Bill's Options

Bill Nye The Science Guy has many options to treating his Melanoma. These are

• Surgically, where the doctor physically removes the cancerous moles
• Using Radiation Therapy, which is where high doses of X-Rays are concentrated in one area
• Chemotherapy, where chemicals and drugs are used to purge the whole body of cancer cells

In my opinion, I believe that surgically removing Bill's mole, and then using Radiotherapy is the best course of action. My reasoning for this is, since Bill's cancer is at an early stage, metastasis hasn't occurred too much yet, so doctors can concentrate on one specific part of the body. This fact alone rules out chemo, which affects the whole body. Chemo is also bad for the body because, in essence, you are injecting poison into your body.

Radiotherapy, like chemo, kills cancer cells, but in a target body area. Using this after the surgery will kill any cancer cells that did manage to escape the doctors surgical knife.

Hi

Grading Complete

Hi class,

I have just finished grading your blogs and will share your grade in class. If you are posting after this point, I will not be checking back for grading purposes, so please let me know if you have added or updated any information for me to check in reference to this assignment. The posts were really well done and your comments were thoughtful. I began commenting on the most recent posts, but then decided to just finish grading, and I will go back to comment additionally if I have time. Stay tuned for the next assignment (which will also be mentioned in class)!!

D. Bernstein

Yaws

Symptoms: Yaws causes bumps to appear on the skin. Usually starting as one bump and escalating to multiple skin lesions. The skin will crust over and then shed, and what remains resembles a raspberry or strawberry-like texture. The original bump is referred to as the "mother yaw." All preceding bumps are referred to as "daughter yaws," and are not spotted for 6-16 weeks of the mother yaw's appearance. Nearly all cases are witnessed in children under 15 years of age, with the peak of infection occurring at ages 6 to 10. Yaws occurs in four stages. The primary stage being the start of the "mother yaw," the secondary stage marked by presence of "daughter yaws," the third stage known as the latent stage is when most areas of the skin clear up, and the final stage is the tertiary stage, in which yaws can destroy parts of the skin, bones, or joints.

Cause: Yaws is caused by a bacterium called Treponema pertenue.

Body Systems Affected: Systems affected include the Integumentary System, as well as the Skeletal System.

Locations: Yaws is most commonly found in humid and tropical areas in Asia, Africa, South and Central Americas, as well as many Pacific islands.


Sources: information - http://www.medicinenet.com/yaws/article.htm#2whatcauses
picture - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaws

Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that occurs in the brain.The disease causes brain tissue to degenerate, and often leads to dementia. Alzheimer's Disease mostly affects the elderly, the majority over the age of 85. It is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. There is no cure for Alzheimer's Disease, but researchers are continuing to develop new drugs to help ease the symptoms of the disease.

Symptoms of Alzheimer's
- impaired memory
- confusion
- language deterioration
- impaired judgment
- personality and behavior changes
- difficulty performing familiar tasks

Body System Affected:
- Nervous System

Sources
http://www.umm.edu/nervous/alzheim.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers-disease/DS00161/DSECTION=symptoms
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp

Polio

• Polio [PO-lee-oh] is a viral disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis.
• The polio virus enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the stool of an infected person.
• Polio is preventable by immunization.
• Since polio immunization has become widespread in the United States, cases of polio are rare. However, polio remains a problem in many parts of the world.

What is polio?

Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is a disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis. Since polio immunization has become widespread in the United States, cases of polio are rare. However, polio remains a problem in many parts of the world.

What are the signs and symptoms of polio?

The polio virus attacks the nerve cells that control muscle movements. Many people infected with the virus have few or no symptoms. Others have short-term symptoms, such as headache, tiredness, fever, stiff neck and back, and muscle pain.

More serious problems happen when the virus invades nerves in the brain and causes paralysis of the muscles used in swallowing and breathing. Invasion of the nerves in the spinal cord can cause paralysis of the arms, legs, or trunk.

What is the treatment for polio?

There is no treatment for polio. A polio patient must receive expert medical care, especially at the beginning of the illness.

How can polio be prevented?

Two types of polio vaccine are available: oral polio vaccine (OPV) and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV).

