Peritonitis
By Liam

Many a year ago my Grandfather underwent a hip replacement surgery, an operation which generally results in several days in hospital. In this particular instance however, he spent just over five months in intensive care due to a series of very peculiar events.
His hip replacement surgery was a great success, but as he waited in recovery there was a mistake made by the hospital staff; the surgery causes loss of intestinal function and solid food cannot be consumed until the body has regained this function - but he was given solid food despite this setback. The resulting problems involved a nicely blocked intestine and further surgery was required.
As a result of this surgery, his intestine was mistakenly perforated and bacteria which is only beneficial in that area flooded his body cavity. My Grandfather had just received a raging case of PERITONITIS.
This disease causes inflammation of the "peritoneum", a membrane which lines the abdominal cavity in the body. Often this can be caused by infection from a ruptured hollow organ, in my Grandfather's case his lower intestine. Peritonitis results in abdominal distension, and if untreated is fatal in nearly every situation.
There are three types of Peritonitis. The first is "Spontaneous Peritonitis." This can be caused by liver or kidney failure, which results in the infection of "ascites" (fluid in the abdominal cavity). The second type is called "Secondary Peritonitis", the "secondary" meaning that it is due to another condition. This is the type or Peritonitis which my Grandfather was diagnosed with, due to the puncture in his intestine. Secondary Peritonitis may also, however, occur when bile or pancreatic enzymes leak into the abdominal cavity. The third and final type of Peritonitis is "Dialysis Associated" Peritonitis. This happens when an organ fails and dialysis (involving a machine which will perform the function of that organ) causes bacteria to move from a certain area of the body which does not belong in the abdominal cavity into precisely that spot.
During my Grandfather's struggle in the hospital, he received a splenectomy (removal of spleen) and litres of fluid needed to be removed from his lungs as he was lying still for months on end. His freshly completed hip joint was immobile. Since his body was recognizing it as a foreign object, making it extremely susceptible to infection, the last battalion of bacteria was swarming that area. In a leap of faith by the surgical staff, the artificial hip was removed completely and not replaced for 6 months!
During that time wire structures were placed inside the empty socket impregnated with antibiotic "beads." Antibiotic bead therapy does not use biodegradable materials and the wire needs to be removed from the body after the therapy is finished.
Today he is 83 years old and in excellent condition.

Mitochondrial Disease

  Mitochondrial Disease(Mitochondrial Myopathies) are a group of neuromuscular diseases caused by faulty or damaged mitochondria. The energy converters of the body cannont change refined sugars that the body intakes and changes itto ATP. ATP is the currency that our body uses for energy. Nerve cells to the brain and muscles require the mostenergy from the body so when mitochondrial myopathies occurs several symptoms would effect the brain and or muscles.Their are many types of mitochondrial disease because it can effect any organ, muscle and nerves.

 Symptoms include poor growth, loss of muscle coordination, muscle weakness, visual problems, hearing problems, learning disabilities, mental retardation, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory disorders,neurological problems, autonomic dysfunction, and dementia.

 Causes of Mitochondrial Disease are possible threw Mutation, acquired or inherited. Drugs and Infections can also cause the mitochondria to become faulty.Mitochondrial DNA mutations occur frequently, due to the lack of the error checking capability that mitochondrial DNA has.This means that mitochondrial DNA disorders may occur spontaneously and relatively often. Defects in enzymes that control mitochondrial DNA replication may also cause mitochondrial  DNA mutations.The effects of mitochondrial disease can be quite varied. Since the distribution of the defective mitochondrial DNA may vary from organ to organ within the body, someone with faulty mitochondria cells in the brain may suffer from dementia when someone with faulty cells in the liver might have liver failure.

 Having to live with this disease would make my life not worth living at all, My passion is physical activities
and is my strongest attribute as a person, I wouldn't want to live if i couldn't push my body to the limits that
I currently reach. Living with this disease would bring along numerous surgeries. Having this disease would erase  the ideal life that a person would want to live because usually the person spends their life on a hospital bed, dependent on IV's for survival consisting of nutrients for the body and IV fluid each day, also a machine to assist breathing. Basic functions make you exhausted. Its hard for people who suffer from mito to keep up with friends and society, causing them to have a lower self esteem and possibly acquire depression.


Mitochondrial Disease is mysterious and experts are working hard to find a cure and better treatment. The symptoms can be so vast which makes it all that harder to pin point a cure. The causes of mito are simply natural and cant  stop it from happening. Having to live with disease would destroy my life and I don't think i could deal with being taken care of. This disease is as common as cystic fibrosis.

                                                                                                    Connor Ferguson

Lung cancer

Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the uncontrollled growth of abnormal cells in the lung. Normal lung tissue is made up of cells that are programmed by genes to create lung tissue in a certain shape and to perform certain funtions. lung cancer developes when the genetic material responsible for production of cells is damaged. Repeated exposure to carsinogens such as tobacco smoke can lead to damage in lung cells.


The mutations in the genetic material of the cells cause the intsructions for those cells to make the cells reproduce wildly, without regard for the normal shape and function of a lung. The wild reproduction causes the formation of tumors that block air passages in the lung and make it stop functioning properly.


