Aplastic Anemia Essays - Transplantation Medicine, Stem Cells

Aplastic Anemia Aplastic anemia is a disease of the bone marrow the organ that produces the body's blood cells. Approximately two thousand people in the U.S. are diagnosed each year with aplastic anemia. The symptoms of aplastic anemia are fatigue, bruising, infections, and weakness. Although these symptoms are much like those associated with leukemia, aplastic anemia is not a form of cancer. In patients with aplastic anemia the bone marrow stops producing, or produces too few red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Without sufficient red blood cells, oxygen cannot reach organs and tissues throughout the body. A decrease in the number of white blood cells causes the body's ability to fight infection as well as it should. Platelets are needed to help blood clot (Bone). Although the exact cause of aplastic anemia is not known, most evidence points to a combination of factors. The first factor is damaged stem cells. These are the primitive cells in the bone marrow that produce blood cells. Another factor is damage to the bone marrow environment in which blood cells develop (Aplastic). Other factors include abnormalities in the proteins that regulate blood cell production and a malfunctioning immune system that interferes with the normal blood cell production (Bone). Certain environmental factors have been associated with the development of aplastic anemia. Chemotherapy drugs such as busulfan or antibiotics such as chloraphenicol can cause temporary or prolonged aplastic anemia. Chemicals such as benzene and pesticides, infections such as viral hepatitis and mononucleosis, autoimmune disorders and ionizing radiation also have been linked to the development of aplastic anemia. Although exposure to these agents increases the risk of developing aplastic anemia, it is proven that they are not the sole cause of aplastic anemia (Aplastic). Aplastic anemia was once considered incurable. Today, more than fifty percent of patients diagnosed with aplastic anemia can be cured. For patients under the age of fifty and those over fifty that are in good health, the treatment of choice is a bone marrow transplant (National). However, more than half of the patients that are diagnosed are ineligible foe a bone marrow transplant because of age or the lack of a suitable bone marrow donor. For these patients, the preferred treatment is immunosuppressive therapy consisting of injections of antithymocyte globulin (ATG), with or without oral closporine. ATG therapy boosts the production of red blood cells, blood cells, and platelets in thirty to fifty percent of patients. In some cases, blood cell production returns to normal, while in others it returns to a level that allows the patient to have a normal lifestyle (Aplastic). Approximately ten to fifteen percent of patients who initially respond to ATG therapy have the disease relapse during the first twelve months following treatment. Another round of ATG therapy may be administered in an effort to bring blood cell production back to an acceptable level. Some patients who respond to ATG therapy eventually develop another bone marrow disorder such as myelogenous syndrome or acute nonmyelogenous leukemia. These disorders may be temporarily treatable, but are seldom curable. Overall, between thirty and forty percent of patients treated with ATG therapy become long term survivors and the majority of these long term survivors appear to be cured (Aplastic). Patients who have a relative with matching bone marrow have a seventy to ninety percent chance of being cured following a bone marrow transplant. Patients transplanted with marrow from a related donor whose marrow type nearly matches the patient's have a fifty percent chance of being cured. If marrow from a matched unrelated donor is used, the likelihood of a cure is twenty to thirty percent (Bone). Physicians determine whether a donor's marrow type matches the patient's by examining genetic markers on the surface of white blood cells called HLA antigens. These are the antigens that help the body identify invading organisms, and trigger an immune system attack on any substances that do not belong in that particular person's body, such as viruses and bacteria (Severe). If the patient's and donor's HLA antigens do not match, the patient's body will perceive the donor's bone marrow as foreign material to be destroyed. This condition is called graft rejection and results in a failed bone marrow transplant.

