What is Onychomycosis - Its Causes, Manifestation and Cure

Onychomycosis, the medical term for nail fungal infection, refers to any type of fungal infection that affects the nails. According to medical literature, it is the most common nail infection yet the most difficult to treat.

Onychomycosis is caused by dermatophytes, a type of fungus that attacks both human and animal hair, skin and nails. Two dermatophytes, the Trichophyton rubrum and the Trichophyton mentagrophytes are responsible for causing 90 percent of all nail fungal infectons. The disease is not life-threatening but it can cause pain, extreme discomfort and embarrassment to those who are suffering from this unsightly disease.

How Will You Know That Your Nails are Being Attacked by Fungi

You will know that your nails are being attacked by dermatophytes when they start to show discoloration and develop deformed and uneven yellowish lines underneath and on the sides of the nails. Your nails could also turn into a black color with that portion of your nails developing uneven and yellowish lines.

Treatment of Nail Fungal Infection

The treatment primarily used for onychomycosis or nail fungal infection are terbinafine, itraconazole and fluconazole. Most medical publications say that these medications are effective for the elderly, for patients with diabetes and for children.

What is Visceral Fat?

 Visceral fat is the kind of body fat found in between our internal organs.  An excess of this fat results to enlargement of the abdomen which we commonly call "beer belly", "pot belly" or abdominal fat.

Visceral fat stored in the abdomen is very bad because it poses a serious health threat to the individual. It is highly associated with Type 2 diabetes. 

Fat stored in the abdomen can result to insulin resistance, a condition where the insulin content in the body is not able to bring down the body's high glucose levels. 

Visceral fat is also a risk factor for hypertension and various heart problems. It is also a symptom that a person has metabolic syndrome, a disease that can lead to heart disease and diabetes.

An analysis of the manner fat is distributed throughout the body using a CT scan show that several factors are responsible for the accumulation of visceral fats that result to a protruding abdomen or a big belly. 

Fat that has accumulated in the abdomen is composed of deposits of fats divided into subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. 

Visceral fat is the more active of the two types of fat. It has the capacity to release huge amounts of fatty acids, the by-product of the breakdown of fats, into the bloodstream, transporting them to the liver through the hepatic portal vein.

This physiological activity has been considered the major cause of insulin resistance and diabetes among those with excess visceral fats in the body.