Lung cancer is divided into two major types. The first type is small cell cancer. the second non-small cell cancer. Sometimes a lung cancer may have characteristics of both types, this is called mixed small/large cell carcinoma. About 20% of all lung cancers are small cell lung cancer. it is named for the size of the cells, although each of the cells are smaller they can multiply quickly and form large tumors and can easily spread to other organs. non-small cell represents about 80% of all cases of lung cancer, it usually causes tumors.


Tobacco and the additives in cigarettes have been reconized as the number one cause of lung cancer, over 80% of lung cancers are directly linked to smoking. Other factors that could cause lung cancer is genetics. Carcinogens like radon and asbestos can also lead to lng cancers.


There are several types of treatments for lung cancer, one type of treatment is surgery. The surgery removesw the cancerous tumors from the lung, and is called a lobectomy. Chemotherapy drugs kill cancer cells as they travel through the bloodstream and into all the organs of the body, however the medicine can have brutal effects on the users body.

celiac disease

Sam Whitworth Celiac Disease

Celiac Disease is a disorder that occurs in the small intestine. Persons of all ages can have the disease. People with celiac disease can not eat foods with gluten, wheat, barley, and rye in them. Some issues that have to deal with celiac disease are financial, dietary, clinical, and medicinal. These make celiac disease a disadvantage. Celiac disease is one disease that may not be as serious as most, but still has its ways of being a affective condition

The financial issues with having celiac disease involves the food that you eat. You cannot eat foods that contain gluten. If you wanted to eat something like bread, you can buy some that contains no gluten, but would be more expensive. Most foods that contain no gluten are more expensive ones. Pizza and French fries are foods you cannot eat if you have celiac disease. Some people become upset from that, but can result for them to have a better diet. Alcohol is not great to have with this disease because most have grains in them. You have to be pretty careful with a lot of your foods when having this disease.

Symptoms with celiac disease are mostly minor. You can get diarrhoea, or have problems with fatigue. This only happens when you have foods that contain wheat, or gluten. The diarrhoea occurs from your small intestines not being able to digest the wheat, and gluten foods. Your fatigue is affected from your diarrhoea. With younger children who have the disease, there ability to gain or loss weight can be affected. There metabolism is effected from the disease which causes wait issues to younger children. Symptoms like cramping, appetite, dehydration, and fatigue are part of a physical state. Emotional changes like depression is common with the disease. Bone disease is an additional condition that is involved with celiac disease to involve towards other symptoms towards the disease.

There are not very many medicinal issues with celiac disease. You will not need any medicine as long as you don’t eat any foods that contain gluten, wheat, or rye in it. If you do eat any foods that contains those things, there are medicines that you can use to make things better. Vitamin pills are very important for you to have, where you need the vitamins to digest. Calcium, and iron are also good too to keep yourself healthy. The only thing that is needed for medication when you have celiac disease are when you are lacking of something in your system. You are living normally like everyone else, but can only not eat foods that contain gluten, wheat or barely.

Celiac disease is not a very serious, but you would rather not have it. Your diet changes when you get the disease. With food getting more expensive for you, you are also staying off alcohol. With staying off the alcohol, you are saving money there anyways, if you are having to avoid alcohol in that case. The symptoms with celiac disease are caused by yourself. You just have to follow your diet, and be healthy. Medicines aren’t popular with celiac disease, but making poor decisions, or lacking a daily need may result in some medication. You may be missing out on good food, and alcohol, but this disease is better to have then a lot of other ones in the world.

Uterine (Endometrial) Cancer
The most common cancer of the female reproductive organs is the cancer of the uterus. There are two types of uterine cancer: carcinoma and sarcoma. Uterine cancer (endometrial carcinoma) starts in the lining inside the uterus. Uterine sarcoma starts in the muscle layers of the uterus. And the most important risk factor for endometrial cancer has to do with the hormone estrogen.
Cancer in some of your relatives is really tragic for the family. And possibility for you to get it too scares a lot. Family has to spend a lot of time and to take care about sick person. It is also really stressful for relatives to see how bad she feels about this disease.
Financial side of this disease is not really good. A person loses employment so he can’t work. She also needs to spend a lot of money for the treatment such as surgery which costs not a little. And expense for the equipment or medication is important too. All procedures are really expensive. Insurance may not pay for all expenses so it is another money problem.
Clinical side includes treatment, medications and side effects of surgery. Treatment for the uterine cancer usually includes surgical removal of the cervix, uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes. There are a couple types of medications such as chemotherapy and hormone therapy. The first one includes doxobicin, cisplatin, paclitaxel, carboplatin and topotecan. Hormone therapy includes hydroxyprogesterone and megesterol. Women with stage 1 disease who are at increased risk for recurrence and those with stage 2 disease are often offered surgery in combination with radiation therapy. Chemotherapy may be considered in some cases, especially for those with stage 3 and 4 disease. Side effects may be different in each person and depend on a variety of factors. Side effects can even change from one treatment to the next.
Unfortunately, there is no cure yet for cancer. And we have only one way to protect ourselves that to lead doctors’ advices about keeping reasonable healthy lifestyle.

