“The heart works like a pump and beats 100,000 times a day. For the heart to do its function therapeutically it needs another organ to be involved called the lungs or the body could not live”

American Heart Association

The heart works like a pump and beats 100,000 times a day. For the heart to do its function therapeutically it needs another organ to be involved called the lungs or the body could not live. If one of these organs gets damaged in time the other organ gets affected with no treatment the person will die sooner in life (Ex. Heart Failure in time affects the lungs to respiratory failure). A good metaphor for this is the car; if the engine gets damaged with no repair, in time the transmission will get affected; with no repair at all the car will die.

One of the main functions of the red blood cells (RBCs) is to carry oxygen throughout the body to give all tissues our food to stay alive, that would be oxygen. For this to take place this is done through the heart beating nonstop which allows the flow of blood to be running continuous in our blood stream (circulatory system) and at the same time this allows our cells in the blood stream to get to the lungs for oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. These 3 functions could not take place if the heart wasn’t pumping blood to and from the heart/lungs 24 hrs a day.

This is what takes place when the heart pumps our blood:

The red blood cells carry oxygen and remove the ending result of oxygen used by our tissues, called carbon dioxide=CO2. To get rid of the CO2 (a toxin) in our body the gas is carried from our body by carrying CO2 to the lungs through the RBCs. The high CO2 with low oxygen (O2) concentration RBCs go to one side of the heart (being the right side) to get CO2 removed in exchange for more O2 in a red blood cell (RBC) this is done at the base of the lungs. This is done through breathing.  Then these RBCs get highly oxygenated which then proceed to the left side of the heart. These RBCs get pumped throughout the body where the tissues utilize the oxygen in the RBCs by transferring O2 from the RBCs to the tissue as their food to stay alive. Without oxygen our tissues would starve and we would die. For the oxygen to be transported to the tissues of the body (as their food) it works like this: After the right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs with high CO2 concentration RBCs, while we inhale to allow more oxygen in the cells at the bottom of the lungs an exchange of gas concentration in the RBCs takes place. The cells release CO2 which is released out of our body through exhaling but also when we inhale more 02 is transported into the RBCs to take another trip around the body releasing the high 02 levels to the tissues that need to utilize it BUT to do this the blood now is sent to the left side of the heart. For all this to take place the heart pumps to transport the oxygen throughout the body giving nutrition to the tissues, without it=cellular starvation but at the same time sends high CO2 RBCs to the right side for a 02/CO2 exchange at the lungs by going through the right side of the heart.  

The heart has two sides, separated by an inner wall called the septum. The septum divides the right from the left side of the heart since the right and left chambers do different functions, as described above. Remember the right side of the heart is sending RBCs with highier CO2 concentration and a low oxygen concentration. You have these RBCs coming from above the heart finally entering the Rt upper chamber (Right Atrium=RA) called the Superior Vena Cava with below the heart the Inferior Vena Cava the meet into each other dumping the high CO2 blood into the RA. Then the blood goes through a valve called the tricuspid valve dumping the blood into the Rt.lower chamber called Rt. Ventricle and through the pulmonary valve going via the pulmonary artery (one of the few arteries with high CO2 concentration, usually arteries high in 02 concentration) dumping the blood at the base of the lungs for 02 and CO2 exchange when we inhale and exhale. After the gas exchange takes place the red blood cells become higher oxygenated in levels and much lower in carbon dioxide levels. Inside a cell is never 100% 02 or CO2. Now this high oxygenated blood goes to the left side of the heart leaving the lungs via the pulmonary vein (one of the few veins high in O2). The blood dumps now in the L upper chamber=Lt. atrium down through the mitral valve to the left ventricle proceeding to the aorta where the high concentrated RBCs go throughout the body dispensing oxygen to our tissues where it is needed.

If you look the right side sends blood from the heart to lungs back to heart=short distance so the muscle on the right side is thin compared to the left side. The reason for this is the left side of the heart receives the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to throughout the body. The left side of the heart has to dispense the high (O2) blood throughout the body so that side of the heart works out more in pumping; so the muscle on the left side is larger than the right side. The muscle of the heart is called myocardium (myo=muscle and cardium=the heart).

Come back tomorrow for the basics of what heart failure is on the the Rt. and Lt. side of the heart.

“In simple terms Myasthenia Gravis is a disease that causes weakness in the muscles under your control. It happens because of a problem in communication between your nerves and muscles.”

www.myasthenia.org/

“Diagnosing lupus is difficult because signs and symptoms vary considerably from person to person.”

Lupus.com

Carcinoma is the most common type of cancer. It begins in the epithelial tissue of the skin, or in the tissue that lines the internal organs, such as the liver or kidneys.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Differences between tumors are as follows:

Benign Tumors ones are the following:

Encapsulating (the big answer to resolution of a tumor like this is this a tumor that is surgical to remove or can radiation or chemo decrease the size of it to nothing).

Non metastasizing-meaning it hasn’t spread anywhere.

Well – Differentiated-meaning easy to detect.

Slow – growing (just what is says)

Malignant Tumors ones are the following:

Invasive,Metastasizing,FrequentlyUndifferentiated,OftenRapidGrowing.

