Colorectal cancer is making a move in research, and allowing longer life expectancy for people who are diagnosed with it. As I will discuss there are several options that have become available for people who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, also known as colon cancer. The options that are available now are early screenings, surgeries, intravenous injections, different types of therapy and even vaccines are being researched.

Research has shown that people who get regular screenings are better off than those who do not get screenings. If colon cancer is found early it can have a more successful outcome rather than if it is found at a later stage. Research is underway to use robots for colorectal cancer operations and procedures. Research is ongoing for a strain of bacteria that can destroy cancerous colon cells. They will do this by injecting the bacteria Clostridium Novyi-NT intravenously. Several types of therapy are being researched and these include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. There is also continuing research on vaccines that are immune based and other agents to treat cancer of the colon. This vaccine will involve immune system cells being taken from the body, and then reintroduced to body after they have mixed it with a cancer killing ingredient.

The options available for people who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer are on the rise. Research is taking a whole new level for finding treatment for colon cancer. Individuals and society both will be affected by this. Many lives could be saved each year if people got tested like they should. Prevention, detection, and treatment for colon cancer are on the rise. As research progresses lives will be saved and people will be advised of more ways to help prevent cancer.

Works Cited

“New Treatment and Research.” John Hopkins Medicine.http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/. 19 March 2014 Web.

“What’s new in colorectal research and treatment?” American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/colonandrectumcancer/detailedguide/colorectal-cancer-new-research. 19 March 2014 Web.

Kleine Levin Syndrome “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome”

Kleine Levin Syndrome also called “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome” is a very rare disorder. The disorder is common in young adolescents, especially in males. The disorder is said to be a malfunction occurring in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is in the brain that controls many of the body functions such as appetite, thirst, sleep and also a role in controlling emotions. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke have done much research on trying to understand the disorder an come up with treatment plans.

Kleine Levin Syndrome is rare sleeping disorder that effects approximately 70 percent of male adolescents. With this disorder one will need excessive amounts of sleep up to 20 hours a day, have excessive food intake and behavioral changes such as abnormally uninhibited sexual drive. Those effected by this condition usually have very childlike behavior. The episode of sleep may last for days or even weeks. A person will awake an may have no reelection of what occurred during the episode. A person with this disorder may see a decrease in episode after about 8 to 12 years. There is no cure for this rare condition yet. There was a report on ABC News that did coverage on this rare condition. ABC News reported that there had only been 1,000 reported case in the whole world.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke are still trying to find a treatment for those effected by the condition of Kleine Levin Syndrome. WIth the syndrome being so rare there is not a big testing group. This condition would be horrible to live with knowing there is no treatment out there yet for it and no way of controlling when an episode will occur. Those effected by this loose a great deal of time in their life  spending most of it sleeping an in a trance like state.

Kethanne K. Colich

Tortora, Gerard J and Derrickson, Bryan. Principles of Anatomy & Physiology. 13th. 2011.Print.

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/kleine_levin/kleine_levin.htm

When we are young, our mothers always stress to us that we need to drink our milk so that our bones grow to be strong and healthy. What we don’t realize at the time is that our mom is right. When we are young, our bones grow and grow until we become an adult. What happens next is the question. According to Gerard Tortora and Bryan Derrickson, “osteoporosis affects 10 Million people a year in the United States” (Tortora and Derrickson 203). Osteoporosis is a bone disorder where your bones start to loose bone mass due to your body losing calcium. Osteoporosis primarily affects middle-aged and elderly women (Tortora and Derrickson  203).

Dr. Rhut believes he has found a way to use hormones in the body to help fight osteoporosis. In recent studies that Dr. Rhut has done, he has found that by using negative allosteric modulators to release parathyroid hormones into the bloodstream, this will stimulate new bone formation. When your concentration of calcium is too low, your body senses this. It will then release PTH. This will raise your calcium concentration until the calcium sensing receptors on the parathyroid cell are activated. Once activated, it reduces PTH release (arthritis foundation).

The negative allosteric modulators will take a quite a few more years before they will be passed to use on patients. If passed, this will definitely help cut down on the amount of people that have osteoporosis. This will reduce the risk of so many hip fractures, or fractures in general, in the elderly population. This will also help with bone shrinkage, height loss, hunched backs, and bone pain (Tortora and Derrickson).

Tortora, Gerard J., and Derrickson, Bryan. Principles of Anatomy & Phisiology .13^th ed.  Hoboken:

John  Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011. Print.