Kawasaki Disease

Kawasaki Disease is an infection that can be very dangerous if not taken care of when diagnosed. This is a very rare disease that occurs mostly in children from birth to age 5. Kawasaki Disease mostly occurs in Japan and the area’s that surround it. In this essay you will learn about the effects that this disease would have on your family and friends, the effects it will have on your diet, the causes and symptoms and the effects on your quality of life.

Kawasaki Disease and the effects on your quality of life. If you are diagnosed with kawasaki disease (mostly at a young age) if they have treatment right away then if they are lucky will not have many health problems in the future. Some health problems that you may encounter if not treated properly could include blood problems, and sometimes even heart attacks. Also you need to go in for regular check ups to make sure that the problem does not come back. Also this could effect your quality of life in the way that you have to go through a lot of treatments, and you have to spend a lot of time in the hospital.

Kawasaki Disease has very specific symptoms to look for, and at first you may even think its is just a head cold or just a fever, and that is why you have to look for all of the symptoms and not only a few. Some of these symptoms include chapped, cracked and/ or red lips. Swollen hands and feet, swelling on both sides of the body, and or joint pain. Skin rashes, peeling skin mostly on the hands and feet. Vomiting, diarrhea and cough, and an extremely high temperature. There is no cause for this disease that doctors have found how ever they believe it to be am autoimmune disease meaning that your body mistakes and attacks healthy body tissues.

Kawasaki Disease can have major effects on not only you but also your friends and family. When you have kawasaki disease I think that it can effect your friends and family a lot more then you would normally think because i have been in the position as a sister of someone with kawasaki disease. If you are going through this then you will want all of your friends and your family at your side because going through things like this infection by yourself can be painful and also when you have this, and you are in the hospital you will be having lots of tests and IV needles and things that you cant go through on your own.

This disease can have many effects on your diet, there are certain things that you can and can not eat when you have this infection. For example when you are sick you have symptoms of vomiting and because of that you can not eat many things and i have seen it, of how someone can starve them self because of this. My brother was sick for 3 weeks with Kawasaki Disease, and i saw the major impact that it had on his life, he lost a lot of weight by having this sickness, and it was really scary to see because at the time the doctors had no idea what was wrong with him.

Kawasaki Disease from a sisters point of view. When my brother got sick my entire family and the doctors had no idea what was wrong with him because he was 13 at the time and this normally happens in children 5 or under. So they had to do lots of different tests on my brother to try and find out what was wrong with him because he had been sick for a week and was not getting better at all. So once they found out what was wrong with him, the doctors had to put him on severe medication to try and get a hold of the disease. When all of this was going on my younger siblings and I were kept in the dark, all we were told was that he was very sick and that they did not know what was wrong with him at the time. This experience was the scariest moment on my life because i thought that i was going to lose my brother to something that my parents were not telling me about. When i went to go and see my brother in the hospital, it was the scariest thing i had ever seen, he was attached to several different machines and he had lots of needles and things in his body to try and feed him for all the food that he couldn’t eat. I had never seen my brother looking that un healthy. He was sick and thin, and he looked very unhealthy. It was very scary seeing my brother in that much pain, he could not move or eat or sleep. There was no way of knowing if he was going to be okay, and because of that, i chose kawasaki disease as my essay topic.

Secondary Liver Cancer~~~~Marisa Arnold

I was 4 years old when my grandfather Joseph Arnold passed away. He was diagnosed with Secondary Liver Cancer when he was 72 and died when he was 75. If I had known him longer, I would’ve remembered more, but from what I do know, he was an amazing person. He and my grandmother Rose lived in Red Deer, Alberta on a little farm. Whenever we would visit, my brother and I would get up early and rush downstairs to find him in his favorite chair by the fireplace with 2 pieces of licorice for us before we had breakfast. Red licorice was my grandpa’s favorite. He always had a package of it on hand when he would be out digging ditches, doing farm work, or delivering milk to near neighbors. Grandpa Joe was diagnosed with Secondary Liver cancer in 1995; I was only 1 year old. Since I couldn’t remember much about grandpa Joe I asked my dad to describe him for me. He reminisced for hours about when he was younger and how his dad was always there for him. Something I can remember about grandpa Joe is that he was always smiling. It didn’t matter where we were or what situation we were in; he would always find the bright side. I was at Banbury Green RV Park in Penticton, B.C. when I was told about what had happened. My daddy had planned to fly out the day after he was told how sick his dad was, but my grandpa didn’t make it. I was notified from my mom after picking apples with Suzanne Justice in the orchard. Losing grandpa Joe was one of the hardest things I went through when I was younger, and I never knew how he died until this essay.

Secondary Liver Cancer is the most common type of cancer for anyone. Often times it is virtually impossible to trace the origin of the cancer as was the case with my grandpa. He was hardly in the hospital, other than when he had a few surgeries and when he was first treated. For treatment grandpa Joe was really nerved that he would need to be injected with something or have to go into chemo radiation. He was then as my mom described it “greatly relieved” to know that the chemo therapy he needed could be taken in pill form. The cancer that consisted in his liver would feed off testosterone, so unfortunately for grandpa Joe; he had to get one of his testicles removed. As for treatment grandpa Joe fought hard and made it through 3 years with the cancer but when he got really sick he only had weeks to live.