• OPV is made with a live but weakened virus. OPV protects vaccinated persons directly. OPV also protects other susceptible persons who are indirectly "vaccinated" as the vaccine virus spreads in the community. Because of wide use of OPV, no cases of paralytic polio caused by naturally circulating polio virus have been reported in the United States since 1979.

• IPV is given by injection. It protects vaccinated persons as well as OPV, but it is not believed to be as effective as OPV in preventing the spread of polio virus among non-vaccinated persons. However, IPV is not known to cause polio disease.

• As of January 1997, the recommended schedule for polio vaccination for children was two doses of IPV at 2 and 4 months of age, followed by two doses of OPV at 12-18 months and 4-6 years. This schedule is expected to reduce the small number of polio cases caused by the oral vaccine.

• Schedules containing all OPV or all IPV can still be used, too. IPV can be given at 2, 4, and 12-18 months, and 4-6 years. OPV can be given at 2, 4, and 6-18 months, and 4-6 years. Parents and doctors can choose among the three schedules.

• Booster doses of polio vaccine are also recommended for persons traveling to areas of the world where polio is still a problem.

• As is the case with all immunizations, there are important exceptions and special circumstances. Health-care providers should have the most current information on recommendations about polio vaccination.

http://www.dhpe.org/infect/polio.html

swimmer's itch

Swimmer's itch is a rash caused by parasites of birds and mammals. The parasites come from infected snails and migrate through waters. People get it by swimming or wading in infested water.

Symptons: Initial tingling sensation when the parasite goes into the skin. Itching subsides for 10-15 hours, then becomes worse.

Treatment: Some use skin lotions or creams to minimize itching.

Prevention: Toweling off after swimming or wading in the infested water.

Dengue Fever

What is Dengue Fever?
Dengue Fever is a transmitted bite coming from the Aedes mosquito. This mosquito is infected with any one of the four dengue viruses.

Symptoms:

• Appear 3-14 days after bite
• Headache
• Fever
• Exhaustion
• Swollen Glands
• Severe Joint and muscle pain
• Rash

Body Symptoms Affected:
Blood vessels start to leak starting from the nose, mouth, and gums. Large bruising like shown in the photo can be a sign of internal bleeding. If not treated immediately blood vessels will collapse, causing Dengue Shock Syndrome.

Most commonly found in:

• Indonesia
• Northeastern Australia
• South and Central America
• Southeast Asia

Prevention:

• Clothing
• Mosquito repellent
• Traveling during periods of minimal mosquito activity

Treatment: No specific treatment,
Tylenol may bring down the fever. Avoid taking asprin.



Source: http://www.medicinenet.com/dengue_fever/article.htm#2whatareas
http://www.topnews.in/health/files/Dengue.jpg

Guillain-Barre

"Guillain-Barre syndrome is a neurological disorder in which the body's immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system." The disorder can develop over the course of hours or days, or it may take up to three to four weeks. The stage of greatest weakness is usually within the first two weeks after symptoms appear, and by the third week of the illness 90 percent of all patients are at their weakest.The first symptoms include varying degrees of weakness or tingling sensations in the legs, which sometimes spreads to the arms and upper body. Your muscles cannot be used at all, the patient becomes nearly paralyzed, it may become difficult to breathe, blood pressure and heart rate are affected. This is life threatning and you must be treated at a hospital.

https://www.google.com/health/ref/Guillain-Barre+syndrome

Celiac Disease

What is celiac disease?

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease and is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins, and lip balms.

When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats.

What are the symptoms of celiac disease?

Symptoms of celiac disease vary from person to person. Symptoms may occur in the digestive system or in other parts of the body. Digestive symptoms are more common in infants and young children and may include

• abdominal bloating and pain
• chronic diarrhea
• vomiting
• constipation
• pale, foul-smelling, or fatty stool
• weight loss

Irritability is another common symptom in children. Malabsorption of nutrients during the years when nutrition is critical to a child’s normal growth and development can result in other problems such as failure to thrive in infants, delayed growth and short stature, delayed puberty, and dental enamel defects of the permanent teeth.