“Turning on Hormones to Fight Osteoporosis.” Research Alert. Arthritis Foundation, 2008. Web. 6 Oct.

2013.

Carly Tyler

The most common type of burn within children!!

During an epidemiological study within the Kidhealth.org, they reported that over 2,055 children between the ages of 1-4 are admitted in the hospitals each year because of injuries due to burns. 500 children within this age group are treated and released each year due to burn injuries. We all know that little children like to touch everything and most of the time we do not always realize what those little hands are reaching for.

Burns are categorized in three different types, first, second, and third degree. These depended on how bad the skin is damaged.

The most common type of burn within children is scalding. A scald is caused by contact with “wet heat” such as hot liquids, bath water, steam, hot foods, drinks or cooking liquids. This usually happens in kitchens where the food is prepared. Also, the children having contact or touching the hot tap water or steam from the microwave or bathtubs.  Scalds are usually most prevalent with children under the age of five.

The most dangerous place for a child to be is in the kitchen. It is best to keep your kids out of the kitchen while preparing meals. You need to try to teach your children that the stove is a “NO-KID-ZONE”

“KidsHealth.” Burns. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/emergencies/burns.html>.

http://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/injury_prevention/children/fact_sheets/young_children_1-4_years/burn_and_scald_prevention_1-4_years.htm

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-home/medication-safety/Pages/default.aspx

Research has show that there is a link between type II diabetes, heart disease and ED. Type 2 diabetes is a growing problem in America and has serious adverse affects. However, among men, there are currently 12 million with type 2 diabetes. Some could be in store for a particularly alarming health condition, erectile dysfunction (ED).

According to recent research, the factors that come along with ED are potentially harmful if not deadly—cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is a disease that affects the heart and blood vessels. A person living with the disease is at risk for developing atherosclerosis which restricts blood flow because of plaque buildup. This is the number one cause of the health problem ED because there is poor/restricted blood flow. This happens because the vessels in the penile area are very small so when the plaque buildup occurs, which is a result of atherosclerosis, there is pretty much decreased blood circulating causing difficulties to obtain an erection.

Research and studies showed that 90 percent of men with ED problems were thought to be psychological while the remaining 10 percent were said to be physical. Today’s research and findings says the opposite is true. Most ED cases are physical blood vessel complications.              The age for ED is typically seen in men age 65+, however those men with type 2 diabetes see ED about 10-15 years earlier. Currently there are 300 million men around the world that suffer with ED between the ages of 40-70.

Research has begun to solve the underlying problems. Once something has been discovered, men can receive proper treatment to correct their health condition. Many times men are placed on medications orally and by injections such as the drug/hormone testosterone. After all, there is a worse outcome that occurs, not just having ED. The danger of atherosclerosis—hardening of the arteries can be life threatening.

References:

Methodist Hospital, Houston. “Erectile dysfunction: A possible warning sign of serious disease.” ScienceDaily, 6 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 Aug. 2013.

“What is Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)?.” American Heart Association. 2 May. 2013. 5 Aug. 2013. <http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Caregiver/Resources/WhatisCardiovascularDisease/What-is-Cardiovascular-Disease_UCM_301852_Article.jsp>.

An abnormal increase in fluid (interstitial) volume is Edema (Tortora, Gerard).  It can be caused when increased capillary blood pressure causes more fluid to be filtered, increased permeability of capillaries, or with inadequate re-absorption causes the decreased concentration of plasma proteins and lowers the blood colloid osmotic pressure (Tortora, Gerard).  Edema is normally only detected when an increase of 30 percent increase of fluid (Tortora, Gerard).  Physical therapy uses ultrasound to help redistribute the excess fluid.

The ultrasound is a high frequency sound waves that are more than 20,000 Hz. (Greatlakes). When using ultrasound in physical therapy the frequency ranges between 0.9-3 MHz (Greatlakes). Ultrasound helps by breaking up scare tissues, reduces inflammation and swelling, helps with healing at the cellular level by increasing flow, and helps improve blood flow (Greatlakes).  The therapist normally uses ultra sound before the start of physical therapy treatment because it also helps with relaxation of that treatment area.

The ultrasound uses a high-frequency generator that provides electrical current to a transducer that contains a piezoelectric crystal (Greatlakes). The crystal provides the compression wave when it vibrates because of the crystal being exposed to electricity (Greatlakes).  The therapist can control how deep the wave goes by turning up or down the frequency (Greatlakes). The therapist can target the specific are needed to help reduce the problem area by encourging the extra fluid to flow out and disperse.