Answer two questions below for coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Answer two questions below for - Coursework Example Thus creating the image that America was founded as a penal colony and the ancestors of the Americans were all criminals and staff of the penal colony assigned by the king to the colony. In reality, the history North America is not the way most people envision it to be. In truth, North America was founded using a combination of government cunning, capitalist interests, and hopeful individuals. According to historical accounts, King James thought of the new land as a method by which he could extend his empire and bestow more land gifts to chosen members of his court. The members of his court, in exchange for the hectares of land bestowed upon them by the king, would send back token taxes to the king in the form of goods such as bearskin and arrowheads. However, not all of the emigrants came to North America upon the goodwill of the king. Then and now, venture capitalists have always played an important role on the evolution of the Americas. Since England was beset with economic proble ms during the 1600s, there were some British citizens who decided to escape the poverty and economic hardship of England by going to the Americas. These people who came to be known as â€Å"indentured servants† since they had to work for capitalist companies helping to build the settlement in the colony for a period of 5-7 years before they could be free to own land and invest on their own, were some of the most important settlers in the colony. Coming to the country to work for companies such as the Virginia Company created enticing advertisements for both the emigrants and the ship captains, who were given commissions for the people that they brought to the Americas to work for the company. Not all of the early emigrants also cane solely from England. Even then, Italians, French, and Europeans had already heard about the New World and were making their way to the colony to join and become some of the early settlers in the

World Religions 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

World Religions 2 - Essay Example However, earlier the doctrine of karma combines together with caste doctrine and came up with another view of the universe which does not please lots of Hindus. The Law of Karma is considered to be as the most essential Hinduism doctrine. According to the Law of Karma, it is an esteem principle that people actually reap what they sowed. This justice principle requires that every single deed or thought whether it is good or bad is counted when analyzing how a particular person will be sent on earth in their next life. Apart from any other religion, Hinduism is one of those religions that emphasize more on it. It is of the firm belief that a person having bad karma is born repeatedly in inferior human castes, or even in animals, and is not released until or unless they are not reborn in Brahmin, or other minor caste. No one can change or modify the fact that a person is exactly what he or she is supposed to be in their lives. However, in their existing life, if people do good karma the y can modify or change their future lives as per their wish. The Samsara doctrine is that a soul is sent to earth number of times; nevertheless, they appear in a different body according to their karma. The eternal soul transforms bodies just like a person modifies old or worn-out clothes. There is no end to karma, it has nothing to do with whether a body is dead or alive, and therefore, its power may be extended through various souls’ incarnations. Avatar and its Function Avatar means incarnation, a theory that the God is actually born. However, he appeared himself in a flesh body. According to Hindu concept, an Avatar is basically a body irrespective of whether it is human or not, and its purpose is of deity or cosmic entity. This avatar concept is more often related with Vishnu, who is known as a sustainer or preserver within the Trimurti Hindu Gods. He is basically one and only ultimate God who is followed by Vaishnavism. Avatar of Vishnu normally descends for some specif ic purpose. An extension is observed in the number and changes in identities quite often as per local inclination. Bhagavad Gita portrays the distinctive role of Vishnu’s avatar, that is, to bring righteous or dharma back to the cosmic and social order (Matthews, 91). The Vishnu’s descents are also essential to his tradition and teaching, while the descriptions of different deities are not strictly reliant on the stories of avatar associated with them. The ten greatest Vishnu’s avatars are communally known as the Dasavatara; Vishnu actually went through ten different avatars, for instance, another human, tortoise, boar, etc.: 1. The fish avatar Matsya who saved Manu’s life. 2. Avatar of a tortoise Kurma, who helped out in Samudra Manthan. 3. Boar-avatar Varaha rescued earth from an ocean, by assassinating Hiranyaksha the kidnapper-demon. 4. Half man-half lion avatar Narasimha, 5. Dwarf-avatar Vamana. 6. Parashurama, sagacious with the axe. 7. Ramayana her o Rama, the Ayodhya king. 8. Dwarka king, Krishna the Bhagavad Gita’s reciter. 9. Buddha, the enlightened one 10. Kalki means destroyer of foulness, the one who is expected to show up when Kali Yuga end. Hinduism is a very diversified and interesting Religion From the very beginning, Hinduism has always encouraged a diversity of practices and beliefs. A Hindu initiates with the direction from the Vedas that is the scriptural basis is independent of widen manifold expressions of actions as well as faith. Hinduism is a bit more complex rather than other religions. The ancient writings of Hindus speak of space and time in a manner that reel the thoughts of all except modern physicists and astronomers. Hinduism is in agreement with black holes and island