Know that carcinogenesis is the process of inducing a malignant tumor in an animal or human. Much of the research in carcinogenesis resolves around deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the influence of carcinogens on DNA, and the genes that are involved in differentiation (of this growth vs normal tissue of the body) and control of cancerous cell growth.

There is viral and chemical carcinogenesis.   Both RNA and DNA viruses have been identified as causing natural and experimental tumors. Research has shown herpes viruses are DNA viruses. For almost every herpes group there is some experimental or epidemiological evidence linking it to human malignancy. Example Epstein-Barr viruse has been associated with Burkitt’s Lymphoma in West African children and nasopharyngeal cancer among Asian populations. Herpes simplex virus-1 has been linked to oral cancer and herpes simplex virus-2 to cervical cancer. All herpes viruses share a characteristic ability to remain latent within the body over long periods. Although they may be found throughout the body, CMV (cytomegaloviruse) infections are frequently associated with the salivary glands in humans and other mammals. Other CMV viruses are found in several mammal species, but species isolated from animals differ from HCMV in terms of genomic structure, and have not been reported to cause human disease.

The RNA viruses, also called oncoviruses or retroviruses induce leukemia, lymphoma, and mammary tumors in animals. To complete their natural cycle, these viruses must manufacture a viral DNA that is then integrated into the host cell DNA. To do this they produce an enzyme and the enzyme is able to use RNA as a template to produce DNA. Since these viruses can remain latent in a cell for long periods of time, it is only by identifying the enzyme or the viral DNA that scientists are able to detect cells infected with these viruses. This enzyme has been identified in some human leukemia and lymphoma cells.

In addition, approximately 20 oncogenes have been identified with these RNA viruses and some of these oncogenes have also been detected in human bladder cancer cells, Burkitt’s lymphoma, and promyelocytic leukemia.

There is also radiation carginogenesis. There is external radiation; take Leukemia which was the first cancer related to radiation exposure that was seen in the atomic bomb survivors. Within 6-8 years after the bomb, the incidence rates of leukemia increased to levels well above those seen in the Japanese population who were not exposed. The peak was highest from 1950 to 1952, at which time the incidence was 116:100,000, as compared with 3-4:100,000 to the unexposed population.

Internal Emitters – One of the most famous classics is that of the luminescent instrument – dial painters. The paint was used to create luminescent faces on watches and clocks containing radium. While painting, the workers licked the brushes and thus ingested the radium. Radium, when ingested is deposited in bone and tends to remain there.) Among this group, bone cancer or osteogenic sarcoma, a rare tumor, became prevalent. With this type of knowledge it led to limitations on surface testing of atomic weapons. Atomic weapons contain radioactive compounds that can become deposited in the bone.

Ultraviolet radiation or the Sunlight – One of the most obiquitous forms of radiation that every person is exposed to is the sunlight. Ultraviolet rays do not penetrate deeply. Most statistics on cancer do not include skin cancer due to it being treatable (the easiest cancer to treat on average). Another more dangerous type of cancer is melanoma that has been linked to sunlight exposure.

Tumor classification shows because the study of tissues originates with the study of their development in the embryo, the class of the tumor is often based on the tissues from which the tumor is derived.

Grading the cancer, besides classifying the tumor according to the tissue origin the pathologist will classify it looking at other characteris- tics. This aspect is Grading the cancer from level 1 or 2 or 3 or 4. If cells of classification in the tumor look like the mature cells of the tissue than the tumor is well differentiated=Grade 1. This type of tumor generally has a better prognosis compared to a tumor that is poorly differentiated or does not resemble the tissue from which it originated. Sometimes a poorly differentiated tumor is called anaplastic. An anaplastic tumor would have the highest grade of 4. Remember even though tow tumors might be similarly classified and have identical grades, in two different individuals the tumors might act differently. Because each patient is unique, has a different history, different immune responses, and different reserves, similar tumors might act very differently.

DIAGNOSIS

A definitive diagnosis of cancer can only be made after an examination of tissue obtained from a surgical procedure or biopsy. Biopsies can be excisional, meaning the whole lesion is removed, or incisional in which only part of the presumptive tumor is removed. Specimens can also be obtained from a needle biopsy. In this a core of tissue is drawn up in a needle.   Cytological examination of exfoliated cells, as done in a pap smear, can lead to a presumptive diagnosis of cancer but often a surgical biopsy will be performed to confirm the diagnosis. Often the patient undergoes many other diagnostic tooling procedures besides the biopsy in the attempt to determine the nature and extent of the illness=from blood tests, diagnostic x-ray studies, and endoscopic procedures. These tests with the biopsy done are used to evaluate the extent of the disease in the patient. This process of determining the extent of tumor in an individual is called staging.

Treatment

Cancer treatment can be surgery, chemo or radiation or even all 3.

“Eating fruit provides health benefits — people who eat more fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Fruits provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.ruit help’s you in both diet and health when eatenRIGHT.”.

USDA ChooseMyPlate.gov

Thank you all veterans active and retired for all you have done and continue to do for keeping our country the U.S.A. safe!!

“Nobody’s perfect, and a sunburn can happen. But it’s important to take it seriously and stop it from happening again. Your risk for melanoma doubles if you’ve had more than five sunburns.”

Skincancer.org