Shannon Raye Smith

Recommended Articles

• What Is an Anal Fissure?

  What is an anal fissure?The anal canal is a short tube surrounded by muscle at the end of the rectum. An anal fissure is a small crack, tear, or rip in the anal canal lining. Anal fissure is often very small, but can cause you severe pain. The pain gets worse after passing stool and normally last...

• How Is Bronchitis Differentiated from Other Chest Infections?

  Bronchial tubes are the airways through which air travels and reaches the lungs. The inflammation of these bronchial tubes is called bronchitis. The inflammation is more often caused by a viral infection, smoke, dust, or other irritants.Bronchitis may be due to a chest infection, inflammation of...

• How Pigs Are Increasing Understanding of Cystic Fibrosis

  Researchers have been trying to figure out why Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients are unable to fight off bacterial infections.Recently, studying pigs have helped scientists understand CF better.Why pigs?Initially, mice were used to evaluate CF, but they did not spontaneously develop CF like humans do....

• Causes and Treatment of a Persistent Cough

  What is a persistent cough?It can be annoying to have a cough that lasts for more than a couple of weeks. A cough is considered chronic or persistent if it does not go away after four weeks in children and eight weeks in adults. However, most persistent coughs are due to colds, flu, infection, or...

• What Is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

  Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by obsessive, unreasonable thoughts, and repetitive, compulsive behaviors. The recurring thoughts and fears, called obsessions, leads to the need to repetitively perform certain actions, called compulsions, that would help in...

• What is Acne?

  Acne is a skin condition that develops when the hair follicles are plugged with oil and dead skin cells. Acne is usually seen on the face, neck, chest, shoulders, and back. These areas have the most sebaceous or oil glands. Acne can be persistent at times like when one begins to go away, a new one...