Adults are less likely to have digestive symptoms and may instead have one or more of the following:

• unexplained iron-deficiency anemia
• fatigue
• bone or joint pain
• arthritis
• bone loss or osteoporosis
• depression or anxiety
• tingling numbness in the hands and feet
• seizures
• missed menstrual periods
• infertility or recurrent miscarriage
• canker sores inside the mouth
• an itchy skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis

People with celiac disease may have no symptoms but can still develop complications of the disease over time. Long-term complications include malnutrition—which can lead to anemia, osteoporosis, and miscarriage, among other problems—liver diseases, and cancers of the intestine.

What other health problems do people with celiac disease have?

People with celiac disease tend to have other diseases in which the immune system attacks the body’s healthy cells and tissues. The connection between celiac disease and these diseases may be genetic. They include

• type 1 diabetes
• autoimmune thyroid disease
• autoimmune liver disease
• rheumatoid arthritis
• Addison’s disease, a condition in which the glands that produce critical hormones are damaged
• Sjögren’s syndrome, a condition in which the glands that produce tears and saliva are destroyed

How common is celiac disease?

Celiac disease affects people in all parts of the world. Originally thought to be a rare childhood syndrome, celiac disease is now known to be a common genetic disorder. More than 2 million people in the United States have the disease, or about 1 in 133 people.¹ Among people who have a first-degree relative—a parent, sibling, or child—diagnosed with celiac disease, as many as 1 in 22 people may have the disease.²

Celiac disease is also more common among people with other genetic disorders including Down syndrome and Turner syndrome, a condition that affects girls’ development.

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/#top

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsive disorder is a mental disease that can corrupt your brain with thoughts that can cause anxiety and repetitive behaviors such as patterns, counting and going back to touch objects. These thoughts could lead to unreasonable patterns and a lot of the time the obsessions are not even reasonable. When you try to stop an obsession it can increase anxiety and distress. There is a urge that drives you to perform unnecessary compulsive acts in order to make it easier on yourself. Even though you may try hard to stop these thoughts and concerns the obsessive thoughts come back.


Symptoms

1. Fear of being contaminated by germs or dirt or contaminating others
2. Fear of causing harm to yourself or others
3. Intrusive sexually explicit or violent thoughts and images
4. Excessive focus on religious or moral ideas
5. Fear of losing or not having things you might need
6. Order and symmetry: the idea that everything must line up “just right.”
7. Superstitions; excessive attention to something considered lucky or unlucky
8. Skin lesions because of picking at your skin
9. Hair loss or bald spots because of hair pulling
10. Avoidance of situations that can trigger obsessions, such as shaking hands

Body systems it affects

• Central Nervous System

www.ocfoundation.org
kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/ocd.html

MUSCULAR SCLEROSIS

Muscular Sclerosis or Multiple Sclerosis is an auto immune disease, where the central nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and nerves) are attacked by the body’s own immune system. This disease mainly attacks and breaks down the Myelin Sheath. The Myelin Sheath is a fatty protein cover that surrounds the nerve fibers. When this protective covering is broken down there is abnormal activity within the nerves. This causes a loss in control of muscles, balance, and coordination.

Symptoms of MS

1. Muscle Weakness

2. Changes in sensations

3. Numbness

4. Visual Problems

5. Depression

6. Thinking and Memory Disturbances

7. Severe Fatigue

8. Problems Balancing

9. Impaired Mobility

10. Pain in muscles

Organ System Affected

1. Central Nervous System

http://www.hpathy.com/diseases/multiple-sclerosis-cause-treatment-cure.asp

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/early-symptoms-of-muscular-sclerosis.html

Osteoporosis

What You Need to Know About Osteoporosis:

What is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis literally means porous bone, which means there are holes in the bone. Therefore, the bones become weak and brittle. Often, those affected experience painful fractures. To preven this condition, one should build up their bone mass at a young age by consuming enough calcium and vitamin D, and exercising regularly. This condition can be passed on genetically, is four times more frequent in women, and increases with age.

What are the symptoms?

Osteoporosis generally doesn't show any visible symptoms until the damage has already been done. It is often called a "silent" disease because of this. However, some may experience shortened height or a Dowager's hump. A more definite sign of osteoporosis is a fracture, which usually occurs in the back or hip. Once the first fracture occurs, you are at risk for more.

What body systems are affected?

