an unusual phenomenon in newborn babies characterized by transient red colour changes to half of the body, well demarcated at the midline. It is seen usually 2–5 days after birth and can last from 30 seconds to 20 minutes before fading away. It may recur when the infant is placed on his or her side as the intensity of the erythema appears to be gravity-dependent.
A major surgical operation, usually coupled with the appropriate hormone treatment (see HORMONES), to change a person’s anatomical sex. The operation is done on transsexual individuals or in those whose sexual organs are neither totally female nor male. Male-to-female sex change is the more common. Such operations should not be performed without rigorous physical and mental assessment of the individual, and should be accompanied by extensive counselling. Some subjects make a satisfactory adjustment to the change of anatomical sex, while others may suffer serious psychological problems. Hormone therapy may need to be continued for life.... sex change
Any abnormality in colour vision that causes difficulty distinguishing between certain colours. Total absence of colour vision (monochromatism) is rare. The most common types of colour vision deficiency are reduced discrimination of red and green. Most cases of red and green colour vision deficiency are caused by defects in the light-sensitive cells in the retina. These defects are usually inherited, although occasionally defects are caused by retinal or optic nerve diseases or injury. The inherited defects tend to be sex-linked (see genetic disorders), which means that the majority of sufferers are male. A person with a severe green deficiency has difficulty distinguishing oranges, greens, browns, and pale reds. In severe red deficiency, all reds appear dull. A much rarer deficiency in which blue cannot be distinguished may be inherited or may be due to degeneration of the retina or optic nerve.... colour vision deficiency
the commonest cause of *nephrotic syndrome in children and an important cause of this syndrome in adults. The condition is so named because of the apparent lack of abnormalities seen on light microscopy of biopsy samples. Changes can, however, be seen on electron microscopy, with effacement of the *podocyte foot processes along the glomerular basement membrane. It is postulated that minimal change disease is a T-cell disease and that *cytokine damage to the podocytes leads to loss of the selective filtering characteristics of the glomerulus. The condition usually responds to corticosteroids and has a good prognosis, but there is clinical overlap with primary *focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, which may have similar histological appearances in its early stages, tends not to respond to steroids, and is associated with a poor renal prognosis.... minimal change nephropathy
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