Archive | October 2022

QUOTE FOR WEEKEND:

Most people who get infected with poliovirus will not have any visible symptoms. About 1 out of 4 people (or 25 out of 100) with poliovirus infection will have flu-like symptoms. These symptoms usually last 2 to 5 days, then go away on their own. A smaller proportion of people with poliovirus infection will develop other, more serious symptoms that affect the brain and spinal cord: Meningitis  & Paralysis.”

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

 

Part I Polio – What is this disease, types of Polio, and risk factors to Polio!

Polio I  

  

A virus is a small, infectious agent that is made up of a core of genetic material surrounded by a shell of protein. The genetic material (which is responsible for carrying forward hereditary traits from parent cells to offspring) may be either deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA). Viruses are at the borderline between living and nonliving matter. When they infect a host cell, they are able to carry on many life functions, such as metabolism and reproduction. But outside a host cell, they are as inactive as a grain of sand.

Viruses cause disease by infecting a host cell and taking over its biochemical functions. In order to produce new copies of itself, a virus must use the host cell’s reproductive “machinery.” The newly made viruses then leave the host cell, sometimes killing it in the process, and proceed to infect other cells within the organism.

Viruses can infect plants, bacteria, and animals. The tobacco mosaic virus, one of the most studied of all viruses, infects tobacco plants. Animal viruses cause a variety of diseases, including AIDS (acquired immuno deficiency syndrome), hepatitis, chicken pox, smallpox, polio, measles, rabies, the common cold, and some forms of cancer.

Viruses that affect bacteria are called bacterio-phages, or simply phages (pronounced FAY-jez). Phages are of special importance due to the susceptibility of the virus transmission. The disease Polio (poliomyelitis) in time will be transmitted throughout the bloodstream and the highly viral infectious disease is now spreading in the body.

Poliomyelitis (POLIO) is a viral disease. There are three types of polio0-virus and many strains of each type. The virus enters through the mouth and multiplies in the throat and gastrointestinal tract, then moves into the bloodstream and is carried to the central nervous system where it replicates and destroys the motor neuron cells. Motor neurons control the muscles for swallowing, circulation, respiration, and the trunk, arms, and legs.

Human nerve cells have a protruding protein structure on their surface whose precise function is unknown. When polio-virus encounters the nerve cells, the protruding receptors attach to the virus particle, and infection begins. Once inside the cell, the virus hijacks the cell’s assembly process, and makes thousands of copies of itself in hours. The virus kills the cell and then spreads to infect other cells.

A virus is a small, infectious agent that is made up of a core of genetic material surrounded by a shell of protein. The genetic material (which is responsible for carrying forward hereditary traits from parent cells to offspring) may be either deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA). Viruses are at the borderline between living and nonliving matter. When they infect a host cell, they are able to carry on many life functions, such as metabolism and reproduction. But outside a host cell, they are as inactive as a grain of sand.

How polio gets into the human body:

Poliomyelitis (POLIO) is a viral disease. There are three types of polio virus and many strains of each type. The virus enters through the mouth and multiplies in the throat and gastrointestinal tract, then moves into the bloodstream and is carried to the central nervous system where it replicates and destroys the motor neuron cells. Motor neurons control the muscles for swallowing, circulation, respiration, and the trunk, arms, and legs.

Human nerve cells have a protruding protein structure on their surface whose precise function is unknown. When polio virus encounters the nerve cells, the protruding receptors attach to the virus particle, and infection begins. Once inside the cell, the virus hijacks the cell’s assembly process, and makes thousands of copies of itself in hours. The virus kills the cell and then spreads to infect other cells.

Polio is spread through person-to-person contact. When a child is infected with wild polio virus, the virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. It is then shed into the environment through the faces where it can spread rapidly through a community, especially in situations of poor hygiene and sanitation. If a sufficient number of children are fully immunized against polio, the virus is unable to find susceptible children to infect, and dies out. Young children who are not yet toilet-trained are a ready source of transmission, regardless of their environment. Polio can be spread when food or drink is contaminated by feces. There is also evidence that flies can passively transfer polio virus from faces to food. Most people infected with the polio virus have no signs of illness and are never aware they have been infected. These symptom can be carried from person to person by the virus that’s in their intestines and can “silently” spread the infection to thousands of others before the first case of polio paralysis emerges. For this reason, WHO considers a single confirmed case of polio paralysis to be evidence of an epidemic – particularly in countries where very few cases occur.

Most infected people (90%) have no symptoms or very mild symptoms and usually go unrecognized. In others, initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs.

TYPES OF Polio:

1.) Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP)

One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs. This is caused by the virus entering the blood stream and invading the central nervous system. As it multiplies, the virus destroys the nerve cells that activate muscles. The affected muscles are no longer functional and the limb becomes floppy and lifeless – a condition known AFP = Acute Flaccid Paralysis.

Know all cases of AFP among children under fifteen years old are reported and tested for polio virus within 48 hours of onset.

All cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) among children under fifteen years of age are reported and tested for poliovirus within 48 hours of onset.

2.) Bulbar polio

More extensive paralysis, involving the trunk and muscles of the thorax and abdomen, can result in quadriplegia. In the most severe cases (bulbar polio), polio virus attacks the nerve cells of the brain stem, reducing breathing capacity and causing difficulty in swallowing and speaking. Among those paralyzed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

Risk factors for paralysis

No one knows why only a small percentage of infections lead to paralysis. Several key risk factors have been identified as increasing the likelihood of paralysis in a person infected with polio. These include:

  • immune deficiency
  • pregnancy
  • removal of the tonsils (tonsillectomy)
  • intramuscular injections, e.g. medications
  • strenuous exercise
  • injury.

 

 

 

QUOTE FOR FRIDAY:

“Breast cancer accounts for 30% of all cancers diagnosed in women. During 1999–2018, breast cancer incidence among women aged ≥20 years decreased an average of 0.3% per year, decreasing 2.1% per year during 1999–2004 and increasing 0.3% per year during 2004–2018. Incidence increased among start highlightnon-Hispanic Asian or Pacific end highlightIslander women and women aged 20–39 years but decreased among non-Hispanic White women and women aged 50–64 and ≥75 years.The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force currently recommends biennial mammography screening for women aged 50–74 years. Women aged 20–49 years might benefit from discussing potential breast cancer risk and ways to reduce risk with their health care providers ”

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

QUOTE FOR THURSDAY:

“A woman’s risk of breast cancer nearly doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Less than 15% of women who get breast cancer have a family member diagnosed with it.  About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations.  The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are sex (being a woman) and age (growing older).

BreastCancer.org

 

QUOTE FOR WEDNESDAY:

” Most breast cancers are found in women who are 50 years old or older.  Women who have inherited changes (mutations) to certain genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, are at higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.  Some women will get breast cancer even without any other risk factors that they know of. Having a risk factor does not mean you will get the disease, and not all risk factors have the same effect. Most women have some risk factors, but most women do not get breast cancer.  You may want to change the risk factors you can change that you have like immobile or obese to prevent breast cancer from happening.”

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention CDC.gov

QUOTE FOR TUESDAY:

“Breast cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the breast. It can start in one or both breasts. Breast cancer occurs almost entirely in women, but men can get breast cancer, too. It’s important to understand that most breast lumps are benign and not cancer (malignant).Breast cancers can start from different parts of the breast. If cancer cells have spread to your lymph nodes, there is a higher chance that the cells could have traveled through the lymph system and spread (metastasized) to other parts of your body.  There are many types of breast cancer, and many different ways to describe them. It’s easy to get confused; learn them.”

American Cancer Society (https://www.cancer.org)

QUOTE FOR MONDAY:

AN ESTIMATED 236,740 PEOPLE will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2022 in the U.S.  1 IN 16 PEOPLE will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime – 1 in 15 men, and 1 in 17 women.  LUNG CANCER kills almost 3 TIMES as many men as prostate cancer. LUNG CANCER kills almost 3 times as many women as breast cancer. Approximately 130,180 AMERICAN LIVES are lost annually.  541,000 PEOPLE IN THE U.S. TODAY have been diagnosed with lung cancer at some point in their lives. THERE IS HOPE. The number of new lung cancer diagnoses are declining steadily. From 2009-2018, the incidence rate decreased by 2.8% per year in men and 1.4% per year in women. Lung cancer deaths have been cut in more than half for men and by a third for women.”

Lung Cancer Research Foundation (https://www.lungcancerresearchfoundation.org/lung-cancer-facts/)

QUOTE FOR THE WEEKEND:

“Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome. Chromosomes are small “packages” of genes in the body. They determine how a baby’s body forms and functions as it grows during pregnancy and after birth. Typically, a baby is born with 46 chromosomes. Babies with Down syndrome have an extra copy of one of these chromosomes, chromosome 21. A medical term for having an extra copy of a chromosome is ‘trisomy.’ Down syndrome is also referred to as Trisomy 21.   Most important, to know is even though people with Down syndrome might act and look similar, each person has different abilities. Down syndrome remains the most common chromosomal condition diagnosed in the United States. Each year, about 6,000 babies born in the United States have Down syndrome. This means that Down syndrome occurs in about 1 in every 700 babies“.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC

 

QUOTE FOR FRIDAY:

“While eczema and psoriasis are both somewhat common, according to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, eczema is about four times more common (with eczema affecting 32 million people and psoriasis affecting 7.2 million). It is also possible to have both conditions but that’s relatively uncommon. One study found that just 1.4% of children with eczema also had psoriasis.

There are also different types of psoriasis and eczema and some are more common than others. Plaque psoriasis is the most common type of psoriasis while atopic dermatitis is the most common type of eczema. Contact dermatitis is another form of eczema which is quite common, but not as prevalent as atopic eczema.

Both eczema and psoriasis can affect people of all ages, but eczema typically first appears in babies and children, while psoriasis tends to manifest later, often between the ages of 15 and 35. “.

National Eczema Association

 

 

QUOTE FOR THURSDAY:

“Exploding head syndrome (EHS) is a type of sleep disorder in which you hear a loud noise or explosive crashing sound in your head. The sound isn’t real or heard by anyone else. The episode typically happens suddenly either when you’re beginning to fall asleep or when you wake up during the night.

Along with the loud sound, EHS can occur along with flashes of light and muscle jerks (myoclonic jerks). Unlike its painful-sounding name, the episode is painless.”

Cleveland Clinic (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/exploding-head-syndrome-ehs)