you could almost admire ringworm for its elegant circular design. Almost, but not quite.

Ringworm can appear on any part of your body that has keratinized skin. Thankfully, that excludes your eyeballs and mucus membranes! But it includes everywhere else. Here's how you'll know if you have ringworm.

How To Remove Plantar Warts

Brian263 — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 19:32:00 -0600

Did you know that the same virus at the center of the current cervical cancer awareness is also responsible for plantar warts? Sounds crazy, but it's true - human papillomavirus (or HPV), albeit a different type of the virus than the cervical cancer types, is what causes those painful and ugly plantar warts to appear on the soles of our feet.

What causes plantar warts? People get warts through direct contact with HPV, of which there are many different types. The type that causes plantar warts likes to hang out in damp, warm environments - the kind that arouse your suspicion anyway, like public showers, swimming pools, locker rooms, your roommates shower mat, or communal shoes (if you're sharing shoes with people, you might want to inspect their feet first). If you walk barefoot through these areas, you could acquire plantar warts.

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How To Understand Brain Shivers

Staff468 — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:02:00 -0600

Let's hope that Tom Cruise is not reading this article because we're going to discuss antidepressants. An unusual symptom of withdrawal from certain antidepressants is the phenomenon known as brain shivers. The antidepressants venlafaxine (Effexor), duloxetine (Cymbalta) and escitalopram (Lexapro) have all been associated with brain shivers, with Effexor leading the pack. Effexor and Cymbalta are serotonin and noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and Lexapro is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), all of which affect the levels of serotonin (a neurotransmitter) in the brain. Many who suffer from depression report experiencing brain shivers as a result of tapering off of these antidepressants and some people report experiencing brain shivers as a result of missing only one dose. Here are a few facts to help you better understand brain shivers.

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