Glaucoma Essays (Examples)

("Topic Overview," Glaucoma: Yahoo Health, para on "hat are the Symptoms?")

Diagnosis

Glaucoma is diagnosed by an ophthalmologist through a comprehensive eye exam that includes a visual acuity test, which measures the eyesight at various distances; a visual field test to measure the peripheral vision; tonometry, to measure the pressure inside the eye; dilated eye exam for examining the retina and optic nerve for signs of damage by putting special dilatory eye-drops in the eye; and by pachymetry, measurement of the thickness of the cornea by using an ultrasonic wave instrument. ("Glaucoma" National Eye Institute, "How is Glaucoma Detected?")

Treatment

Treatment for glaucoma is aimed at slowing the damage to the optic nerve. In adults, the eyesight already lost cannot be reversed while in children with congenital glaucoma some reversal is possible. Most treatments consist of lowering of the pressure in the eye (the intraocular pressure) through medication, laser treatment,…

Glaucoma is one of the health conditions that have generated significant attention in the health care sector because it is the second-leading cause of blindness. This disease is a major challenge because it progresses or develops without symptoms until it successfully damages the optic nerve. As a result, approximately 50% of people with this condition remain undiagnosed while nearly one in every ten people aged 80 years or more are affected by it (Parente, 2011). Given its tendency to develop without symptoms until it becomes severe, glaucoma is a major health risk to every individual ranging from newborns to the elderly. While standard treatments exist, glaucoma can cause loss of vision or total blindness because of pressure inside the eye.

Glaucoma, which is also known as increased intraocular pressure (IOP), is a condition attributable to insufficient drainage of aqueous humor from the eye's anterior chamber (Vera, 2013). The condition results…

Friedrich ilhelm Ernst Albrecht von Grafe, or Graefe, was born on May 22, 1828 and died July 20, 1870. Graefe He was considered by many, a Prussian pioneer and founding father of 19th century ophthalmology. (Daroff and Aminoff) Father to Albrecht von Graefe and son to Karl Ferdinand von Graefe, he was born in Finkenheerd, Brandenburg. In Berlin, he studied anatomy, natural sciences, logic, and philosophy, going abroad to study in London, Prague, Vienna, and Paris. (Daroff and Aminoff) It was while abroad that Graefe decided to devote special focus to the field of ophthalmology.

He traveled back to Berlin to become an oculist where he established a private institute for eye treatment. His thesis, Uber die irkung der Augenmuskeln, led to his habiltation and eight years later, a position as an associate professor of ophthalmology. (Daroff and Aminoff) Eight years after that in 1866, he gained the position of…

Currently, I am working as a surgical technologist in two hospitals in Arkansas - Arkansas Children Hospital and the VA Hospital. I do surgical scrub on various cases of all surgical services, general, orthopedics, vascular, ENT, neurology, urology, and burns. To update and enhance my skills, I attended different medical training courses.

Since my youth, I had been in the scene of medicine. At the age of seventeen I was diagnosed with diabetes. Hence, in y sophomore years in college, I did a presentation on diabetes where I provided information on the symptoms, complications, and how to cope with diabetes. During my Junior year, I had family members that were diagnosed with breast cancer, glaucoma, heart attacks and thyroid problems.

Such experiences are my motivations in becoming a Physician Assistant. The feeling that I get from providing medical services is unfathomable and cannot be measured by anything.

United States from Nigeria in order to add to my life and career experience. I began my venture by joining the United States Navy. My main motivation for this was to raise the necessary funds to enroll in a college. After one year I was honorably discharged as a result of glaucoma, and I could not raise the funds that I needed. This however did not deter me from my plans and I enrolled in a local community college instead. Here I made the Dean's list after one semester, and received a scholarship. It is also here that I continued to develop my interest in finance and banking.

One of the reasons I want to continue with graduate work in this field then is the fact that my work and studies so far have unlocked the world of finance for me, and I find the pursuit of the field extremely…

legalization of marijuana and its benefits to the society. Our arguments are focused on its medicinal value, income generated (economic value) to the state as well as the possible losses to tax payer's money as a result of trying to implement its prohibition. Our analysis is done via a thorough review of relevant literature containing expert opinions. We support our proposition that marijuana can be a benefit to society through its legalization. This is due to its medicinal value, revenue stream to the state and the reduced cost attributed to decreased prohibition budgets.

