Tuesday, April 7, 2009

D block Disorders

D Block researched the following disorders/conditions

Ebola Virus
Lymphoma
Tuberculosis
Turrets Syndrome
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
Ovarian Cancer

6 comments:

Tyler and Melissa said...

Name of Disease
Ebola Virus

The System it Affects
Immune System

Symptoms
The early symptoms are no more severe than those of the influenza, such a fever, sore throat and nausea. Ebola can lead to organ damage and extreme hemorrhaging from bodily orifices. The virus destroys white blood cells in the victim’s body.

Summary
Ebola is a disease that is transmitted though bodily fluids and sometimes skin and mucus contact. It develops in a short period of time after contact and symptoms are seen very quickly. Ebola is extremely fatal with mortalities as high as 50-89 % of all its victims. It initially developed along the Ebola river in Africa.

Who it Affects
Anyone who comes into contact with it.

Treatment
Supportive care to relieve symptom pain is the only possible treatment for Ebola. Even with this care, the mortality rate is still high. There is no cure for the disease.

Picture
http://www.h2orobots.org/images/ebola.jpg

Bibliography

http://ebola.emedtv.com/ebola/ebola-treatment.html
http://ebola.emedtv.com/ebola/ebola-symptoms.html
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/216288-overview

Hamlet and Kelsey said...

Hamlet & Kelsey
Bio Saxe D
4/7/09

Lymphoma
I. Name of disease: Lymphoma
II. System it affects: Lymphatic system
III. Symptoms: First symptoms include the swelling of lymph nodes, located on the neck, under the arms, or the groin. More progressive symptoms include:
a. Fever
b. Sweating, especially in the night
c. Weight loss/reduced appetite
d. Itchiness
e. Extreme fatigue
IV. Summary: The cause of lymphoma is still unknown to the medical world, but it is widely believed that a combination of genetic and environmental factors contribute to the onset of the disease. Lymphoma accounts for three percent of all cancer cases in the world. Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, which encompasses the lymph nodes, spleen, tonsils, thymus, bone marrow, and a network of tube-like vessels that transport the colorless watery fluid lymph throughout the body.
V. Who is affects: Those most prone to lymphoma are individuals between the ages of 25-35 and over 60.
VI. Treatment: There are three types of lymphoma: low grade, intermediate grade, and high grade. Treatment for each differ based on the type. In low grade lymphoma, the disease moves so slowly that patients often can live for many years without symptoms. The treatment is minimal but consistent. In intermediate grade, the disease moves rather rapidly, and without treatment can be fatal within a few years. 50-75% of cases that are treated recede. In high grade lymphoma, the disease moves so fast that even with treatment the patient is looking at maybe a year. Radiation treatment and chemotherapy are the main forms of treatment.
VII. Picture: http://www.cancerstudies.bham.ac.uk/research/EBV-PositiveLymphoma.jpg
VIII. Biblio:
a. http://www.mydr.com.au/cancer-care/lymphoma
b. http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/304/main.html
c. http://www.csmc.edu/5275.html

Ella and Ruthie said.... said...

Tuberculosis

Affects the respiratory system

Symptoms:
• pneumonia
• enlarged lymph nodes
• enlarged lungs
• wasting away
• weakening of immune system and susceptibility to other diseases
• cough
• fever
• weight-loss
• fatigue
• and without treatment, death


Summary: Tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. It primarily infects the lungs, but can spread to most organs. One can get TB by inhaling particles of infected mucus or saliva. It cannot be transferred via touch; it is an airborne disease.

Treatment: Your body can naturally treat it by isolating the infection with scar tissue. Otherwise, the antibiotic isoniazid is used for inactive TB. Active TB is treated with isoniazid as well as rifampin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide. For especially bad cases streptomycin can be used. Occasionally lung surgery may be necessary. For preventative treatment, there is a vaccination.

Who gets it: 8 million new cases per year in the world
In the US there are 10-15 million people carrying bacteria and 22000 new cases per year
Higher risk people include homeless, nursing home, prison inmates, drug users, alcoholics, diabetics, health-care workers, and anyone who comes in frequent contact with infected persons.

Image: http://www.topnews.in/health/files/tuberculosis-cough.jpg

Sources:
http://www.medicinenet.com/tuberculosis/article.htm#toca
http://www.medicinenet.com/tuberculosis/page5.htm#vaccine
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/understanding-tuberculosis-basics

Cammie and Sam said...

