Archives

QUOTE FOR THURSDAY:

“If left untreated, high blood pressure may lead to a heart attack, heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney damage and peripheral arterial disease, among other health problems. And, while patients with high blood pressure are not considered at high risk from COVID-19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points out that many patients with hypertension have other conditions, such as obesity, diabetes and heart conditions, that do put them at higher risk. The CDC recommends that patients with high blood pressure stick to their medication and treatment regimens. It’s vital to get your blood pressure checked regularly and to know the signs of high blood pressure: Take steps to improve their overall health and help manage their blood pressure.  Some patients may not feel any ill effects from hypertension, which is why it is sometimes called the “silent killer.” .

Cancer Treatments of America

QUOTE FOR WEDNESDAY:

“High blood pressure (HBP or hypertension) is when your blood pressure, the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels, is consistently too high.  You have a top and bottom number making the systolic B/P =your pressure when the heart is at work and the bottom number is the heart pressure at rest.  In order to survive and function properly, your tissues and organs need the oxygenated blood that your circulatory system carries throughout the body. When the heart beats, it creates pressure that pushes blood through a network of tube-shaped blood vessels, which include arteries, veins and capillaries. This pressure — blood pressure — is the result of two forces: The first force (systolic pressure) occurs as blood pumps out of the heart and into the arteries that are part of the circulatory system. The second force (diastolic pressure) is created as the heart rests between heart beats.”.

American Heart Association

QUOTE FOR TUESDAY:

“While there is no cure yet for cystic fibrosis (CF), people with CF are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. In fact, prior to the 1950s, children with the most common and most serious forms of cystic fibrosis rarely lived past age 5.  Today, babies born with CF are expected to live into their mid-40s and beyond. Life expectancy has improved so dramatically that there are now more adults with cystic fibrosis than children.  There are people living past their 70’s.”

CF – cysticfibrosis.org

QUOTE FOR MONDAY:

“Screening for CF is part of newborn screening in every state in the U.S. A positive newborn screening is not a diagnosis of CF. But it does mean more testing is done.

The first test done to try to diagnose CF is a sweat chloride test. This measures the amount of salt in your child’s sweat.

Testing for the CF gene can be done from a small blood sample. Or it can be done from a cheek swab. For this, a brush is rubbed against the inside of your cheek. This is done to get cells for testing. Labs generally test for the 20 or so most common mutations.

Not all of the genetic errors that cause CF have been found.”

Stanford Children’s Health/Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford

 

QUOTE FOR THE WEEKEND:

“Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder that causes problems with breathing and digestion. CF affects about 35,000 people in the United States. People with CF have mucus that is too thick and sticky, which

  • blocks airways and leads to lung damage;
  • traps germs and makes infections more likely; and
  • prevents proteins needed for digestion from reaching the intestines, which decreases the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food.
  • Sometimes it blocks the pancreas”

Center of Disease Prevention and Control CDC

QUOTE FOR FRIDAY:

“Harvest is typically a six to seven week season. Harvest is typically in full swing around the middle of May and through June.  Michigan moved up in the ranks as the 2nd largest producer of asparagus in the nation, producing just less than 21 million pounds.  It’s nutritious, flavorful and one of Michigan’s first signs of spring. Michigan asparagus is the state’s first green vegetable harvested each year. A typical Michigan asparagus harvest begins in mid-April, but in wake of a long, cold winter and cooler spring, it can be pushed back.

Pure Michigan (https://www.michigan.org/article/trip-idea/celebrate-national-asparagus-month-pure-michigan)

 

 

QUOTE FOR THURSDAY:

“First discovered in an Aboriginal Australian woman in 1961, the RH null (Rhesus null) is one of the rarest and most precious blood types in the world. Like a needle in a haystack, less than 50 people in the world are known to have it!

People who have the ‘golden blood’ type lack these Rh antigens. Their DNA lacks the genes responsible for building those RBC protein complexes. These people don’t just lack one, two or three of these 61 Rh antigens, they actually lack all of them. Yes, you read that right: all of them. As you might have guessed, people with Rhnull blood type have abnormal RBCs. They have deformed shapes, leaky membranes and shorter lifespans, which sometimes result in mild anaemia for the individual. Still, the absence of all Rh antigens makes Rhnull the ‘golden blood’, which is highly admired for its rarity and medical purposes.

To find out why this blood type was coined as the ‘golden blood’, we need to open the world of blood types and its systems.”

The University of Melbourne

QUOTE FOR WEDNESDAY:

“Hepatitis D and E typically have abrupt onset of fever, nausea, and abdominal pain followed by jaundice. Hepatitis D may progress to chronic hepatitis.  Hepatitis D  is known as “delta hepatitis,” is a liver infection caused by the Hepatitis D virus (HDV). Hepatitis D is uncommon in the United States. Hepatitis D only occurs among people who are infected with the Hepatitis B virus (BHV) because HDV is an incomplete virus that requires the helper function of HBV to replicate. HDV. Hepatitis E is a liver infection caused by the Hepatitis E virus (HEV). Hepatitis E is a self-limited disease that does not result in chronic infection. While rare in the United States, Hepatitis E is common in many parts of the world. It is transmitted from ingestion of fecal matter, even in microscopic amounts, and is usually associated with contaminated water supply in countries with poor sanitation. There is currently no FDA-approved vaccine for Hepatitis E. ”

Washington State Dept of Health

QUOTE FOR TUESDAY:

“Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis C virus.  The hepatitis C virus is a bloodborne virus and most infection occur through exposure to blood from unsafe injection practices, unsafe health care, unscreened blood transfusions, injection drug use and sexual practices that lead to exposure to blood.  Globally, an estimated 58 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus infection, with about 1.5 million new infections occurring per year.”.

World Health Organization WHO

QUOTE FOR MONDAY:

“Hepatitis A and hepatitis B are two types of hepatitis. (The others are types C, D, and E.) You get them from a viral infection.  Each of those viruses is different. But the diseases they cause are similar. Hepatitis brings liver inflammation, and it can be serious or even life-threatening.  There are safe and effective vaccines that can prevent hepatitis A and B (but not for types C, D, or E). There is also a combination vaccine that guards against hep A and B.”.

WebM.D.