Blog | CPR St. Louis
We hope you enjoy these articles on health and disease-related topics written by future healthcare providers in school programs in St. Louis, Missouri. Each topic has been chosen by the student as an interest of theirs. The goal was for these future healthcare professionals to be able to research a health topic, organize the facts, and ultimately write a short paper explaining the topic in terms that anyone could understand. A huge part of working in one of these fields is to educate their patients, as well as the public. This is a wonderful opportunity for each student to be able to write and publish a public paper that could help someone understand some good basic information about a health-related issue. Of course, these papers are only a starting point for someone who wishes to learn more about a topic, but each paper also includes references that would allow the reader to research further. Again we hope these papers provide you with some very good useful information that you can understand. Enjoy! Brought to you by the students who attended class with Jay Snaric
In type II diabetes, the person’s pancreas is capable of making the insulin but it may not produce enough, or something in the body is unable to use the insulin as intended. And as with type I insulin (glucose) is needed for digestion and energy. Glucose is unable to enter and be used as noted above. Increasing glucose levels cause disruption in the body. Similarly, high levels can damage major organs such as the kidneys and the heart. Unlike type, I diabetes, type II diabetes is a preventable disease. People at the highest risk for this disease are people who do not exercise are overweight or obese have a familial predisposition, have high blood pressure, and are over the age of 45. My mother and mother-in-law fit every single risk mentioned. They could have prevented the onset of their disease by changing some parts of their lifestyle. In fact, both my mother and mother-in-law were overweight and/or obese and did no type of exercise at all. As for familial predisposition, my mother’s father died of complications suffered from his type II diabetes. Changing parts of one’s lifestyle such as exercising and maintaining a normal weight can help deter the onset of this type of diabetes. This fact encourages me to do what I have to prevent this disease. As with type I, blood sugar levels have to be monitored and medication via injection or pill form may be required.
Since HPV is so common there are a number of risks that can play a part in getting infected. The number of people you have intercourse with will increase your chances. Also, if you are with someone that has been with a lot of people it could play a huge role as well. Age is another factor because warts are so normal throughout your life span starting from a child to an adult. If your immune system is weakened you also have a greater risk because it is harder for your system to fight it off. Damaged skin that is open is already easier to infect and can develop warts. When you are dealing with people that personal contact with a person who has warts and not protecting yourself with gloves or anything else you should use may increase your risk as well.
There are four different types of schizophrenia and each has its own symptoms. The first type is paranoid schizophrenia. This type is characterized by delusions and auditory hallucinations, but relatively normal intellectual functioning and personality. They often believe that everyone around them is against them or they are being treated unfairly and are more likely to express anger, aloofness, anxiety, and can be argumentative. The second type of schizophrenia is disorganized schizophrenia. This type is characterized by disorganized speech and behavior or they are difficult to understand and also inappropriate emotions, such as laughing at a funeral. With this type, people have difficulty doing everyday things like dressing or showering. The third type is undifferentiated schizophrenia. This type of schizophrenia is characterized if you have mixed symptoms of the two different types above. The fourth type is residual schizophrenia. This type is characterized by having a history of having at least one schizophrenic episode, but the person does not have any “positive” symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and behavior, or inappropriate emotions. This person may never have an episode again or it may happen at random.
Some of the signs and symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa are binging on a regular basis, purging to get rid of food, and avoiding weight gain. Patients will also base how they feel about themselves on how much they weigh and how they look. Bulimia can be treated with psychological counseling and sometimes the use of medications such as antidepressants. The sooner the treatment is started the better. There are many preventative methods people should be aware of. If the patient goes to the bathroom right after meals, overeats but never gains weight, is secretive about eating, or does not like eating around people. They might often talk about dieting, weight, and body shape, or use laxatives or diuretics often. Once these signs and symptoms have been observed get the patient help as soon as possible.
Atopic Dermatitis can usually be healed with creams such as anti-itch creams, and over-the-counter Hydrocortisone creams. There are cases in a physician’s aid is required. A physician should be called if the Atopic Dermatitis does not begin clearing up within several days, becomes infected, or is painful to the point that it interferes with daily life. A physician should also be contacted if the patient was exposed to genital herpes, cold sores, or any other type of viral skin disease while their Atopic Dermatitis is flaring up. Contact with any of these viral skin diseases while having a flare-up of Atopic Dermatitis can cause the patient to contract not only the herpes simplex virus but also eczema herpeticum in severe cases.
The causes of epilepsy vary. In about half the cases, there is no precise reason the condition developed. For the other half of people, there are six explanations: genetic influence, head trauma, brain conditions (such as a tumor or stroke), infectious diseases, prenatal injury, and developmental disorder (related to autism or neurofibromatosis). As with any condition, there are always risk factors. Age is a big risk factor. Epilepsy is most commonly developed at an early age or after the age of 60. However, it could happen at any age. Dementia has also been proven to increase the risk of epilepsy. Family history, head injuries, stroke, and brain infections also increase the risk.
The risk factors of ALS are heredity, age, and sex. ALS commonly occurs in individuals between the ages of 40 and 60. Slightly more men develop ALS than women, until the age of 70. After the age of 70, this sex difference fades. Also smoking increases an individual’s chances of developing ALS. There is some evidence that suggests that exposure to lead may be linked to the increased risk of ALS. In recent studies, there has been a link formed between ALS and service in the military. Although researchers are not sure what exactly links these two yet, it could be linked to exposure to certain chemicals and metals that are used in the military. There is set no treatment for ALS. Patients can volunteer to test new drugs to help slow down ALS, but there has been no treatment found that reverses ALS.
After getting diagnosed and getting the results back that a person has appendicitis, surgery usually follows and is called an appendectomy. If it were just pain in the appendix, antibiotics would be prescribed. The surgery is about an hour and is a quick and common surgery that many patients receive every single day. Getting treated before the problem gets bigger, usually leads to a quick recovery and back to a normal lifestyle. One important fact not to forget about it is that appendicitis is the leading emergency case that deals with the abdominal category. If you or someone you know is going through these symptoms, getting medical attention immediately is critical for the self-being and health of one’s self.
Asthma attacks happen because of some kind of trigger. These triggers are something that cause the bronchioles to be irritated which leads to an asthma attack. There are various triggers such as smoke, dust, outdoor air pollution, pets, mold, weather, and other things. Sometimes people don’t know what triggers exactly cause their asthma attacks; it might not be one thing but multiple things. A word of advice for those who do know what triggers their attacks; avoid those things if you can.
One of the many topics covered in the physiology portion of Anatomy & Physiology is how the skin works. The integumentary system includes skin, hair, nails, and cutaneous (skin) glands. Your skin is made up of two layers the epidermis (the visible layer) and the dermis (below the epidermis). The type of tissue that the epidermis is made up of is called stratified squamous epithelium. One of the major functions of stratified squamous epithelium is protection because it’s made up of nice thick cells it makes sense that this would make up the top layer of skin. The epidermis is your first line of defense and protects you from bacteria, fungi, water loss, water gain, and abrasions. There are some things that can penetrate the epidermis, anything lipid soluble like estrogen cream, and hydrocortisone cream these are both examples of steroids. Also, organic solvents like acetone and car fluids can pass through the epidermis as well as heavy metals like lead, mercury, and nickel.
