Nursing Instructions: Please Use Peer Reviewed Articles

Nursing Instructions: Please use peer reviewed articles for references. References must be in 6th edition APA format The instructor changed the first part of assignment. Pick one genetic disease, Downs syndrome or Huntingtons disease are good choices. List typical symptoms, clinical manefestations and what specific nursing intervnetions are required for this type patient. I won't need the normal genetic inheritence or abnormal genetic inheritance or fluid and electrolyte balance in the body. Please be sure to refernece a peer reviewed article. Contact me for any questions. Sorry for the mixup.

Thanks for you help. Nursing A recent study determined that neurological diseases "are debilitating and lead to significant health needs" (Selby, 2011, p. 36). The neurological diseases discussed in Selby's article include diseases that are commonplace, such as epilepsy, and some that are only rarely encountered, such as Huntington's disease. According to Selby, Huntington's disease is an autosomal dominant genetic disease (meaning that those who carry the gene will likely develop the disease) but that it only affects 1 in 20,000 people.

Nurses can watch for symptoms that include movement difficulties, loss of cognition, and dementia in individuals in the 40+ age range. Huntington's usually causes death within twenty years of the original diagnosis. According to Selby; "there is not curative treatment for Huntington's disease, although antidepressants, movement suppressants and antipsychotics have a place" (p. 37). Additional options for practice nurses include caring and supporting the patient (and family members) through outreach and clinical programs.

Additionally, steps can be taken to provide regular reviews of the patient's physical and mental health; advice can be offered on lifestyle choices including smoking, drinking and diet, and reviews of medication should take place on a consistent and regular basis. Selby states that "medication side-effects need review, and the Quality and Outcomes Framework rewards practices for recording fit frequency, medication review and baseline data such as blood pressure" (p. 38). Although there are currently no known cures for Huntington's disease, progress is being made.

In a recent study it was determined that "the selective effect of these two metals (CdII and MnII) strongly suggests that the HD mutation can alter the influence of specific environmental toxicants on striatal neurons and validates that utility of a disease-toxicant screen to identify pathways to gene-environment interactions" (Williams, Li, Wegrznowicz, Vadodaria, Anderson, Kwakye, Aschner, Erikson, Bowman, 2010, p. 234). Or in other words, it could be possible to influence the HTT pathway and such manipulation could result in the reduction (or elimination) of Huntington's disease entirely.

The body's immune system is the manner in which the body fights foreign objects, diseases and viruses viewed as invaders by the body. There are three ways in which your body's immune system fights off these invaders. The first barrier is the body itself; the skin and hair act as walls to invaders keeping them at bay.

Once the first barrier has been breached, the immune system is alerted to the presence of an invader (such as a cold or flu virus) and immediately alerts fighters whose job it is to eliminate the invader. The lymph system is a key component in this fight against the invader. It contains a clear liquid that engulfs and smothers the foreign bacteria. The spleen, thymus, bone marrow cells, and antibodies are also part of the overall system and are in charge of destroying the invading bacteria or virus.

The inflammatory process can best be described as another manner in which the body provides signs that something is wrong; it is the body answer to a cellular injury. What inflammation is a sign of is injury. If the body is injured, the cells surrounding the injury site will respond in a rapid manner to attack the initial cause of the injury, and to rid the body of the results of that injury.

There are four main areas of hypersensitivity, but in general hypersensitivity can best be described as an "excessive, undesirable (damaging, discomfort-producing and sometimes fatal) reactions produced by the normal immune system" (Ghaffar, 2010). In other words, the immune system is provoked into a more than adequate response -- responding in a manner that is more than enough. There are normally for types of hypersensitivity, they are based on the 'mechanisms involved and the time taken.