Growing up as a farmer my grandpa was a meat and potatoes kind of guy. He wasn’t big on fruit and veggies and he almost never ate salad. After he was diagnosed with the cancer, he was told that if he had good health it could increase his life expectancy rate. After living his whole life with meat as the basis of his everyday meals his nutrition was probably his biggest obstacle to overcome. After living his life with meat as the basis of every meal, it was difficult for him to get used to eating healthier. He did the best he could and it contributed to his 3 years of life with cancer. The best part about grandpa Joe was even though he had cancer, he was still the happiest he had ever been.

From my grandpa’s death, there is something we learned. Since my dad never made it to red deer to see his dad before he died, he realized how hard it was for him to live a province away. As my family was talking about my grandpa’s death I asked them what affect it had on us and my mom responded with “it means you’re never allowed to leave home”. My dad elaborated explaining that it has helped us appreciate how important it is for us to stay close when I’m growing up. I really take this to heart because my parents are the most important thing in the world to me and if I wasn’t there for my dad when he was sick I wouldn’t ever forgive myself. Hearing my dad explain how he had a choice of if they wanted to drive through the night or wait until the morning to get on the military flight was really difficult for me. I could hear the regret in his voice. My dad feels guilty for thinking the best thing to do was to fly home to Red Deer in the early morning, because my grandpa died in the night. I don’t ever want to feel the pain I can tell he feels.

Although Secondary Liver Cancer isn’t genetic it still worries me every time my mom and dad get sick. My parents have had their share of hospital time with viruses and broken bones and I’m always going to worry about them. I love my parents and I loved my grandpa Joe. Grandpa Joe’s memory will live on in our hearts forever. Although my grandpa didn’t survive this disease, I hope that research in treatment for this cancer will extend the life of future patients.

http://www.cancercenter.com/secondary_liver_cancer.cfm

http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/686/main.html

http://www.cancersurvivalrates.net/liver-cancer-survival-rates.html

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness affecting around one percent of the population. The mental disorder is characterized by delusions along with paranoia. The illness starts to show symptoms throughout a person’s young adulthood. Schizophrenia greatly affects the lives of those who suffer from it along with their families, such as mine.

A person suffering from the disorder will often experience stress and delusions throughout their teenage years and adulthood. Common symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucinations, paranoia, disorganized behaviour, the inability to make rational decisions, along with difficulty in dealing with emotions and social interactions. There are three subtypes of schizophrenia, the paranoid type, the disorganized type, and the catatonic type. Victims of paranoid schizophrenia experience hallucinations and delusions, but don’t suffer from disorganized behavior and are more able to think rationally. Disorganized schizophrenia is characterized by thought disorder and disorganized behaviour. The catatonic type includes episodes of behavior varying in a extreme spectrum. Coma-like dazes and slowed motor skills are another symptom of this subtype.

There are numerous causes for schizophrenia, making each and every case different. The main causes of the illness are genetic, substance abuse, prenatal problems, and complications in brain structure. The most likely way to develop schizophrenia is by being directly related to a person with the disease. Almost half of all schizophrenics abuse drugs or alcohol. Drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, and most notably cannabis, have been linked to causing psychosis and schizophrenia. Stressful experiences in the prenatal period like malnutrition, drug abuse, and exposure to a viral infection can increase the risk of developing the disorder. Lack of activity in the frontal lobe of the brain causes the poor decision making in disorganized schizophrenics. Schizophrenia has showed to decrease the amount of brain tissue over time. Experts still have not found the exact cause of schizophrenia, but have narrowed down the causes which increase susceptibility to the disorder.

People with schizophrenia often have problems relating to or socializing with others. The disorder has had a dark history due to misunderstanding along with ineffective and unethical treatments. The first attempts of treating of schizophrenia were the creation of asylums. Insulin and electric shock therapy were the next treatments to be experimented with throughout the 1930’s, both of which were very unsuccessful. The discovery of destroying nerve fibers by injecting alcohol into the frontal lobe to cut off emotional function was made by Portuguese doctor Egus Moniz in 1930. The procedure was later perfected by an American neurologist, Walter Freeman. Freeman would hammer an ice pick like tool called an orbitoclast into the frontal lobe via the eye socket and sever the nerve fibers. The transorbital lobotomy gained popularity as a treatment for schizophrenia because it left patients with dulled emotions and was cost effective. The use of the lobotomy declined in the 1950’s as it was found to cause patients to die from epilepsy as well as cause brain damage. Since then antipsychotic medications have been developed and cases of full recovery are becoming more and more occurrent.

Schizophrenia causes many difficulties and hardships in the lives of those who suffer from it, for obvious reasons. It can take patients years to find the right balance of medication and get on the road to recovery. Thankfully modern science is making medical advances in the treatment of this affliction that the earlier experiments of the twentieth century could not. Roughly one third of schizophrenic patients make a complete recovery and experience no further psychotic episodes. Hopefully through further research, a cure for schizophrenia can be found.

