The subject of this paper is on amputation in human beings and exploring how the brain reacts to an amputation. In addition, this paper shall look at how an amputation affects the amputee's life, exploring for example; what the psychological and physical limits an amputee could possibly go through and how do they cope with resultant disability? To find this information I have used a number of website sources, as well as journals, newspapers looking at case studies, as well as various books and videos to develop my understanding. An amputation “is the surgical removal of part of the body, such as an arm or leg (NHS 2017). An individual who goes through an amputation goes through bursts of many emotions, as they need to get used to such a change …show more content…
Common medical diseases/conditions known to result in an amputation are breast cancer (mastectomy) and other cancers such as testicular cancers and diabetes. The amputation of a breast (mastectomy) is the removal of all breast tissue on one side or on both sides in which normally the nipple and areola being removed (komen.org 2017). The removal of all of the cancerous tissue from the breast must be removed this is very important because if all of the cancerous cells are not removed there is a chance that the cancer could come back and spread to other parts of the body (NHS 2017). Although a mastectomy is not always the best option for breast cancer it is the most efficient. Moving on, another common medical reason for an amputation is diabetes as the most common amputation done in people with diabetes are the toes, feet, and lower legs. Healthline.com quotes that; peripheral artery disease (PAD) causes your blood vessels to narrow and reduces blood flow to your legs and feet. It may also cause nerve damage. This could prevent you from feeling pain. Due to the lack of pain diabetics may not notice that their feet have a wound or an ulcer and so the pressure being put on this can cause it to become infected. The reduced blood flow slows down the possibility of the wound from becoming healed and makes your body less effective at fighting an infection. From this your wound may …show more content…
“These include shortening and smoothing the bone in your remaining limb so it's covered by an adequate amount of soft tissue and muscle, and stitching the remaining muscle to the bones to help strengthen your remaining limb.”(NHS) Amongst other things such as draining away any urine, painkillers for when you wake up and you being stitched up. However the patient has to have an assessment before having the surgery because it is not an emergency amputation, to make sure what type of amputation is needed to ensure the best recovery, for the future. Factors included in the assessment include: a typical medical assessment as well as a psychological assessment, an assessment of your healthy limb (to see how well the limb could work by itself) and a conclusion on how well the patients living facilities can adapt with this certain disability. (NHS
Strange as that this may sound, when a Wannabee person lose a limb they are actually gaining so much more of who they felt they are. As one Amputee said to his doctor “you have made me the happiest of all men by taking away from me a limb which put an invincible obstacle to my
Amputation and Surgery in the 19th Century Surgery and Amputation During this period a deep cut could lead to infection, and the only treatment for infections was amputation and catheterization. However, hospitals and medical instruments were hardly ever sanitized, so one could often come out of the hospital worse than when one went in (Bloodwiki). It is not uncommon for a person to survive a surgery only to be set upon by diseases such as hospital gangrene and septicaemia (Youngson 29). Youngson describes hospitals as “dark and overcrowded, ill-run and insanitary”. It was not uncommon to see in the same ward, at the same time, cases of, (let us say) typhoid fever, erysipelas, pneumonia, rickets, dysentery; nor was it uncommon to see two patients in the same bed” (Youngson 24).
Rehabilitation after amputation has changed significantly. It now includes a more in depth process and aftercare to ensure and a full recovery is achieved and reduces the potential for infections and complications. Patients are encouraged to take part in sport to aid them in their recovery and, with the use of specialized prosthetics, are readily available. It has also been said to help reduce Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which, according to a study by Abeyasinghe 2012, suggested that 42.5% of lower limb amputees suffered with PTSD (Abeyasinghe, de Zoysa, Bandara, Bartholameuz, & Bandara,
According to the U.S census, about 80% of people with phantom limb experience extreme excruciating pain coming from the stump. In fact, Ramachandran and Hirstein authors of “The Perception of Phantom Limbs” (1998) report that the pain haunts victims and remains painful even 25 years after loss of limb. Hence, suffering is chronic especially after an immediate amputation of a limb, where patients describe the pain as itching, burning, stabbing, or tingling. In most cases, pain interferes with work and social life and becomes a heavier burden than the paralysis itself. There’s nothing really phantom or imagined about this suffering; however, contrary to what the amputees feel, the pain is generated by the brain not originated in a limb that doesn’t exist. To be more specific, the intensity of the pain could be found in the neurons of the brain. With this in mind, one must be sure that phantom limb syndrome is certainly not a modern discovered occurrence; however, the exact cause of this sensation has puzzled scientists for dec...
insurance coverage is important and can be obtained through government sources, employer benefit programs, or private providers.)
