common cause hypothesis

Examples of common cause hypothesis in the following topics:

• Autoimmune Diseases

  • In contrast to classical inherited genetic diseases, like sickle cell anemia, autoimmune diseases are not caused by the defect of a single gene, but by the dysfunction of the complex interaction of a group of genes.
  • This has led to a "common cause hypothesis" of autoimmune disorders.
  • Several organisations and institutes have established programs to investigate this common cause hypothesis.
  • However, defects of one or more of these genes do not cause an autoimmune disease, but only predispose a person for an autoimmune disease.

• Alzheimer's Disease

  • Although Alzheimer's disease develops differently for every individual, there are many common symptoms.
  • In the early stages, the most common symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events.
  • Several competing hypotheses exist trying to explain the cause of the disease.
  • The oldest, on which most currently available drug therapies are based, is the cholinergic hypothesis, which proposes that AD is caused by reduced synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
  • In 1991, the amyloid hypothesis postulated that amyloid beta (Aβ) deposits are the fundamental cause of the disease.

• Is Being Too Clean a Bad Thing?

  • The hygiene hypothesis refers to lack of exposure to pathogens early in life, thus resulting in susceptibility to allergens.
  • The rise of autoimmune diseases and acute lymphoblastic leukemia in young people in the developed world has also been linked to the hygiene hypothesis.
  • In this article, the hygiene hypothesis was proposed to explain the observation that hay fever and eczema, both allergic diseases, were less common in children from larger families (which were presumably exposed to more infectious agents through their siblings) than in children from families with only one child.
  • The hygiene hypothesis is supported by epidemiological data.
  • Studies have shown that various immunological and autoimmune diseases are much less common in the developing world than the industrialized world, and that immigrants to the industrialized world from the developing world increasingly develop immunological disorders in relation to the length of time since arrival in the industrialized world.

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

  • The numbness often occurs at night, with the hypothesis that the wrists are held flexed during sleep.
  • Most cases of CTS are of unknown causes, or idiopathic.
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome can be associated with any condition that causes pressure on the median nerve at the wrist.
  • Some common conditions that can lead to CTS include obesity, oral contraceptives, hypothyroidism, arthritis, diabetes, and trauma.
  • Non-traumatic causes generally happen over a period of time, and are not triggered by one certain event.

• Shingles

  • Shingles, the common name for herpes zoster, is caused by latent varicella zoster virus, the same virus which causes chickenpox in children.
  • The initial infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes the acute (short-lived) illness chickenpox which generally occurs in children and young people.
  • Years or decades after a chickenpox infection, the virus may break out of nerve cell bodies and travel down nerve axons to cause viral infection of the skin in the region of the nerve.
  • The virus may spread from one or more ganglia along nerves of an affected segment and infect the corresponding dermatome (an area of skin supplied by one spinal nerve) causing a painful rash.
  • It has become common practice to vaccinate children against the virus that causes both chickenpox and shingles.

• Gonorrhea

  • Gonorrhea (also colloquially known as the clap) is a common human sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
  • Gonorrhea (also colloquially known as the clap) is a common human sexually transmitted infection.
  • The most common male symptoms are urethritis associated with burning with urination and discharge from the penis.
  • Very rarely it may settle in the heart causing endocarditis or in the spinal column causing meningitis (both are more likely among individuals with suppressed immune systems, however).
  • Gonorrhea is caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae .

• Joints and Aging

  • Aging is a common cause of chronic joint pain, as wear and tear from years of use results in inflammation and osteoarthritis.
  • Joint pain occurs in all age groups, but becomes more common with age as wear and tear on the joints from years of use results in inflammation and osteoarthritis.
  • Older adults are also more prone to injuries that can cause joint pain.
  • One of the most common causes of joint pain, inflammation is the body's response to pain, infection, and other threats.
  • Joint injuries become more common with age as decreased balance and motor control lead to falls.

• Urinary Incontinence

  • It can be a common and distressing problem, which may have a profound impact on quality of life.
  • The most common causes of urinary incontinence in women are stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence.
  • Enlarged prostate is the most common cause of incontinence in men after the age of 40; sometimes prostate cancer may also be associated with urinary incontinence.
  • Moreover drugs or radiation used to treat prostate cancer can also cause incontinence.
  • Polyuria generally causes urinary urgency and frequency, but doesn't necessarily lead to incontinence.

• Pancreatitis

  • The most common symptoms of pancreatitis are severe upper-abdominal burning pain radiating to the back, nausea, and vomiting that worsens with eating.
  • Eighty percent of pancreatitis cases are caused by alcohol and gallstones.
  • Gallstones are the single most common cause of acute pancreatitis, while alcohol is the single most common cause of chronic pancreatitis.
  • These may cause pain, become infected, rupture and bleed, block the bile duct and cause jaundice, or migrate around the abdomen.
  • A blockage in this duct can cause pancreatitis.

• Sinusitis

  • Sinusitis, the inflammation of the paranasal sinuses, is a very common condition in the US with potentially dangerous complications.
  • It is a common condition in the United States, where more than 24 million cases occur annually.
  • If the infection is of bacterial origin, the most common three causative agents are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis.
  • Chronic sinusitis lasts longer than three months and can be caused by many different diseases that share chronic inflammation of the sinuses as a common symptom.
  • The causes of chronic hyperplastic sinusitis are poorly understood.