By Joe Woywitka

Sources Cited: http://schizophrenia-blog.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/schizophrenia

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000928.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_jYqSA_fJk

HIV in Africa

HIV is a terrible disease that devastates many people’s lives all over the world, especially in third world countries. You can only imagine the difficulties that people carrying such a brutal disease must have to face, even in North America. Now picture a woman with HIV, living in an impoverished country trying to raise a family and struggling to make ends meet. This is the case for many women in Africa. The huge issues for people in this situation include: quality of life, financial problems and lack of basic necessities.

The HIV virus attacks the T-cells in the body and multiplies itself, eventually disabling the body’s ability to kill germs and diseases. The condition only gets worse and worse until you become extremely vulnerable to getting life threatening infections and cancers that your body should normally be able to fight off. This disease can easily be calmed by taking antiretroviral drugs that allow your immune system to work properly, but most women in impoverished countries don’t have access to the drugs or just can’t afford them. Because of these small problems, many of these women have to face extremely painful and difficult lives, many of which don’t last very long.

Along with the struggles of pain, money also becomes a huge issue. When the symptoms of HIV start to show, you would lose your job as you would constantly be sick, or taking care of another ill family member; impacting not only your life but now your whole family is experiencing lifestyle changes. People who are already in the heart of true poverty now earn absolutely nothing while trying to raise several children. Could you imagine having to wonder where your next meal is going to come from? Not knowing if today is your last day to live? It’s brutal to picture but the truth is that it’s a reality for so many people and we just don’t realize how good we’ve got it living where we do.

Finally, following financial problems, many families lack basic necessities. With the loss of a job and no income, getting even one meal a day becomes hard. Malnutrition is a huge factor of what causes a shorter life expectancy, especially for someone with HIV. The other main factor and the biggest one of all, clean water, is something that is much too expensive for many people. One bottle of clean water in Rwanda costs one day’s worth of labor work, to be more precise, 1 dollar. So many people with HIV can’t control their disease simply because they can’t get these basic necessities.

HIV has destroyed many lives and families throughout Africa and will continue to do so for years to come. If it only takes a few simple things like money and clean water and education, things that we have so much of, why don’t we do something to end this eroding epidemic? We don’t realize the extreme effects that HIV can have and does have on so many people around the world because we need to open our eyes and see the big picture. When I was in Rwanda, I asked a woman with HIV if they had thanksgiving there, and she replied, I am thankful everyday that I am alive.

Sites:

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS?wasRedirected=true

www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/std/hiv.html

www.avert.org/aids-impact-africa.htm

www.thebody.com/h/hiv-aids-effects.html

www.onelifetolive.ca/?gclid=Ck_Gu931gKcCFRBNqwod62wCdg

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Multiple Sclerosis Robert O’Sullivan

There is a disease that is sweeping through the world and it is called Multiple Sclerosis (MS). However there is no known way on how MS is diagnosed there is a procedure that is changing the life of those who have had the operation done. Having Multiple Sclerosis has a huge impact on your life. Living with this disease is very hard, and I know what it is like seeing someone with it, my heart goes out to all those who have this disease.

There is no known disease to cure Multiple Sclerosis. However experts have been researching immune disorders. What normal happens is a virus enters the body, and then your immune system kicks in. Your immune system targets the virus and destroys it. What experts have suspected is the MS virus is so strong that that the immune system doesn’t suspect that is it a virus but instead myelin. Shortly after the virus starts attacking immune system in particular the tissues. This eating away of the tissue results in the supposed cause of MS. This messes up the nervous system attacking the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.

There is a new procedure that is sweeping the world and having remarkable results. Dr. Paolo Zamboni took 65 patients with MS, and two years after the sugary 73% of patients had no symptoms. Dr. Zambonis thesis is that MS is a result of blockage of veins and arteries that remove iron from reaching the brain. What Zamboni has done is he has simply just expanded the veins and reopening blood flow. That can cause elimination of the disease.

Many people have to live through life with disease; it can be easier for some but very hard and challenging for others. One example is Kelli age 21; she is only 21 and may have to live with this disease for the rest of her life. She described Multiple Sclerosis as being just terrible for your body. “It feels like your legs are jello after running a marathon and a feather is like picking up one thousand pounds.” “Your legs and arms feel like their asleep and you are having the prickles for twenty four hours seven days a week. I myself know someone who has Multiple Sclerosis, my Nana has MS. Having MS has made my Nana’s life I nightmare. She has trouble balancing which has resulted in her falling down and breaking her hips, each on separate times. But my Nana went to California to undergo the operation. Sadly the operation was not a success. When the veins were expanded the blood should immediately start to flow, but there was a problem with one of the flaps in her brain which didn’t let the blood low. Yes it was unfortunate because all of these results were happening and the fact that it didn’t happen to her was terrible.

In conclusion there are new developments that are happening with amazing results almost curing all of those who take the operation. Reason that there is no cure is that there I no known cure on how we can live our lives so that we can live our lives without worrying about getting the disease. Even though someone has MS they are perfectly capable of living their lives happily.

