MEDICAL ETHICS

Medical Ethics: End of life issues

Medical Ethics: End of life issues

Part 1

1) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive incurable neuromuscular disease that attacks nerve cells and pathways in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons, among the largest of all nerve cells, reach from the brain to the spinal cord to muscles throughout the body with connections to the brain. When they die, as with ALS, the ability of the brain to start and control muscle movement this with them. With all voluntary muscle action affected, patients in the later stages are totally paralyzed. In most cases, mental faculties are not affected.

ALS can therefore be defined as "Lou Gehrig's Disease". In the United States, ALS is often Referred to that title because of New York Yankees' baseball star Lou Gehrig, who was diagnosed with ALS in the 1930s. Other famous individuals with serious illness were the Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Sesame Street creator Jon Stone, actor David Niven, boxing champ Ezzard Charles, pro football player Glenn Montgomery and New York Senator Jacob Javits.

2) It may take several months to know for sure that someone has ALS. The illness can cause symptoms similar to other diseases that affect nerves and muscles, including Parkinson's disease and stroke. A doctor will examine the patient and Do special tests to see if it might be one of those disorders. (It is like using the process of elimination to figure out the answer to a multiple-choice question on a test.) One of the tests on electromyogram, or EMG, can show that muscles are not working because of damaged nerves. Other tests include X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), blood, and urine evaluations. Sometimes a muscle or nerve biopsy is needed. A biopsy is when the doctor takes a tiny sample of tissue from the body to study under a microscope. Examining this tissue can help the doctor figure out what exactly is causing these symptoms.

3) Early symptoms vary with each individual, but usually include muscle weakness, twitching and Cramping of muscles, impairment of the use of arms and legs, thick speech and difficulty in projecting the voice, swallowing, exaggeration of laughing and crying (greater than your feelings) , and breathing is gradually affected. It is often said that pain is not a problem with ALS, but many patients disagree. Actually, the nerve damage in ALS does not cause pain but pain in joints and muscles can Occur from compact mobility. Many patients experience swallowing difficulty at some time during the course of the disease, the main one being coughing and choking with food in Particular with water. Some patients who have decreased swallowing ability experience problems with the build up of saliva drooling.

4) The researchers are trying very hard to find a cure. It's not like they can just give you an antibiotic and get rid of a bacteria. It's much more than that. Many approaches are being taken, so there is no time frame ...