Marijuana which is the most commonly used illicit drug has faced has been heavily debated on issues of legalization and safe use. The debate has been so intense to an extent of which it has turned political (NYT, 2008). A recent study by Angus eid concluded that a majority of Americans are in support of marijuana legalization…

What makes the problem more challenging is the difficulty of measuring the intraocular pressure accurately in an eye with a KPro. In the Boston KPro the stiff back plate prevents measurements based on indentation of the cornea, even in its periphery. Scleral tonometry or the use of any device acting through the lids has been highly unreliable due to often distorted or scarred tissue arrangement. Despite all of variances, finger palpation over the upper lid with the patient looking down has been shown to be the best approach to gross judgment of the IOP (Melki, Lopez and Dohlman, 2009).

The KPros are manufactured to match the refractive need of the individual patient and, therefore, a substantial inventory is required to rapidly supply a device of the desired dimensions. For the eye that is pseudophakic and approximately emmetropic, and where the IOL is left in place at surgery, a single standard…

Legalizing Marijuana

Recent ballot initiatives in states like California and Oregon asking for the decriminalization of marijuana use reveals a growing public acceptance of marijuana. The perception that marijuana is not dangerous has made drug enforcement even more difficult. Indeed, the debate over marijuana goes beyond health concerns, and touches issues such as crime and privacy as well.

This paper examines the debate to legalize marijuana. The first part of the paper examines the arguments of the pro-marijuana side, focusing on those who argue that the drug can have medicinal purposes. The next part then examines the potential dangers of legalized marijuana use, both to the individual and to public health in general. In the conclusion, the paper argues that marijuana use is not a "victimless" crime. The potential dangers that marijuana present to individual and public health are best upheld by keeping marijuana illegal.

Pro-legalization arguments

Prohibitions against the…

Vision, Senses and Motor Control

Diagram, Clockwise: optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tract, lateral geniculate nucleus, superior colliculi

The visual cortex, also known as the striated cortex due to its many layers, is the primary system responsible for the first part of our visual processing. From there information travels to the brain via a secondary cortex which allows the brain to translate what we have seen into a meaningful concept. The "first stop shop" of the visual cortex includes the major structures identified on this diagram, after passing through the outer eye, pupil and retina.

The Optic Nerve is a bundle of nerve fibers carrying visual messages from the retina to the brain. Via millions of fibers in the optic nerve, input of light and electrical signals from each eye and the outside world travel and meet the brain at the optic chiasm ("Function: visual pathway," ). This is the…

Some of the funding is to come from a national prevention trust fund (Kaiser Fdn, 2010). However there are additional funding resources for the near-term that are readily assessable.

Social Justice

The National Secretary of Health has been called on to launch a national quality plan designed to address the issue of social injustice and improve the level of service to every state. Specific to this program are the rates for Maryland in tracking the mortality rates of all with diabetes. Including the elderly women and minority women with the specific indicators to track and monitor being race and gender. This will go along way in finally getting a better idea of what the numbers in Maryland for diabetes mortality.

Understanding that elderly women and older minority women in particular are retired and have little income or are unemployed (Mitchell et al., 1994). Therefore their income is even lower than…

Even proponents of medical legalization concede marijuana cannot cure or even alleviate the symptoms of MS or glaucoma, merely act as a narcotic. True, other narcotics exist on the market today -- and like marijuana, they are also addictive. Whether they are more or less addictive than marijuana remains uncertain, but advocates say the chronically ill should be able to choose what works best for them while opponents say only tested, carefully titrated drugs should be used as palliatives.

Weighing the rights of the sick with marijuana's long and short-term side effects is a delicate balance. When marijuana is smoked, users often suffer similar short as well as long-term problems to those of regular smokers, including a smoker's cough and breathing problems. In fact, "marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke" (Legalization of marijuana, 2010, Legalization of marijuana). The active agent in marijuana, THC,…

, and otjak, C. (2006). Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor Mediates Fear Extinction via Habituation-Like Processes. The Journal of Neuroscience 26(25): 6677-6686.

Kim, S., on, S., Mao, X., Ledent, C., Jin, K. And Greenberg, D. (2006). Role for Neuronal Nitric-Oxide Synthase in Cannabinoid-Induced Neurogenesis. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., October 1, 2006; 319(1): 150-154

Kogan, N., Blazquez, C., Alvarex, L., Gallily, R., Schlesinger, M., Guzman, A., and Mechoulam, R. (2006). A Cannabinoid Quinone Inhibits Angiogenesis by Targeting Vascular Endothelial Cells. Mol Pharmacol 70:51-59.