1.) Mr. Ames is a 67-year-old man who recently had his right leg amputated just below the knee following a serious infection. Mr. Ames suffers from a number of comorbidities that make his treatment extremely complex. During his time in the hospital Mr. Ames did not follow medical advice and opted into an amputation that was much lower on his leg than the medical team advice. After a 10-day recovery in the hospital, Mr. Ames was transferred to a rehabilitation center for further health improvement. His ultimate treatment goal is to be able to stay at home while his wife continues to work nights, and to be able to perform necessary ADLs. He hopes to not add any additional burdens to his wife’s life. The treatment team at the rehabilitation
Infant circumcision is one of the most controversial bioethical issues during this time. On one hand some researchers try and justify the practice of circumcision with arguments of hygienic issues, ideology, parental rights, cultural identity, and freedom of religion. On the other hand some researchers argue that circumcision violates morality, making the point that an infant being circumcised is absolutely unable to give consent, calling circumcision a form of abuse.
Throughout our research, we have discovered that circumcision plays a big role in the prevention of sexually transmitted infections. After coming across this article, it became clear that the benefits of circumcision are not widely known, even in doctors and nurses who play a role in performing the neonatal male circumcisions. This article is important to our project because it shows that even though circumcision is effective in the prevention against sexually transmitted infections, along with promoting proper hygiene, 62% of health care workers did not think that neonatal circumcision would help in the prevention of HIV.
The two controversial topics discussed below share a single goal: to enhance the quality of life of a human individual. The first topic, transhumanism, is a largely theoretical movement that involves the advancement of the human body through scientific augmentations of existing human systems. This includes a wide variety of applications, such as neuropharmacology to enhance the function of the human brain, biomechanical interfaces to allow the human muscles to vastly out-perform their unmodified colleagues, and numerous attempts to greatly extend, perhaps indefinitely, the human lifespan. While transhumanist discussion is predominantly a thinking exercise, it brings up many important ethical dilemmas that may face human society much sooner than the advancements transhumanism desires to bring into reality. The second topic, elective removal of healthy limbs at the request of the patient, carries much more immediate gravity. Sufferers of a mental condition known as Body Integrity Identity Disorder seek to put to rest the disturbing disconnect between their internal body image and their external body composition. This issue is often clouded by sensationalism and controversy in the media, and is therefore rarely discussed in a productive manner (Bridy). This lack of discussion halts progress and potentially limits citizens' rights, as legislation is enacted without sufficient research. The primary arguments against each topic are surprisingly similar; an expansion on both transhumanism and elective amputation follows, along with a discussion of the merit of those arguments. The reader will see how limits placed on both transhumanism and elective amputation cause more harm to whole of human society than good.
The previous insert from William Lee Adams’ article, Amputee Wannabes, describes a 33-year-old man’s wish for amputation of his foot. There was nothing physically or medically wrong with this limb; John only stated that he did not feel comfortable with his own body and felt as though his foot was not a part of him. John’s leg was amputated above the knee, and he went on to describe that the operation resolved his anxiety and allowed him to be at ease in his own body (Adams, 2007).
Stroke is a commonly known disease that is often fatal. This cellular disease occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted by either a blood clot halting the progress of blood cells in an artery, called an Ischemic stroke, or a blood vessel in the brain bursting or leaking causing internal bleeding in the brain, called a hemorrhagic stroke. When this happens, brain cells are deprived of oxygen and nutrients because the blood cells carrying these essential things are stopped, causing them to die. When the cells in the brain die, sensation or movement in a limb might be cut off and may limit an organism’s abilities. A person with stroke is affected depending on where in the brain the stroke occurs. In other words, symptoms of a stroke
The disability that I would the least comfortable socially interacting with would be a physical disability. Our current society is one that values physical appearances. At a young age, family and friends tell children they have to act and look a certain way in order for others to like them. The media shows young boys and girls what a “hot” person looks like, and what they can do in order to look more like them. A physical disability would affect the image one is to present to society, and that can be emotional scarring. “When physical appearance is altered as a result of disability, the body falls further away from the expectations of society and body image, and the attitude one has toward the physical self may decline and affect self-image”
Prosthetic limbs have been around for longer than people would expect and have played a crucial role of restoring wholeness to patients. A prosthetic limb is an artificially made device that replaces a missing limb or other body part. They work to restore functionality and make a person feel whole again. Over time people have used many different materials to try to replace missing body parts, these materials have ranged from wood to different types of metal, and more recently, lightweight materials such as alloys and carbon fiber. In todays society the technology of prosthetics is always advancing and helping patients become more functional. There are around 2 million people with amputations in the United States for various reasons. The most
Being an amputee doesn’t have to mean giving up on activates that require all limbs. It used to be that a person with an amputated foot wouldn’t be running anymore but with the surge of advancements in prosthetics a loss of limb doesn’t mean the end of walking, or running. The Boston marathon bombing left quite a few people without their legs. An article in the Daily News talks about how there was a running clinic for the amputees of the bombing. It was to teach them how to run or run better.
Be sure that your shoes are comfortably fitted into your feet. Visit your health care provider if you have foot problems like calluses, athlete's foot, increasing numbness and infection. Diabetes causes nerve damage or peripheral neuropathy and because of this persons with diabetes are more likely to have foot problems. Foot injuries are hardly noticed because nerve damage leads to numbness or loss of feeling. Injuries can be easily infected and become deep tissue