Rheumatoid Arthritis Is a Widespread Autoimmune Disease

Rheumatoid arthritis is a widespread autoimmune disease that is linked to progressive disability, socioeconomic costs, systemic complications, and even early death. In addition to having an unknown cause, the disease also has a guarded prognosis. In the past few years, there have been several attempts to understand the pathogenesis of the disease, which have resulted in the creation of new therapeutics with enhanced outcomes (McInnes & Schett, 2011, p.2205). As a result of this progress, the current treatment strategy for the disease involves initiating aggressive therapy immediately after diagnosis and increasing the therapy. This process is carried out through an evaluation of the disease activity in order to achieve medical remission. While various unmet needs remain, rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by synovial inflammation, systemic attributes, autoantibody production, and cartilage and bone destruction.

Question 2:

Despite being common in the environment, Acinetobacter bacteria are rarely a medical threat to healthy and uninjured people. Acinetobacter infection can take place through person-to-person contact, exposure to contaminated surfaces, or contact with wounds contaminated with debris and dirt. Notably, very ill individuals, those with tramautic wounds, and those undergoing treatment in intensive care units are more vulnerable to infection with difficult-to-treat Acinetobacter bacteria. The symptoms of these infections differ based on the specific body part affected by bacteria. The symptoms for an Acinetobacter infection caused by pneumonia include chills, shortness of breath, fever, and cough.

Question 3:

A transfusion reaction is a condition that occurs when an individual is receiving blood or immediately after blood transfusion. While a blood transfusion is an important and effective means to help restore strength and health for an individual who has experienced serious blood loss, it's vital that the blood is precisely matched to the person's blood type. Failure to ensure that the blood matches the individual's blood type can result in a transfusion reaction. While transfusion reactions are rare, their occurrence can significantly affect a person's lungs and kidneys. The reaction occurs when antibodies in the recipient's blood attack the donor blood if they are not compatible. For instance, a hemolytic reaction takes place when the recipient's immune system attacks the donor's red blood cells while a febrile reaction occurs when the recipient's immune system attacks white blood cells of the donor (Dugdale & Chen, 2011).

Question 4:

Antigen-antibody interactions usually contribute to the development of immune complexes that become stuck along the vascular walls and activate complement and the immune reaction. In most cases, antigen-antibody reactions takes place within different time periods after exposure such as 1-3 weeks. An example of an antigen-antibody reaction that occurs within 1-3 weeks after exposure is Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). This is an autoimmune disease or antigen-antibody reaction in which the body's immune system erroneously attacks the body's healthy tissue and may affect the brain, skin, kidneys, and joints.

Question 5:

Since cancer is a common disease, many families have at least one member who is suffering or has suffered from the disease. While most cancers are not directly linked to genes inherited from the parents, these are some types of cancers that are inherited due to various factors. The three major types of cancers that most likely have a genetic link are breast cancer running in the family, hereditary colon cancer, and childhood cancers.

Question 6:

Tumors are categorized as either benign or malignant based on whether or not they can spread through metastasis and invasion. While benign tumors are those that cannot spread by metastasis or invasion since they only grow locally, malignant tumors are capable of spreading through invasion or metastasis. Generally, benign and malignant tumors have certain similarities and differences with the similarities including the fact that they can both quite large, they are dangerous at times, and they recur locally. On the contrary, they differ in ability to metastasize, growth rate, tissue invasion, systemic effects, probability and site of recurrence, effective treatment methods, cellular appearance, and death toll (Eldridge, 2013).

Question 7:

Prenatal genetic testing is a process that is used to determine whether a fetus has a genetic abnormality or disease like Down syndrome. However, prenatal genetic testing isn't required though screening for Down syndrome and some other conditions is nearly a standard practice and the outcomes are not conclusive. A prenatal screening test is accomplished through the use of karyotype to examine the fetus' size, number, and shape of chromosomes. The karyotype can be carried out on cells derived from the placenta in late first trimester or amniotic fluid in the second trimester.

Question 8:

Induced pluripotent stem cells are cells from an adult that have been reprogrammed genetically to an embryonic stem cell-like state. These stem cells are artificially obtained from a non-pluripotent cell i.e. An adult somatic cell through inducing a compelled expression of particular genes. In most cases, these stem cells are derived from adult blood cells, stomach, prostate cells, liver, urinary tract cells, and liver. Some of the ethical issues associated with these stem cells include disagreements about their similarities and differences with human induced pluripotent stem cells, the issue of informed consent process, and their equivalence to embryonic stem cells.

Question 9:

Gastrointestinal symptoms are widespread clinical conditions that many people experience such as gas in the GI tract, indigestion, stomach upset, nausea, changes in bowel habits, and vomiting. Gastrointestinal symptoms are often linked to stress because an overstressed body usually manifests or expresses itself through these symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms include nervousness, heartburn, gas, constipation, and diarrhea. These symptoms occur because the body experiences inability to slow down or relax when undergoing stress. In essence, stress contributes to gastrointestinal symptoms by affecting the functions of parasympathetic nervous system and sympathetic nervous system. When experiencing stress, oxygen is partially drained off from the digestive tract to feed the larger muscles ("Gastrointestinal Symptoms," 2012). This results in lack of oxygen in gastrointestinal area, which slows down or stops digestion.