The skeletal system is affected by this disease because it occurs in bones, which are a key part of the skeletal system. Eventually, though, it could affect more systems like the respiratory system because you wouldn't be able to stand upright and breathing would be labored, and the muscular system because you wouldn't be able to exercise.

Sources:

www.webmd.com

http://www.empowereddoctor.com/library/photo/osteoporosis.jpg

Crohn's Disease

Crohn's Disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that effects both men and women equally.Crohn's disease is diffulcult to diagnose because it is very similar to other intestinal disorders. Crohn's disease causes inflammation of the digestive tract, and can affect from your mouth all the way to the anus. The most commonly affected area though, is the lower part of the small intestines called the ileum. Many theories of what causes Crohn's disease are out there and many lead to the body's immune system. Many say that the immune system reacts abnormally and mistake foods and other things as being foreign in the body so the immune system tries attacking them all away. Scientists do not know if the abnormality of the immune system is the cause or effect of Crohn's disease.
SYMPTOMS:

Crampy abdominal pain
Fever
Fatigue
Persistent, watery diarrhea
Abdominal fullness and gas
Clotting Problems
Constipation
Joint Pain
Liver inflammation
Fistulas
Gastrointestinal bleeding
Rectal bleeding and bloody stool

SOURCES:

http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/library/graphics/images/en/19219.jpg
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/crohns/
https://www.google.com/health/ref/Crohn

Ebola and You.

Ebola and You.
What is it? How does it effect the body? And more importantly, what are the absolutely most vile, gruesome, and macabre things about this virus? (Its why you're reading this...right?)

First, some background information. Ebola itself is a filo virus, which means that it's structure resembles that of a thread. It was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Ebola River (hence its name) in 1976. Various outbreaks of this virus occurred, and in each of them, the death rate was extremely high, between 50%-90%. This awesome deadly virus is transmitted most commonly through bodily fluids. For example, say hypothetically that you have the Ebola Virus, and you kiss your boyfriend/girlfriend passionately. Congrats! You just passed the Ebola Virus! And here I thought cooties didn't exist... But don't fret. No serious outbreak has been seen in the United States. And rejoice if you're a monkey, because a vaccine has been developed for you!


Symptoms
Now onto the fun part! Like most viruses, symptoms won't appear the moment you contract the virus. They need a certain period of incubation time. Ebola typically has a 5-10 day incubation time. After this wait, a person will have an extremely high fever (around 101.8°F), head aches, muscle/joint pains, and other nasty things. Oh, and did I mention internal and external bleeding? And this is just the initial stage!

As Ebola progresses, more serious symptoms occur (As if it couldn't be any worse than bleeding from your very pores!). These include bloody diarrhea/vomit, low blood pressure, and tachycardia. As you can see, Ebola is known for being a very bloody disease. In fact, many victims of the Ebola virus usually undergo much hemorrhaging, and bleed from various parts of the body, such as the nose, mouth, etc. Since Ebola also disrupts the platelets in your blood, clotting is not possible, so the victim keeps bleeding.

Effected Body Systems
Many body systems are effected by the Ebola virus. The most obvious being the Cardiovascular System. As previously mentioned, blood platelets , as well as white blood cells, are attacked by Ebola, thus causing much damage. Another system effected is the Integumentary system. While bleeding profusely, this also causes damage from the orifices that you are bleeding from, mostly from the skin. Muscular System is also affected, from the initial system of the Ebola virus, in which the muscles are really sore.

Sources:
Blackman, James A. "filovirus." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Oct. 2009 .

"Ebola virus." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Oct. 2009 .

Winters, Wendell D. "Virus." Encyclopedia Americana. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Oct. 2009 .

http://www.andrewstella.com/images/Diseases/Images/ebola.jpg

Note: I apologize for not too many pictures being posted. It wasn't that I was too lazy (Seriously!), it's just that pictures of Ebola Victims are really graphic and I didn't want my fellow classmates to judge me (Well...any more than they do). If you really do wish to see them, just do a Google Image. But, really, its gross. Don't do it. You have been forewarned.

