Understanding 5 Serious Diseases: Symptoms and Treatments
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is irreversible and it destroys memory and judgment skills. Its main causes are amyloid plaques, that cause degeneration and neuronal death, and neurofibrillary tangles, that affect the part of the brain responsible for memory. Its symptoms are classified into three stages. Firstly, patients show a minimum loss of memory and tend to be less energetic. They progressively become disabled and, finally, they lose control of their body functions and die. It is mainly diagnosed by looking at the patient’s history, observing their behavior, blood tests, and psychological tests. There are three types of treatment: pharmaceutical drugs that affect neurotransmitters, psychosocial with emotional interventions, and caregiving.
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is a complex eating disorder with three key features: refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted body image. Anorexia mostly affects women (85-95% of anorexics are female), but it can also affect men. While people with anorexia often deny having a problem, the truth is that anorexia is a serious and potentially deadly eating disorder.
Anorexia affects your whole body:
- Brain and nerves
- Hair
- Heart
- Blood
- Muscles and joints
- Kidneys
- Body fluids
- Intestines
- Hormones
- Skin
The main symptoms are:
- Excessive weight loss
- Scanty or absent menstrual periods
- Thinning hair
- Depression
- Compulsive exercising
- Inability to remember things
- Brittle nails
- Osteoporosis
Treating anorexia involves nutritional treatment (dietician) and therapy (psychologist). If the patient’s condition is very serious, hospitalization will be necessary.
Lupus Erythematosus
Lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease that can affect any part of our body. This means that our white blood cells attack our own cells. Its causes are unknown.
It has very characteristic symptoms, which include:
- Extreme fatigue, even after having slept
- Joint pain, normally in hands and feet
- Rashes over the whole body, especially in the face, forming a butterfly shape
Other symptoms are inflammation of the pericardium, pleura, mouth (where it causes ulcers), and generally all the tissues. Most people affected are women, and it is more predominant in African, Asian, and Caribbean people. It can only be treated with immunosuppressants and anti-inflammatory drugs.
Ebola Virus Disease
Ebola Virus disease affects the human organism, causing internal bleeding and normal flu symptoms. The incubation period ranges from two to 21 days, and the mortality rate is approximately 50%. In 2014, Ebola experienced its most widespread epidemic in history, mainly in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.
Researchers believe that the virus is originally animal-borne and that bats are the most likely reservoir, but transmission is mainly person-to-person. If Ebola symptoms are suspected, a medic should be consulted, some blood tests should be carried out, and the patient isolated. Cure for Ebola depends on good supportive care and the patient’s immune response. Symptoms are treated as they appear, and patients are usually kept on IV fluids. Patients can also be injected with serum containing antibodies against the virus, obtained from people who have recovered from the disease.
Lymphoma
Lymphoma means tumors in the lymph nodes. It is usually malignant but can be benign. The survival rate is 69% over 5 years, and 58% over 10 years. The causes of lymphoma are unknown, but there are DNA mutations that turn on oncogenes or turn off tumor suppressor genes. Possible mutation causes are:
- Exposure to radiation (Main cause of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma)
- Familial predisposition (main cause of Hodgkin lymphoma, with presence of Reed-Sternberg cells)
The main signs and symptoms of this disease are swelling of the lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, and itching, etc. The diagnosis requires biopsy of a lymph node, bone marrow testing, and maybe lumbar puncture. The treatment usually involves chemotherapy, but will depend on the diagnosis.