Turrets Syndrome

 Affects the central nervous system
Who
 Is inherited
 found in all populations and all ethnic groups
 more common in males and more common in children
 .05 to 3% of population has it
 Could be autosomal dominant
 Not all who inherit the gene develop the disease

Symptoms
 unwanted movements and noises called tics
 brief muscle contractions of limit muscle groups
 Socially inappropriate comments or behaviors
 Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Self injuring behavior, anxiety or depression
 Increases amount of dopamine, serotonin or norepineephrine, neurotransmitters, causing the tics
 Excess chemicals in brain cause it to become over reactive

Summary of Disease
 Cannot be diagnosed though blood testing, only observed
 may be misdiagnosed because diagnosis relies on observation
 Neurological disorder
 Starts early on and lasts for a lifetime
 worst symptoms peak in adolescence
 Often accompanied by OCD, tics relieve an urge to do something
 Tics come and go over time
 Caused by abnormalities in connections and neurotransmitters between different regions of the brain
 Such as the Basal Ganglia, Frontal Lobes and the Cortex

Treatments
 No cure
 Symptoms can be controlled by educational and psychological interventions and medications
 many medications have serious side effects and are used in severe cases
 Relaxation therapy can help with the symptoms
 Current research is searching for the gene that causes Tourette Syndrome to figure out genetic risk factors
 Using neuroimaging to map affected parts of brain
 Studying dead Tourette Syndrome brains
 Stimulants can be used to treat ADHD
 Some treatments such as dopamine agonist are being tried to decrease levels of neurotransmitters

Picture

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1610000/images/_1613300_section300.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1613300.stm&usg=__q1K6RWc5r4gMMY-J3hlqnEqd_U=&h=180&w=300&sz=14&hl=en&start=10&um=1&tbnid=hyZEAzcKm7VumM:&tbnh=70&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbrain%2Btourettes%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4ADBF_enUS302US303%26um%3D1

Sources

1) http://www.tourettes-disorder.com/introduction.html

2) http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Turrets+syndrome

3) http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tourette/detail_tourette.htm#121623231

Charlotte and Victoria said...

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Affects
Endocrine System

What are the adrenal glands?
The adrenal glands are two small organs located above the kidneys that manufacture hormones and send chemical messages to affect the actions of other organs in the body. The inner part of the gland, or the medulla, makes adrenaline, while the outer part, the cortex, makes cortisol, aldosterone, and androgens. Each of these hormones affects functions like energy levels, blood pressure, response to illness and injury, and bodily growth. Cortisol affects energy levels, sugar levels, blood pressure, and response to illness or injury. Aldosterone maintains the proper salt level. Androgen is a male sex hormone that helps stimulate development in both boys and girls.

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
When a body has CAH, the adrenal glands’ production of cortisol is blocked, and levels of aldosterone are often well below normal. As a result, the gland produces too much androgen.

Symptoms
Low levels of cortisol may result in fatigue and nausea. If the body becomes sick or injured, low levels of cortisol could result in low blood pressure, and in the worst cases, death. Without aldosterone to monitor salt levels, amount of salt in the body can swing wildly. This can result in dehydration, cardiac arrhythmia, and sometimes even death. If left unbalanced for long periods of time, abnormal growth may occur. Too much androgen also results in abnormal growth of physical characteristics, such as failure to menstruate, ambiguous genitals, deep voice, and excessive hair growth in girls, and early development of masculine characteristics, enlarged penis, small testes, and well-developed muscles in boys.

Treatments
The primary goal of treatment is directly affect hormone levels in the body. This is done with a lifelong supply of hormone supplements to replace missing hormones, and the physical growth can often be remedied with surgery. Patients are required to check in with an endocrinologist on a regular basis to measure height, weight, and blood pressure.
Image

http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/cah/images/fig1.gif

Sources
http://endocrine-disorders.health-cares.net/congenital-adrenal-hyperplasia-treatments.php
http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/patient_education/pepubs/cah.pdf
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000411.htm

Deyanira and Yericca said...

Reproductive System Disease

Ovarian Cancer

As the name suggests, ovarian cancer affects the female reproductive system. Women with a history of cancer in their family are at a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer (Cancer.gov) Cancer is an excessive growth of cells and in ovarian cancer it generally appears first in the outer layer of the ovaries (Britannica). The two types of ovarian cancer includes “ovarian epithelial carcinomas” which begin in the outer layer and “malignant germ cell tumors” which begin in the egg cells themselves (Cancer.gov).
Symptoms may include bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating, urinary symptoms (urgency and frequency) (American Cancer Society). Because they seem like symptoms attributed to other, non cancerous conditions, it is difficult to correctly attribute them to cancer. They can be noticed, however, because they “represent a change from the norm” (ACS). If they occur for longer than usual they should be brought up to a doctor’s attention.
To treat ovarian cancer, surgery is generally the most effective (Britannica). The removal of the ovaries is called oophorectomy and it is the most common procedure, however sometimes the fallopian tubes are removed as well if necessary and sometimes only a hysterectomy is performed instead which is the removal of the uterus and cervix (Britannica). Radiation is not a primary treatment for ovarian cancer, but chemotherapy is preferred for cancer that spreads beyond the ovaries (Britannica).

(Diagram of the female reproductive system)
http://www.cancervic.org.au/images/content/ovarian_cancer/female_repro_ovary.gif

(Diagram of ovarian cancer development)
http://www.knowyourhealthmatters.com/images/diagram2.jpg

Sources
Britannica

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/435771/ovarian-cancer
National Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/ovarian/
American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Ovarian_Cancer_Symptoms_The_Silence_Is_Broken.asp