Chronic Bronchitis

What is Chronic Bronchitis?
Chronic Bronchitis is an infammation of the brochical tubes in your lungs. When the brochial tubes get irritated a thick coating of mucus forms. The mucus covers up the bronchial tubes and makes it much harder for air to pass through them. Because it is "chronic" bronchitis the condition lasts a long time. Chronic Bronchitis lasts more then three months, and often occurs with emphysema. The main cause of Chronic Bronchitis is cigarette smoking because the tobacco smoke irritates the airways. Being exposed to chemical fumes for a long time also can cause Chronic Bronchitis.

Symptoms:
-Coughing up mucus
-Having trouble breathing
-Chest feeling tight
-If you have had any of these symptoms for a long period of time

Body Systems Affected:
-Respiratory, because it irritates your bronchial tubes
-Immune, because it causes your body to become more suseptible to other infections because it has to fight off the Chronic Bronchitis

Sources:
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/articles/280.html
http://myhealth.ucsd.edu/library/healthguide/en-us/images/media/medical/hw/hwkb17_090.jpg

Lou Gehrig's Disease

What is Lou Gehrig's Disease?

Lou Gehrig's disease is a disorder that's also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, amyotrophic means that the muscles have lost their nourishment. When this happens, they become smaller and weaker. Lateral means that the disease affects the sides of the spinal cord, where the nerves that nourish the muscles are located; and sclerosis means that the diseased part of the spinal cord develops hardened or scarred tissue in place of healthy nerves.
ALS is often called Lou Gehrig's disease after Lou Gehrig, a hall-of-fame baseball player for the New York Yankees who was diagnosed with ALS in the 1930s. People in England and Australia call ALS Motor Neurone Disease (MND). The French refer to it as Maladie de Charcot, after the French doctor Jean-Martin Charcot, who first wrote about ALS in 1869.

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of Lou Gehrig's Disease are :

- tripping

-dropping things

-abnormal fatigue of the arms and/or legs

- slurred speech

- muscle cramps and twitches

-involuntary periods of laughing or crying.

Affected Organ Systems

The organ systems affected by Lou Gehrig's Disease are the Nervous system and the Muscular system.

http://kidshealth.org/kid/grownup/conditions/als.html

http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/53/main.html

The Rabies Virus

The Rabies Virus

Facts:

• Rabies is widely distributed across the globe. More than 55,000 people die of rabies each year. About 95% of human deaths occur in Asia and Africa.
• Once the signs and symptoms of rabies start to appear, there is no treatment and the disease is almost always fatal

Symptoms:

• Headache
• Tiredness
• Fever
• Nausea
• Sore Throat
• Stiff Muscles
• Drooling
• Sound,Light, and Temperature sensitivity
• Convulsions
• Painful Throat Spasms
• Difficulty Swallowing
• Cardiac Failure
• Respiratory Failure

Body Systems Affected:

• Central Nervouse System
• Brain

Sources:

• http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/r/rabies/basics.htm#organs
• http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/r/rabies/symptoms.htm
• http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs099/en/
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/Images/Fenner/rabies.jpg

Emphysema

Emphysema

What is Emphysema?

Emphysema is a disease of the lung that causes shortness of breath. The disease is long-term and progressive, meaning that it continually worsens as time goes on. The anatomy of the lungs is changed in people with Emphysema, and the lung tissues that are needed to make the lung properly function are destroyed. This disease is part of a group of diseases known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Emphysema is primarily caused by smoking cigarettes. Other causes, however, include:

- air pollution

- heredity

- age

- being male (males have a higher risk of developing the disease than females)

- airway reactivity

- a deficiency in the enzyme alpha-1-antitryspin (an enzyme that fights off tryspin, which destroys tissues of the lung)

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of Emphysema include:

- coughing (most likely caused by mucus)

- wheezing

- decreased tolerance for exercise

- breathing through pursed lips

It is important to know that the disease develops slowly, and it may not be noticed. Having other diseases that limit breathing ability may cast a shadow over the idea of Emphysema being an issue.

Organ Systems Affected by Emphysema

Emphysema affects both the Respiratory System and Immune System. The deterioration of the lungs limits the Respiratory System's ability to properly function. In addition, the immune cells in the lung (produced by the Immune System) are unable to prevent and fight the infection caused by cigarette smoking or the presence of tryspin.

Sources:

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/emphysema/article_em.htm

http://blstb.msn.com/i/AF/41B38C3A87B599C19928E66B1497B2.jpg