Imagine you have just returned from a safari to Africa. You soon develop a fever, swollen lymph nodes, and as time goes on you begin to have trouble sleeping. Eventually you cannot stay awake during the day or sleep at night, you begin to lose coordination, and if left untreated you could go into a coma and die within six months. While in Africa, you contracted African Trypanosomiasis, better known as sleeping sickness. You contracted this disease from one of the smallest animals you encountered on your safari, the tsetse fly. The tsetse fly carries a parasitic protest known as trypanosoma brucei that causes sleeping sickness. The tsetse fly has helped spread this disease throughout sub-Saharan Africa causing outbreaks that have ravaged populations since the fourteenth century.
Symptoms of the disease begin to occur shortly after being bitten. A chancre forms around where the person has been bitten and soon the parasite enters the lymphatic system. The immune response it triggers in the immune system causes the lymph nodes to swell especially on the necks. The severe swelling of the lymph nodes on the dorsal side of the neck is known as Winterbottom’s sign, and is a tell-tale sign of sleeping sickness. The parasite soon finds its way into the blood stream after invading the lymphatic system. From the bloodstream, the parasite is free to travel and harm any organ and cause damage all throughout the body. The parasite targets smooth and skeletal muscle and is often fatal because of the damage it causes to cardiac muscle. The disease begins to wreak havoc on the nervous system when the parasite enters the brain which constitutes stage II trypanosomiasis. The person’s sleep cycles are disrupted, and fatigue, insomnia, and confusion...
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...to evade detection by the immune system. Although it rarely reaches the United States, sleeping sickness has a devastating effect on parts of Africa and is just one of the many diseases threatening Africans. Hopefully in the near future scientists will be able to learn even more about this disease and most importantly how to eradicate it completely.
Works Cited
1. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/228613-overview
2. http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/lecture/trypanosomiasis.htm
3. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs259/en/
4. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=122&sid=3412f781-1a76-4535-a9e0-63b2423c1626%40sessionmgr15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=cmedm&AN=21911566
5. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=17&sid=3412f781-1a76-4535-a9e0-63b2423c1626%40sessionmgr15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=cmedm&AN=21376044
Even though the bubonic plague can not be transmitted among humans, it was the most common of the three plagues. The bubonic plague occurs when fleas feed on the blood of infected rodents, which are usually rats (Poland 1). The bacterium that causes the infection is known as Yersenia Pestis. The fleas then pass the bacteria when they bite a human or when materials infected with Yersenia pestis directly enters the body through a wound. The names of this plague come from the swellings, also known as buboes, that appeared on a victim’s neck, armpits, or groin (Gottfried,1).The lymph nodes suddenly become painful and swollen with pus especially in the groin. Later, the skin splits and oozes pus and blood. Blood also comes out of the victim’s urine which, like the rest of the symptoms, smells horribly. These swellings (also known as tumors) could be as small as an egg or as big as an apple. Even though some people survived this disease, others would have a life expectancy of a week.
The bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form of the Black Death. Which had a mortality rate of 30-70%. The symptoms were enlarged and inflamed lymph nodes (around armpits, neck and groin). The term "bubonic" refers to the characteristic bubo or enlarged lymphatic gland. Victims were subject to headaches, nausea, aching joints, fever of 101-105 degrees, vomiting, and a general feeling of illness. Symptoms took from 1-7 days to appear.
This parasite is spread through the bite of sandflies. There are three different types of infections and they each show varying degrees of severity. The cutaneous form produces mild skin ulcers, mucocutaneous produces ulcers in the mouth and nose, and the visceral form of the disease starts with skin ulcers and then fever, low red blood cell count, and an enlarged spleen and liver. The parasite is detected by a microscope and visceral can also be found by doing blood tests. 12 million people are in infected in 98 different countries and 2 million new cases are found every year. The disease also kills around 20 to 50 thousand people a year.
As the bacteria spread through the body, the recipient temperature would rise accompanied by a flood of other uncomfortable symptoms. In the most common form called Bubonic plague, the victim had “bubos or pus filled hard swellings” in the groin, neck, armpit, three of the places a persons lymph nodes are found. (Reedy, The Bubonic Plague” 1). These bubos contained the bacilli or bacteria that was the plague. A bubo could sometimes become as large as an orange, making it possible to see the bacilli moving through the victims skin (Reedy, “The Bubonic Plague” 1).
Millions of people suffer from the same tossing and turning every which way, getting their sheets all disarranged and their insistent minds abundantly worse. Patients often proclaim indications of insomnia while sitting in the family health clinic. Insomnia traits include hindrance falling asleep, continueing to awaken, and rejuvenating before wanted. One may suffer from insomnia if one shows signs of an increased difficulty in attentiveness, decreased communal or scholastic skills, and a diminished mood or enthusiasm. (Foldvary-Schaefer 111). Countless individuals deal with insomnia for a large amount of their lives and some choose differing treatments, while some do not use any treatments at all. While never being uncommon, the amounts of causes leading to insomnia come in boundlessly; finding new studies and stories every day.
Once your dog is infected with the parasitic worm the mosquito bites the next dog and the cycle continues. (Administration, Animal and Veterinary)
Sleeping disorders are a very common thing that people face every day. A sleeping disorder is when a person is unable to sleep or unable to stay asleep when they have the chance to do so. There are many things that impact a person through out the day, causing sleeping disorders but the two most common are stress and medical problems. Stress is so common in adults and college students preventing them from being able to fall asleep and getting the right amount of sleep they need each night. Medical problems such as sleep apnea and night terrors also do the same thing and are not curable. This is not good because many people cannot perform a normal day without the right amount of sleep the night before.