Greatlakes-Physiotherapy.com/physiotherapy –ultrasound.com./physiotherapy.html.  UltraSound in                 Physiotherapy.7-2013.

Tortora, Gerard J., Derrickson, Bryan. Principles of anatomy and Physiology 13^th ed. John Wiley and Sons, INC. 2011. 814.

Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood or blood products from one person to another through bloodstream or directly into the red bone marrow. The most common reasons for blood transfusions include: alleviating anemia, increasing blood volume, or improving immunity (Tortora & Derrickson). They are sometimes used in regard to many different illnesses, such as preventing complications associated with sickle disease (WebMD). In one particular scientific study, seventy patients participated with the intention of discovering if preoperative blood transfusions are beneficial with patients who have sickle cell disease.

Patients were randomly assigned no transfusion or transfusion no more than ten days before surgery. Sixty-seven of the seventy participants were accessed, thirty-three were not preoperative and thirty-four were. Sixty-seven patients had the hemoglobin SS subtype, and fifty-four were scheduled to undergo medium-risk surgery (PubMed).

The intent was to lower the amount of hemoglobin S red blood cells in the body by blood transfusion. When fewer hemoglobin S cells are in the bloodstream, they are less likely to build up and block blood vessels. Also, blood transfusion increases the number of normal red blood cells in the body, increasing the supply of oxygen to the body (WebMD).

In conclusion of the study, thirty-nine percent of patients who did not receive the preoperative blood transfusion reported clinically important complications. Only fifteen percent of patients receiving the treatment had complications. It could be determined that preoperative blood transfusions could be associated with decreased complications with people who have sickle cell disease. Blood transfusions might be beneficial to patients who have hemoglobin SS subtypes and are scheduled to undergo low risk or medium risk surgeries (PubMed).

    The ears play a major part of maintaining body posture or balance. How do the ears help play this role? The  inner ear contains liquid that helps detect our body posture relative to the position of our head and gravity. Being able to keep our balance is a process called equilibrium. Balance is a critical especially when babies are beginning to walk ( Tortora and Derrickson 2011).

Ear infections have played a role in preventing babies from taking their first step. Many babies have been treated for other conditions when an ear infection was the only thing wrong (Cohen 1997). It is understandable because ear infections make babies fussy, disoriented, and wobbly which can be the symptoms of other illnesses (Tadlock 2010). Equilibrium disorders in babies are hard to recognize due to the inability of toddlers and infants to communicate verbally.

If we parents or caretakers pay attention to children’s needs and recognize the signs of balance disorders, we can help babies take their first step. Noticing the signs of an ear infection can prevent children from going through unnecessary treatments. It could also lessen the stress put on parents and save money spent on procedures that are not helping. After all, having balance in our everyday life makes everyone happy.

Literature Cited

1. Tortora, Gerald J. Derrickson, Bryan H. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. January 4^th 2011

2. Lindsey Tadlock. September 13 2010. livestrong.com/article/243709-baby-balance-disorders. January 31, 2013

3. Helen Cohen. December 10th 1997. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science m/article/pii/S0165587697001134

The retina contains specialized structures and cells that allow us to see. The retina contains the photoreceptor cells, rods and cones. Rods allow people to see in dark conditions (1). Cones, associated with color vision, are activated in lighted conditions (1). The signal is translated to the bipolar cells, which sends the message to ganglionic cells. The Ganglionic cells come together to form the optic nerve. The optic nerve, of course, leads to the visual cortex in the brain.

Damage and disease to the retina can lead to blindness. Research shows a way to possibly stimulate Muller cells in the eye to create a chain reaction in order to regenerate retinal cells. The research included experiments done in the lab and on mice. It was found that, when injected in the eye, glutamate, stimulated Muller cells to divide and transform into retinal cells (2). Supplemented by aminoadipate, the brand new retinal cells located specific areas of need and became the needed cell type (2). The research is moving forward hoping testing will soon be done on animals and humans.

This research could change the life millions who suffer from blindness due to retinal disease and damage. If proven safe and effective on humans, this research could give these people an opportunity to see their loved ones again. It would give them back the precious gift of eyesight to do what they love and just return to normal life.

(1) Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons

(2) Jacobs, Patti. “Massachusetts Eye and Ear.” Schepens Eye Research Institute. Schepens Eye Research Institute, 24 Mar 2008. Web. 31 Jan 2013. <http://www.schepens.harvard.edu/press-