Bipolar Disoder, By Jessica Kyllo

Bipolar disorder affects 390,000 people in Canada and 1,259,000 people in the U.S.A. affecting many aspects of their lives. So what is bipolar? Bipolar is a disorder that is based in the brain, sometimes passed down through genes(often skipping a generation), or developed through the function and structure of the brain. This disorder is an alternation between manic and depressive periods; people may find themselves living in these states anywhere from a few weeks, to months at a time. A person who is diagnosed with bipolar may have many questions like: what will I experience in a manic or depressive state? How will my family be affected through my disease? What treatments and medications, if any, can I take for bipolar, and what are the costs? I will be answering all of these questions and sharing a personal story of how bipolar took the life of one of my close family members.

The symptoms of a manic state and a depressive state are very different. People who are experiencing a manic state may have any of these following symptoms: extreme levels of feeling up, high or jumpy. They may talk quickly about many different subjects, feel irritable, have trouble sleeping, and do things without thinking like spending money or having dangerous sex. People who are experiencing a depressive state may have: intense feelings of sadness, worry and emptiness. They may have trouble concentrating or remembering things. They lose interest in doings things and become slower, and less active. They often cannot sleep and think about death or suicide. These symptoms will make it hard to carry on a normal life or show affection to loved ones. Many family members may feel put out through these feelings, but the best thing is to read up on the disease, and try to be understanding of what the particular person is going through. People with bipolar need a lot of support, whether they act like it or not.

There are many different types of medications and treatments out there to help people with bipolar. Many people who have bipolar take medications that are set to their specific case. There are always many risks involved with taking medications such as side effects, addiction, and they can also be expensive. Often people go to therapy to help deal with bipolar, “talk-therapy” or psycho therapy are commonly used for bipolar but can be very expensive. Sometimes people with bipolar decide to use electro-shock therapy, to correct the problems in the brain. This procedure is also costly and comes at a great risk of damaging the brain. Although all of these forms of treatments may be helpful they are all expensive and some have high risks involved. Having to spend a large amount of money on therapy, treatments, and medications may cause some people to have poor living conditions, which does not help the disease.

Growing up as a child, I was always surrounded by strong people who loved me and cared about me, and I saw it as one big happy family. It wasn’t until 2006 when this image changed, as my own grandmother tried to take her own life. I then learned about how my grandmother had suffered from bipolar since she had her first child, and the difficulties my mom had growing up with a mentally unstable mother. I was surprised to learn this about my family, but I understood, and believed that my grandmother would soon be back to normal. It wasn’t too long after she was released from the hospital, that my grandfather came home from work to find my grandmother comatose on the kitchen floor, with an empty 500 bottle of extra strength Tylenol in the trash. She was hospitalized and put on life support, but in the end she succeeded in taking her own life.

Through my research and watching my grandmother die of a bipolar related suicide, it has become clear that bipolar is a disease that is hard to live with. When something affects so many aspects of your life it is hard to carry on normally, but people with bipolar can often hide many of their symptoms and appear like they have no problems. They always need a lot of support and understanding, whether they are in a manic or a depressive state. Knowing that bipolar is passed down genetically, and that I have a higher chance of being diagnosed with this disease than others, I will always be looking out for warning signs. Although there is no way to prevent being diagnosed with bipolar, you can help yourself by catching symptoms early on, and getting treatment to keep the disease under control.

Sites:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001924
http://www.healthwatchcenter.com/2008/07/how-bipolar-disorder-affects-the-quality-of-life/
http://nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder-easy-to-read/index.shtml
http://helpguide.org/mental/bipolar_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm
http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_causes_bipolar_disorder_000066_3.htm
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/bipolar.html

Blogs:
http://bipolarsupport.org/

Type 2 Diabetes - By Erika Godfrey

Throughout life, people come into contact with many diseases and illnesses. The disease that hits closest to home with me is diabetes. Diabetes really affects a person’s everyday life in many ways. It changes how someone’s life becomes a lot more complicated, and how he or she needs to look after him or herself a lot better. When someone is diagnosed with diabetes, he or she takes on a greater responsibility to monitor and keep him or herself healthy. There are two types of diabetes, but for me, it’s type 2 diabetes that runs in my family, on my mom’s side. From all the stories I’ve heard of my grandpa having diabetes, I’ve learnt a lot about what it is, how it affects your life, and why I should try to prevent myself from becoming diabetic.

Type 2 diabetes, also known as Adult Diabetes, is caused when the body doesn’t make enough insulin, or when the body makes enough insulin but cells are unable to take it in to make energy out of it. Insulin is used in the body to move glucose into cells, which will later be converted into energy. Since the insulin intake is lacking in people who have diabetes, there is an increase in the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. The high amount of sugar causes the pancreas to create more insulin; however it’s still not enough to get the sugar into cells. Overtime, high blood sugar levels can lead to other body effects such as: kidney failure, cardiovascular damage, neurological damage, as well as other issues.