Dian Fossey was so driven to protect mountain gorillas because they are an endangered species. Several threats have kept their population from thriving. One threat is disease, especially those which humans are equally as vulnerable to (Ferber, 2000). Tourists enjoy visiting the mountains of Rwanda to admire the gorillas and encourage their safety; however, humans help put mountain gorillas at risk. In 1999, a team of researchers with the Journal of Parasitology noted roundworm parasites in the feces of mountain gorillas (Ferber, 2000). These parasites normally have affected only humans through contaminated water. Early, in 1988, blood and tissue samples of several mountain gorillas indicated measles infection (Ferber, 2000).
Sleep is a necessary phenomenon that impacts many physiological processes in the human body, including immune system function. The immune system can be divided into two main categories: innate immunity and adaptive immunity1. The adaptive immune system is responsible for fighting against specific pathogens or antigens and a memory component is involved. Additionally, its response is longer than an innate immune response, upon its first exposure to said antigen or pathogen. In contrast, the innate immune system responds much faster, however there is no memory component involved. For instance, an individual could be exposed to a rhinovirus more than once and become sick each time. This is different than the adaptive immune response because once
Sleepiness, whether due to sleep apnea, heavy snoring, idiopathic hypersomnolence, narcolepsy or insomnia from any number of sleep-related disorders, threatens millions of Americans' health and economic security (1). Perhaps somewhat most concerning of these disorders are those that allow sleep without having any control over when it happens-idiopathic hypersomnolence and narcolepsy. The two are closely related in that both cause individuals to fall asleep without such control, yet narcolepsy occurs without any dreaming during naps (2). For years, narcoleptic people have been falling asleep in corners, concerned, as they have given numerous attempts to try to stay focused and awake. But besides the excessive fatigue that people experience, there surely must be more that can be associated with causing such sleepiness among people at an uncontrolled level. There might especially not be a reason involving the I-function of the brain, as people are not aware of when necessarily they will fall into their deep sleep.
Sleep is one of our basic needs to survive, however in the modern days sleep deprivation in increasing more and more each day, causing accidents and medical problems for the people and the community. This essay will look at the meaning of sleep and sleep deprivation and the basic perspectives on what motivates sleep and sleep deprivation with the five perspectives; evolutionary, psychodynamic, behaviourist, cognitive and the hierarchy of needs. This essay will also evaluate the best perspective to eliminate sleep deprivation with the cases studies discussing the general hypothesis of sleep and sleep deprivation.
Parasomnia refers to a wide variety of disruptive, sleep-related events or, "disorders of arousal." These behaviors and experiences occur usually while sleeping, and most are often infrequent and mild. They may however happen often enough to become so bothersome that medical attention should be sought out. "Parasomnias are disorders characterized by abnormal behavior or physiological events occurring in association with sleep stages, or sleep-wake transitions."(DSM pg. 435)
Insomnia Almost everyone experiences insomnia now and then. When one believes he must be in bed by a certain time every night or that he needs a certain number of hours of sleep, it may be the very thing that is preventing him from going to sleep (Munson 21). It is unfortunately true that many people still suffer from poor sleep but do not know that there are numerous programs that can help them. Insomnia, which is due to various causes and includes a vaiety of symptoms, can be reduced or eliminated in a number of ways. Stress is one of the main causes in determining insomnia. It is a fact of every day life and can be defined as any event which causes a significant emotional response. Happy occasions such as getting married, promoted, or going on a vacation can cause stress reaction, not only because because participation in the event is occurring but also in the preparation. More obvious events that occur throughout one's life are the loss of a job, a loved one, or the need for surgery. In such major life changes, the sources of the emotional response is much more easily identified (Shapiro MacFarlane Hussain 49). There are two types of stress: bad stress or negative stress which destroys your ability to operate at capacity, mentally and physically and good stress which improves your performance (Shapiro 49-50). There are different ways to reduce stress. One should try to find a job he really enjoys. It is not the stress of work that wears one out but the stress of frustration and failure. Two big causes of stress on the job are not knowing what is expected and not having adequate facts or tools. Escaping for a while is another method to help eliminate stress. One can visit a friend, go to a movie, or shop. When he returns, he can attempt to cope with the problem. However, it does not help to keep escaping, the individual should try to cope with problems as promptly as they arise (Hauri 111). Even though it is often difficult to make changes in lifestyle, the effort is worth it. Exchanging stress for a sense of control can lift a heavy weight from one's shoulders. The more control one has over his life during the day, the more likely it is that his night time sleep will become satisfying again (Hauri 113).
Sleep disorders are an underestimated public health concern considering that fifty to seventy million Americans are affected. Technological advances in the field of sleep have facilitated various theories to explain the need for and the purpose of sleep. Scientist have uncovered many types of sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Sleep disorders affect men ,women, children, the elderly, and the obese in different ways. Factors such as the number of children and the effects of menopause have been studied to determine their effects on sleep. Various treatments have been utilized ranging from non-pharmacologic to pharmacologic methods. Scientist have pinpointed areas of the brain that are involved in sleep deprivation and hormones that ultimately affect sleep.