“Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disease affecting the part of the nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movement.”
SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) is a disease that robs people of physical strength by affecting the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord, taking away the ability to walk, eat, or breathe. It is the number one genetic cause of death for infants.
SMA affects approximately 1 in 11,000 babies, and about 1 in every 50 Americans is a genetic carrier. SMA can affect any race or gender.”
SMAIreland (smaireland.com)
“Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body’s response to an infection. The body normally releases chemicals into the bloodstream to fight an infection. Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to these chemicals is out of balance, triggering changes that can damage multiple organ systems.”
MAYO CLINIC
“To better understand diabetes, it helps to know more about how the body uses food for energy (a process called metabolism). Your body is made up of millions of cells. To make energy, the cells need food in a very simple form of sugar. This is done through digestion and than released into the blood … Without insulin, or the “key,” sugar cannot get into the body’s cells for use as energy.”
Cleveland Clinic
“Interestingly, research has found that the eye’s “rod” cells, responsible for certain important visual functions that are more likely to degrade with age than the “cone” cells, which are responsible for visual acuity and color vision. The health of rod cells is also more dependent on environmental factors such as nutrition, smoking, and excessive sun exposure, all of which we can control or choose, to some extent.”
American Academy of Opthamology
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“Osteoporosis, which literally means porous bone, is a disease in which the density and quality of bone are reduced. As bones become more porous and fragile, the risk of fracture is greatly increased. The loss of bone occurs silently and progressively. Often there are no symptoms until the first fracture occurs.”
National Osteoporosis Foundation (www.nof.org)
How the neck of the foramen breaks due to Osteo.
Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and brittle —- so brittle that a fall or even mild stresses like bending over or coughing can cause a fracture. Osteoporosis-related fractures most commonly occur in the hip, wrist or spine. Bone is living tissue, which is constantly being absorbed and replaced. Osteoporosis occurs when the creation of new bone doesn’t keep up with the removal of old bone. Osteoporosis affects men and women of all races; but white and Asian women–especially after menopause–are at highest risk. Medications, healthy diet and weight bearing exercise can help prevent bone loss or strengthen already weak bones.
A weight bearing exercise is any exercise that has your legs and feet holding all of your weight. An example of this would be walking, yoga or even dancing.
The form of osteoporosis most common in women after menopause is referred to as primary type 1 or postmenopausal osteoporosis. Primary type 2 osteoporosis or senile osteoporosis occurs after age 75 and is seen in both females and males at a ratio of 2:1. Secondary osteoporosis may arise at any age and affect men and women equally. This form results from chronic predisposing medical problems or disease, or prolonged use of medications such as glucocorticoids, when the disease is called steroid- or glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.
The risk of osteoporosis fractures can be reduced with lifestyle changes and in those with previous osteoporosis related fractures medications. Lifestyle change includes diet, exercise, and preventing falls. The utility of calcium and vitamin D is questionable in most. Bisphosphonates are useful in those with previous fractures from osteoporosis but are of minimal benefit in those who have osteoporosis but no previous fractures. Osteoporosis is a component of the frailty syndrome.
Take the problem of Astronauts with osteoporosis:
Space travel has made it widely known that a stay outside the atmosphere – and thus outside the earth’s gravitational influence – disturbs the metabolism irreparably: the human body does not need any hard bones in zero-gravity, which leads to decalcification. A four year study of the ‘International Space Station’ showed that the bones of astronauts did not regenerate after even one year past their return to earth.
Anti-gravitational training is the key to osteoporosis if you can handle it (like jumping on a trampeline) Actual studies show that physical anti-gravitational activity helps the effected patients to regain their mobility and lessen the risk of bone fractures .
Osteoporosis in the U.S.A.
The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) today released updated prevalence data estimating that a total of 54 million U.S. adults age 50 and older are affected by osteoporosis and low bone mass. Recently published online by the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, the study, “The Recent Prevalence of Osteoporosis and Low Bone Mass in the United States Based on Bone Mineral Density at the Femoral Neck or Lumbar Spine,” includes the number of adults age 50 and over from the institutionalized and non-institutionalized population affected by osteoporosis and low bone mass and is an update to the prevalence data NOF released in 2013. Revealing that 10.2 million adults have osteoporosis and another 43.4 million have low bone mass, more than one-half of the total U.S. adult population is currently affected.
Assuming osteoporosis and low bone mass prevalence remain unchanged, the study projects that by 2020, the number of adults over age 50 with osteoporosis or low bone mass will grow from approximately 54 million to 64.4 million and by 2030, the number will increase to 71.2 million (a 29% increase from 2010); and it is anticipated that the number of fractures will grow proportionally.
“This disease causes an estimated two million broken bones each year and often results in immobility, pain, placement in a nursing home, isolation and other health problems, said Amy Porter, executive director and CEO of NOF. “Medicare (our tax dollars) pays for the cost for repair of 80 percent of broken bones that occur because of osteoporosis; these costs make osteoporosis the 10th ranked major illness among the top 5% highest cost Medicare beneficiaries (12% of all beneficiaries and 18% of high costs beneficiaries). We have to continue our efforts to eradicate this disease.”
The data is one of the first to look at the burden of osteoporosis using NOF’s criteria for diagnosing osteoporosis based on bone mineral density (BMD) at the hip or spine. Prior to 2005, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) only measured BMD at the hip. Spine BMD was added in 2005, providing the opportunity to estimate the burden of osteoporosis using BMD at either the hip or spine. The study estimates that among adults age 50 years and older, 10.2 million have osteoporosis at the femoral neck or lumbar spine and an additional 43.4 million have low bone mass at either skeletal site, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis and broken bones.
Benefits of exercise
Women who have been physically active throughout their lives generally have stronger bones than do women who have led more sedentary lives. But it’s never too late to start exercising. For postmenopausal women, regular physical activity can:
In the meantime, think about what kind of activities you enjoy most. If you choose an exercise you enjoy, you’re more likely to stick with it over time.
Those at risk for anemia:
Anemia is a common condition. It occurs in all age, racial, and ethnic groups. Both men and women can have anemia. However, women of childbearing age are at higher risk for the condition because of blood loss from menstruation.
Anemia can develop during pregnancy due to low levels of iron and folic acid (folate) and changes in the blood. During the first 6 months of pregnancy, the fluid portion of a woman’s blood (the plasma) increases faster than the number of red blood cells. This dilutes the blood and can lead to anemia.
During the first year of life, some babies are at risk for anemia because of iron deficiency. At-risk infants include those who are born too early and infants who are fed breast milk only or formula that isn’t fortified with iron. These infants can develop iron deficiency by 6 months of age.
Infants between 1 and 2 years of age also are at risk for anemia. They may not get enough iron in their diets, especially if they drink a lot of cow’s milk. Cow’s milk is low in the iron needed for growth.
Drinking too much cow’s milk may keep an infant or toddler from eating enough iron-rich foods or absorbing enough iron from foods.
Older adults also are at increased risk for anemia. Researchers continue to study how the condition affects older adults. Many of these people have other medical conditions as well.
Major Risk Factors for anemia:
Complications of Anemia
Some people who have anemia may have arrhythmias. Arrhythmias are problems with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. Over time, arrhythmias can damage your heart and possibly lead to heart failure.
Anemia also can damage other organs in your body because your blood can’t get enough oxygen to them.
Anemia can weaken people who have cancer or HIV/AIDS. This can make their treatments not work as well.
Anemia also can cause many other health problems. People who have kidney disease and anemia are more likely to have heart problems. With some types of anemia, too little fluid intake or too much loss of fluid in the blood and body can occur. Severe loss of fluid can be life threatening.