The skin is the body’s largest organ.  It consists of three layers—the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous layer.  The skin excretes toxins and poisons that are present in the body, as do the kidneys and bowels.  Because the skin also acts as a shield between the body and the millions of foreign substances that exist in our environment, it often reacts with rashes and other skin problems.  Skin irritations are characterized by blisters, cracking, dryness, flaking, itching, redness, scaling, swelling, and thickening....

Epilepsy is characterized by seizures. Epileptic seizures are the result of an electrical disturbance in the nerve cells in one section of the brain.  Sensitivity to noise, irritability, twitching, bed-wetting and tremors may all be early warning signs of epilepsy. Often, the cause of epileptic seizures is unknown....

A fever isn’t a disease.  It is a symptom that indicates the presence of a disease such as an infection, typically caused by a cold or the flu.  When you have a cold, for instance, your immune system signals to your brain that it needs more body heat to attack infectious cells, and your body temperature rises.  This defense mechanism of the body acts to destroy foreign microbes....

Fibrocystic breast disease, also known as cystic mastitis, is a mildly uncomfortable to severely painful swelling of the breasts.  Typically, it is cyclic and usually worse just before a woman’s period.  It is the most frequent disease of the breast, is a common component of the premenstrual syndrome, and is considered a risk factor for breast cancer....

The word fibromyalgia comes from the Latin term for fibrous tissue (fibro-) and the Greek ones for muscle (-myo-) and pain (-algia). It is also known as fibrositis.  It is a syndrome characterized by chronic pain, stiffness, and tenderness of muscles, tendons, and joints without detectable inflammation.  Fibromyalgia does not cause body damage or deformity.  However, undue fatigue plagues the large majority of patients with fibromyalgia and sleep disorders are common in fibromyalgia....