Type 2 diabetes prompts many changes in the life of someone diagnosed with it. For starters, people with diabetes have to modify their diet to make sure they keep their blood level even. A healthy diet is essential, eating healthy meals regularly at the right intervals, and in good proportions keeps blood sugar levels under control. Regular exercise and weight-management are other key parts of managing diabetes. Oral pills are to be taken to help the pancreas make more insulin, and even pricking of the finger to test the blood sugar levels may be needed. Life insurance is hard to get if you have diabetes, and it’s very expensive if you do manage to get it. Other costly things are blood monitoring equipment, test strips, medication and insulin. There are also the expenses for the change in diet, costs of exercise equipment and/or gym memberships. The quality of life is also affected with tiredness that occurs because of poor sleep patterns. Diabetics are also thirstier because of the excess amount of insulin made. The body tries to dilute the extra insulin that the kidneys can’t get rid of fast enough by getting more liquid in the system, causing diabetics to drink more. Lifestyle habits must be adjusted to fit the diabetic life.

My grandpa was diagnosed with diabetes while in his sixties. He always used to eat lots of sugary foods, which caused his diagnoses. If he had watched what he had eaten and proportioned everything better, he wouldn’t have had diabetes. Since the day I was born, till the day he died, he was diabetic, although from the way he ate, no one would have thought so. I remember even still all the times he’d let my sisters, cousins and I have so much junk food, and he’d enjoy it with us. He probably should have been more careful though. He had to take many pills everyday to help his insulin, and he had to prick his finger to check his blood sugar level. I was only about five years old when I remember all this happening, but I do remember all the pills he used to have each morning. I can’t imagine having to go through that everyday, so I will learn from my grandpa and make sure I stay eating healthy and get lots of exercise.

It’s clear that diabetes has a big impact on someone’s life if he or she is diagnosed with it. Being a diabetic puts a lot of stress on someone, causing him or her to take more care in looking after him or herself. Knowing that diabetes runs in my family, I definitely take care to make sure I don’t eat too many sugary foods and that I get a lot of exercise. After researching about diabetes, I’ve learned a lot more than I knew before. With all this new information, I can use it to try to prevent myself from becoming a diabetic.

Sites:

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&rlz=1R2ADRA_enCA398&defl=en&q=define:Type+2+Diabetes&sa=X&ei=7jhWTcTeIpC-sQPq8I2jDA&sqi=2&ved=0CCwQkAE

http://diabetes.webmd.com/type-2-diabetes-sleep

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/type-2-diabetes/DS00585

http://www.diabetesforum.com/2010/05/type-2-diabetes-diet/

Blogs:

http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/

http://bobsdiabetes.blogspot.com/

Leukemia ... and how it changes my mind

“My life completely changed... not only was I physically effected by the disease, but also psychologically.. everything” That was the first response of my friend, who had Leukemia. Leukemia is simply a type of cancer in the blood cells. This essay will explore the information regarding the symptoms, the treatments and the various types of this disease. Finally, we will look at how this disease affects the lives of the patients and the issues around it.

Leukemia occurs when the bone marrow starts to produce abnormal amounts of blood cells. That causes the blood cells to become damaged. As a result, it grows and divides at a very high rate. Over time these leukemia cells crowd out normal blood cells, which cause the sufferer to be ill. There are many types of Leukemia and their effect varies slightly. It can first be divided into two main types: acute or chronic. Leukemia can be further categorized into 2 other main types, which is Lymphocytic and Myelogenous (more info). To more precision, there are four specific categories: ALL, AML, CLL, CML.

Generally, Leukemia symptoms vary from patient to patient. It depends on the number of normal blood cells, the amount of leukemia and its location in the body. A low number of red blood cells may result in anemia. This means that the patient will become tired easily and the body condition is weak. My friend, who had Leukemia, remembers her past experiences when she “ could barely walk from the hospital bed to the toilet... and her strength seem to have vanished”. The treatment depends on the stage and the type of the cancer. Normally, most patients undergo chemotherapy, especially in Acute Leukemia (ALL & AML). Other options include radiation therapy, and blood or bone marrow transplant (BMT).

The most important aspect of this disease is the issues that change the quality of life, and have a major impact on clinical and financial situations. My friend was diagnosed with ALL type Leukemia and she was informed of this grave news when she was just ten years old. Her mentality changed completely. Her joyful childhood was replaced with miserable experiences in the hospital. She began to question, “Why did this happen to me? Why does it affect the people I love?” To make matters worse, she was isolated. After being released from the hospital, she could only stay in the house. Her love for running and playing was taken away. Instead, she was restricted to limited activities. From my memory, I can recall her absence for an entire school year. For the following two years, she was unable to participate in physical education. She used to say, “I can only watch and hope to be like everyone else”.

