... 1928 there was a discovery by Alexander Fleming. He detected that a substance he called "penicillin" destroyed bacteria. Then in the late 1930's, two British scientists invented a method of extracting penicillin from the mold. This was the start of developing new drugs to treat diseases and bacteria. Over the years, numerous thousands of antibiotic material have been found in nature as well as produced chemically but, there are few that are safe and useful. However the ones that are safe and effective have saved many lives and have helped extend life expectancy. Right now, there is more than 70 different kinds of antibiotics in use. Most antibiotics are used to ...
... the tip of the iceberg of HIV infection, however. It is estimated that between 1 million and 1.5 million Americans had been infected with the virus by the early 1990s but had not yet developed clinical symptoms. In addition, although the vast majority of documented cases have occurred in the United States, AIDS cases have been reported in about 162 countries worldwide. Sub- Saharan Africa in particular appears to suffer a heavy burden of this illness. No cure or vaccine now exists for AIDS. Many of those infected with HIV may not even be aware that they carry and can spread the virus. It is evident that HIV infection represents an epidemic of serious propor ...
... sdisturbing symptoms and almost no incubation period. Ebola liquefies every organ of the body and causes bleeding from every opening. The virus is twice as deadly as AIDS and works one-thousand times as fast, killing victims in three to ten days. Ebola is spread from mostly by means of close contact with an infected person and can also be tranfered through sexual contact. People who are lucky enough to survive the disease usually pose no threat of infection to others. Marburg is just as deadly as ebola, but is less widespread. Marburg causes hemmoragic siesures in the body, as does Ebola and also like Ebola, the virus only occurs in Africa. Marburg out ...
... for the substantial impact of environmental, social and individual factors so that drinking to excess can only be predicted within a complex, multivariate framework. The denial of this complexity in some quarters obscure what has been discovered through genetically oriented research and has dangerous consequences for prevention and treatment policies. A tremendous amount of attention and research has recently been concentrated on the inheritance of alcoholism and on the possibility of accounting genetically for drunken behavior. The major purpose for this research was the adoption studies conducted in Scandinavia in the 1970’s which found reliable genetic, b ...
... use it to seek attention, or withdraw from personal responsibilities. Being sick is also a way of agreeing to be helpless. In fact, is the perfect solution to this common predicament, for in being ill-either as a child,wife,husband, employee, or in-law- the vulnerable person simultaneously obtains the protection and attention he craves,excuses his excessive dependence, and binds his protector to him(who could leave someone who was seriously ill?). Psychiatrists today classify as one of a type of behaviors collectively known as the somatoform disorders. What these conditions have in common is that sufferers feel physical symptoms for which they seek medical a ...
... were effective therapeutically due to their ability to attract iron. He hypothesized that because of this capability, they would also be able to leach diseases from the body. However, Paracelsus was also very aware of the tendency the human mind has in playing a role in the healing process: "The spirit of the master, the imagination is the instrument, the body is the plastic material. The moral atmosphere surrounding the patient can have a strong influence on the course of the disease. It is not a curse or a blessing that works, but the idea. The imagination produces the effect" (Livingston, p. 25). This role imagination plays, known as the placebo effect, is ...
... in Canada. The specific genetic transmission however, has not been established. Some researchers believe that the mar is on an autosomal dominant trait. Some cases however are sporadic, and there may not be a link to family history involved. These cases are mild however, and not full blown. The onset of Tourette Syndrome must be before the age of fifteen, and usually occurs after the age of two. The mean age onset of motor tics is seven. The mean age onset for vocal tics is nine. In order for a person to be classified as having Tourette Syndrome they must have both multiple motor tics and vocal tics. These tics however do not have to occur every ...
... a high-tech dilemma. A number of ethical concerns have been raised since Louise Brown was born 16 years ago, causing many people to question IVF as a morally acceptable means of conception. Among these concerns are the following: (1) Is IVF morally unacceptable because it is an "unnatural" means of conception? (2) Does IVF threaten the moral status of women? (3) Does IVF harm the autonomy of a woman? The first of these concerns, that questioning the acceptability of IVF as a means of conception on the grounds of naturality, is one of great importance. Those opposing the use of IVF as a means of conception argue that in vitro fertilization is an unnatural ...
... only one X chromosome, producing a male body type: short, with a broad neck, and usually lacking female internal reproductive organs and secondary sex characteristics. The patient is usually sterile and pregnancy is rare. Other signs and symptoms include a low hairline, webbed neck, shield-shaped chest with widely spaced nipples, and usually kidney and heart malformations. The patient may also have immature breasts and be of above-average height. Some are mildly retarded. Despite many efforts, no real causes have been found to be linked to this condition. It appears be a random event that can happen to anyone. There is no reason why a woman with ...
... two kinds of depressive disorders; Unipolar depression in which the individual suffers only depressive symptoms without ever experiencing mania, and bipolar depression in which both depression and mania occur" (Cited in Rosenhan & Seligman, 1995, p 352). Furthermore, Rosenhan & Seligman (1995) go on to say that, normal depression differs in the degree of symptoms to unipolar depression. Both have similar symptoms but, unipolar differs in the severity, frequency and duration. Depression and Sociodemographic Groups Blackman (1995) points out that depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tends to act and react a ...
