Adrenal cortical hypoplasia vs. hyperplasia

Q. What does it mean when Robbins says the adrenal cortices are hyper- and hypoplastic?

A. Hypoplastic adrenal cortices mean that the adrenal cortices have atrophied; hyperplastic adrenal cortices mean that they have expanded. (more…)

Even more on H. pylori

Q. I have a question about H. pylori.  I understand that it’s mainly the host’s inflammatory response to the H. pylori‘s presence at the epithelial cell surface that causes the ulcers.  (more…)

Intestinal parasites

Intestinal parasites are a big cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. They don’t just occur in underprivileged parts of the world though – there are several that are pretty common here in the US. (more…)

H. pylori: How does it do it all?

H. pylori is one crazy bug.

It lives in one of the most hostile environments in the body: the highly acidic stomach. In fact, it not only lives there, it seems to thrive! (more…)

Wilson disease

Wilson disease is an autosomal recessive disorder in which patients accumulate a ton of copper. Let’s take a look at copper metabolism and then look into the disease in a little more detail. (more…)