Besides the physical and mental changes of this cancer, there are also clinical issues and treatment issues. Chemotherapy is given in doses of medications. When one type is completed, they will change the type until all sets are completed. My friend encountered problems, when her hair began to fall off. She described her hair as “falling like the rain.” As a result, she was embarrassed to go out in public due to the fear of discrimination. When her body began to swell up, she described it as a horrible feeling. Even now, many years since she was cured, she needs to go for regular checkups. When I asked her opinion about the whole experience, she simply replied, “ I don’t usually think about it, it was a memory that reminded me of some terrible life I used to have”. The final issue that occurred is the financial consequences. My country, Thailand, does not have an established primary healthcare system. Specialized doctors come at a high cost. Financially, my friend's family is greatly affected by the costs of these treatments. They paid the fees with the social security health plan, but eventually it was used up. The company even refused her purchasing of a new plan. Therefore, she has no support in the near future. Despite the difficult obstacles that she faced with her family, she remains positive about the situation. Two years after she was diagnosed with cancer, she was finally cured.

Leukemia is one of the most common types of cancer that people can get. About 850 Canadian children (age 0 -14) develop cancer each year. It is the most common disease related to the cause of death in children within ages of 1 to 19. With modern technology, Leukemia can be cured if noticed in advance. However, the patients will have to undergo various therapies. Undoubtedly, this will change their lives completely. I asked my friend if she has anything to add concerning this topic and she said “ I know my life has completely changed ....there are many things I want to do... I lost a majority of my childhood, but being sad and hopeless isn't going to help at all...I learned to live through it and I succeeded...you need to enjoy every single day".

by Pongsakorn Yananissorn

For further information about Leukemia, you can go to the following websites:

http://www.marrow.org/PATIENT/Undrstnd_Disease_Treat/Lrn_about_Disease/ALL/index.html

http://www.mayoclinic.org/acute-leukemia/

http://www.healthtree.com/articles/leukemia/bone-marrow/.

http://www.healthtree.com/articles/leukemia/types/

http://wilhoite.blogspot.com/

VIDEOS

WATCH "A Child with Leukemia Experiences Late Effects of Chemotherapy"

Soroush Sharafzadeh Feb.11th
Epilepsy

Epilepsy finds a way to affect every one of us. Epilepsy is a neurologic disorder, defined by seizures. Whether we have to live with the condition, or we know others that do, we are all impacted. There are many different causes of epilepsy such as infections, mutated genes, and drug or alcohol abuse. 50 million people worldwide have some case of epilepsy. Many are diagnosed to have epilepsy when they are an infant, though the disorder does fade away as they grow older. Others are not as fortunate. In fact 30 % of epileptics cannot control their seizures with medication. Some people do not even receive medication, as they are proclaimed possessed. My Grandmother was one of those people. Her name was Ozra Sharafzadeh. And this, unfortunately, is her story.

It’s like waking up from a dream. All you want to do is go back to bed again. You feel very dizzy and moody. The only real difference is no one cares to say, “Good morning.” We all act as if nothing happened, but we all know. I had another seizure, I lost consciousness. I don’t remember what I was doing before, or what time it was but now its dark outside. I slowly stumble to the kitchen and my head hurts again. As I reach for a glass I collapse onto the counter. The door opens, and my husband Ali Akbar is now home. He takes his time before bringing me to my feet, and then walks away. It feels like I’ve become a burden, and I simply hate it.

It seems as if night time is the only time I don’t want to sleep. Can you imagine how scary it is not remember a large portion of an entire week? It’s utterly terrifying. I’m always panicking about my next seizure. I can’t control when they happen, I never have. Today my husband looked at me and said, “Something’s wrong.” Those words are bitter sweet, and yet I’m almost excited. Maybe finally, it’s time to fix things. The seizures are getting worse, and more powerful. My anxiety is starting to take over. I keep wondering if my next seizure will be my very last.

It’s a bright and sunny day, my son Ali-Reza is outside with his friends. My husband Akbar comes home early, and with him he brought the local Reverend. “We think we know the problem,” said Akbar. He was across the room, it didn’t seem like he wanted to move any closer, he’s was scared. Then both of them try to explain to me that, I’m not sick, but that I’m simply possessed. So I lay down, flat on the floor. They start by throwing water onto my face. This is the part I wake up…right? Nothing happens; the Reverend goes home and tells Akbar to watch over me, in case. I look outside the window and see my son playing football with his friends. Fortunately, he is too young to understand.

My Grandmother died when my father was 7. She was 36 years old. You may all read this and think it’s over exaggerated, but it’s not. You have to keep in mind that this story took place around 50 years ago in Iran. No one seemed to believe or even know what epilepsy was.Even today we our brightest scientists have trouble finding their way around the concept. There is no known cure for epilepsy, only a few ways to control the seizures. 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy. Of those people 90 % live in developing countries, and 30 % of conditions cannot be controlled with medication. What are these people meant to do? An alternate option is a risky surgery directly to the brain tissue. I’m not certain everyone would financially be able to do that. I wonder about this story sometimes. If my grandmother received medication for her condition, would she still be alive. She suffered from Tonic-clonic seizures, a very dangerous Generalized Epilepsy. We are all one way or another impacted by this condition. I never got to meet my Grandmother; in fact I knew virtually nothing about her before this. I’m glad her story’s been told.

Sources:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001714

http://137.172.248.46/epilepsy.htm

http://www.epilepsy.ca/eng/content/sheet.html

http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/brain_nervous/epilepsy.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy