Biomedical Instrumentation

Archive for the ‘Disease / Prevention’ Category

Normal liver function is crucial for life. It is responsible for producing energy and filters and neutralizes impurities poisons in our blood stream. Chronic and heavy alcohol use appears to be the most potentially damaging substance to the liver. It is a major cause of illness and death in the United States. Approximately ten to thirty five percent of heavy drinkers develop alcoholic hepatitis and ten to twenty percent develop cirrhosis.

Alcohol Induces Liver Disease: The symptoms of alcohol-induced liver disease range from fatty liver to alcohol hepatitis to cirrhosis. Alcohol use begins to damage the liver by altering normal metabolism and causing fat to accumulate in the liver. Eventually, this abnormal metabolism may begin to destroy healthy liver cells. In turn, the death of the liver cells may cause inflammation of the liver, further destroying the healthy liver tissue.

The inflammation of the liver and tissue damage may eventually result in irreversible scarring of the liver and cell death. When the liver becomes damaged, it becomes to leak enzymes into the blood stream, and it becomes less efficient in its functioning. The testing of the liver enzyme in the blood can be an effective marker for detecting alcohol problems.

Blood Born Disease: Blood- born diseases are those that are transmitted from one individual to another through the exchange of infected blood, most commonly through the sharing of inject syringes to inject drugs. Blood-borne diseases can also be transmitted through other means such as in traumatic sexual activity where blood vessels may be broken, such as anal sex, and through blood transfusions that, due to more effective screening procedures. In speaking about blood-born diseases, we will be focusing particularly on the human immunodeficiency virus.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus is known as HIV, which causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome commonly known as AIDS. AIDS is condition characterized by a defect in the body’s natural immunity to diseases, and individuals who suffer from it are at a risk for severe illness that are otherwise not a threat to anyone whose immune system is working properly

Pulmonary and respiratory diseases affect the lungs and breathing. This includes such disorders as bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer. Cigarette smoking has been associated with approximately 90 percent of all lung cancer cases. Even the regular inhalation of secondary smoke is estimated to cause about 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the United States. Tobacco smoking is primary cause of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It also has been found to exacerbate asthma symptoms in adults and children. Marijuana smoking and, to a lesser extent, crack cocaine smoking also have negative consequences on one’s pulmonary and respiratory functioning.

Marijuana smoke contains up to 50 percent more carcinogens than filtered tobacco cigarettes and results in substantially greater deposits in the lungs. Such increased affects likely occur because marijuana users smoke unfiltered material, inhale the smoke more deeply, and hold the smoke longer in their lungs than tobacco smokers. The combining of depressants, such as mixing alcohol with barbiturates of benzodiazepines, can lead to respiratory depression and possibly death. Another potentially harmful combination that can cause reparatory depression and death is combining alcohol and heroin. This is a synergistic effect-the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Besides the blood-borne infectious diseases are other infectious diseases associated with drug abuse that are transmitted by means other than the blood. These may include sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, Chlamydia, trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, and genital herpes, as well as the highly contagious disease known as tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a chronic and infectious lung disease. It is transmitted through an infected person’s cough, causing the release of airborne bacteria. It results in either a latent infection or in an active disease for the recipient.

The latent type may develop into an active type if the person does not receive preventive therapy. Tuberculosis is most prevalent in crowded, low-income areas with substandard health conditions. Injection drug use and the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s contributed to its resurgence. Drug users are from two to six times more likely to contract TB than nonusers. Compared to others with TB, IDUs are more likely to develop the disease in multiple organs and sites, rather than only in the lungs. The good news is that TB is a treatable disease.

You are exercising. Your heart beats fast, your blood races through your arteries your breathing delivers great lungful of air. How long can your heart and lungs keep going? How developed is your cardiovascular endurance? All of the benefits, such as sound sleep, increased lean body mass, and improved self-image can be promoted by way of flexibility or strength training, but cardiovascular endurance training promotes each and every one. Cardiovascular endurance is, therefore, the component of fitness most important to health and life.

Cardiovascular conditioning, that is, improvement in the condition of the heart and blood vessels, comes from workouts that call for cardiovascular endurance-aerobic training. As a result of this training, the total blood volume increases, so the blood can carry more oxygen. The heart muscles that work the lungs gain strength and endurance, and breathing becomes more efficient. Blood moves easily through the body’s arteries and veins, and the blood pressure falls. The heart develops extra vessels through which to route its blood supply, collateral vessels. Muscles throughout the body become firmer, and like the heart muscle, respond to overload by becoming larger and stronger. A healthy heart and circulatory system reflects a generally healthy person.

A highly-prized improvement that accompanies cardiovascular conditioning is a lean body composition. The overall effect is reduced body fatness and reduced health risks that accompany over fatness. A slow resting pulse reflects a healthy cardiovascular system. You may want to perform an informal pulse check right now. As a rule of thumb, the average resting pulse rate for adults is around 70 beats per minute, but the rate can be higher or lower. Active people can have resting pulse rates of 50 or even lower.

Cardiovascular diseases pertain to condition and complications negatively affecting he heart and blood vessels. These diseases include heart attacks, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, strokes, and so on. Cardiovascular conditions and complications are associated with the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, anabolic steroids, ecstasy, and inhalants. Cigarette smoking significantly increases the risk of heart disease, including stroke, heart attack, vascular disease, and aneurysm.

Approximately 20 percent of all deaths from heart disease are attributed to smoking. The largest for sudden cardiac death is cigarette smoking. The risk of heart attack in a cigarette smoker is more than twice that of non-smokers. Passive or secondary smoke is believed to contribute to as many as 40, 000 deaths per year from cardiovascular disease. Chronic heavy use of alcohol has also been associated with negative effects to the cardiovascular system. Alcoholics have an increased propensity for hypertension, strokes, and cardio myopathy.

Alcoholic cardio myopathy is the most common cause of cardiomyopathy in western societies and a major source of heart failure and death. Women may be more susceptible to such illnesses even though they typically drink less than men. Heavy alcohol use is also associated with hypertension. It is estimated that one drink per day can chronically increase blood pressure one millimeter of mercury in middle-aged individuals, and even more in the elderly and people with preexisting hypertension. Hypertension due to alcohol consumption may also increase the possibility of stroke. Among young people, long term heavy alcohol consumption has been identified as an important risk factor for stroke.

A recent study found that ecstasy use may increase a type of valvular heart disease whereby heart valves become ineffective, causing the heart to become enlarged with blood, rendering it ineffective in sending blood throughout the body. The popular use of inhaling volatile hydrocarbons in the late 1950s and 1960s caused death of teenagers and led to the term sudden sniffing death. These deaths, caused by the abuse of the inhalants, were found to be the result of lethal cardiac arrhythmias.

People of certain religious groups have remarkably low cancer rates, and scientists have studied them to find out why. One such group, the Seventh Day Adventists encourages a vegetarian diet. Of course, abstinence from tobacco and alcohol accounts for a large part of the low cancer rate; still, the group’s cancer incidence is only half what would be expected in people who do not smoke or drink alcohol. These and other studies have led researchers to identify three dietary factors strongly associated with high cancer risk; high meat and fat consumption, low vegetable consumption, and low grain consumption.

Vegetarian-type diets are probably protective against certain types of cancers, particularly colon cancer, one of the major health problems in the modern world. The fat, and perhaps the excess protein, in meat may act as cancer promoters. In addition, any meat that has been smoked, charbroiled, burned, or commercially cured may contain carcinogens. Research also suggests that fibers present in vegetables and grains protect against cancer of the large intestine, probably by trapping carcinogens in the digestive tract and hastening their excretion. Further, evidence suggests that the vitamins that occur in fruits and vegetables may help to prevent the development of certain cancers.

For example the vitamin C of say, oranges may stop the formation of carcinogens called nitrosamines; and the vitamin A of vegetables and fruits such as sweet potatoes and peaches is important in preventing cancers of the body’s external and internal linings, including the skin and lungs. The fibers of plant foods such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables may play roles as well. Other nutrient candidates for roles in cancer prevention are the vitamins riboflavin and folate, the mineral calcium, and a group of non vitamins found in the cabbage family.

Taken in whole foods, these arrive in the body together with many other nutrients. A word of caution though; these benefits come from foods, not supplements. Some people promote the sales of useless vitamin and mineral preparation as cancer fighters. Don’t waste money on nutrition supplements that provide a false hope of cancer prevention. My dear friends! I am sure this article will enhance your knowledge regarding diet and exercise required to cure cancer.