Lundqvist, T. (2005). Cognitive Consequences of Cannabis Use: Comparison with use of Stimulants and heroin with regard to attention, memory and executive functions. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. 81: 319-330.

Maccarrone, M., Lorenzon, T., Bari, M., Melino, G., and Finazzi-Agro, A. (2000). Anandamide Induces Apoptosis in Human Cells via Vanilloid Receptors

Evidence For A Protective Role Of Cannabinoid Receptors. J. Biol. Chem., 275 (41): 31938-31945.

Massi, P., Vaccani, A., Ceruti, S.,…

In the third trimester of pregnancy, caution must be taken concerning congestive heart failure, hypertension and decreased renal and hepatic function, interstitial nephritis, hyperkalemia, hyponatremia and renal papillary necrosis, anticoagulation abnormalities, leucopenia, granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia. The use of Celecoxib is aimed primarily at suppressing pain and inflammatory stimuli, but it may contribute to NSAID gastrointestinal toxicity. The lowest possible dose of celecoxib should be prescribed and taken. On the whole, NSAIDs can mask the usual signs of infection, therefore, caution must be taken in the presence of existing controlled infection. The physician should investigate symptoms and signs, which suggest liver dysfunction or abnormal liver lab results.

On September 30, 2004, Merck and Company voluntarily withdrew rofecoxib from the American and world markets because of its association with an increase in cardiovascular incidence (Keldaya 2005). A major Food and Drug Administration study linked the medication to a three-fold rise in the…

A group of authors note, "In the United States, an increase from fewer than four percent to more than 50% of new cases of type 2 diabetes in the pediatric population was reported between the years of 1982 and 1998" (Leung, Kamla, Lee, and Mak). This means that children in our family could come down with the disease earlier in life, and they would have to manage their disease throughout their lives.

After diagnosis, without treatment, the disease can progress. One of the problems with the disease is that people often do not know they have the disease, and so it progresses before they gain treatment. Therefore, it is important to know the symptoms of diabetes. They can include fatigue and weakness, dehydration (often due to increased urination), increased thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, and confusion. There can also be some severe, long-term complications from type 2 diabetes. It can…

Doctors use a fasting plasma glucose test to confirm a diagnosis of type-two diabetes. A patient must fast for 8 hours prior to giving a blood sample (http://diabetes.webmd.com/guide/diagnosing-type-2-diabetes). If it is determine that the patient has diabetes, the doctor will prescribe diet management and exercise. In some cases, insulin shots or pills may also be prescribed.

Unlike type-one diabetes, type-two develops because of lifestyle choices. If you are overweight and get little or no exercise, you have a greater chance of developing type-two diabetes. Other un-controllable factors known to contribute to type-two diabetes include: family history, age, race, ethnicity and a low body weight at birth (https://members.kaiserpermanente.org/kpweb/healthency.do?hwid=hw135189&sectionId=ur1000&contextId=hw135189).

COMPLICATIONS AND EFFECTS OF DIABETES

There are many long-term health issues are associated with diabetes. If a patient fails to be diagnosis or a patient does not maintain their insulin schedule, complications may occur. Diabetics have a higher likelihood of developing eye problems…

President Richard Nixon chose to ignore and through the whole report into the garbage. Instead, he had the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) created and were given authority enter homes without knocking and to use wiretaps and gather intelligence virtually on anyone Milestones. In the 1980's President Ronald Reagan continued the war by advocated his own war and it was estimated that due to these wars, someone was arrested on a violation of a marijuana law every 38 seconds.

Thankfully, these wars have become more focused on the real drug problems that are primarily synthetic or man made or used in ways never imagined. But heroin and methamphitamines are clearly not health regimens. They kill people every day, cause real crimes and ruin families, lives and destroys entire groups.

The first step in changing the view of marijuana began with the legalization for medical usage. The compassions for the ill allowed…

Target Group and their Local Government

To determine the actual effects of diabetes on the indigenous population, you must examine the areas where many of these individuals live. This will provide insights as to possible issues that could be contributing to the problem by: examining the policies of the local government, looking at relevant health statistics, determining fruit / vegetable consumption and looking at the different support services / infrastructure. These different elements are important, because they provide insights about how the local community could be contributing to the problem. If you can see how these factors are affecting a particular community, then the government can begin to design intervention strategies to reduce the overall effects. Once this takes place, is when you can see how this demographic of 25 to 64-year-olds can be effectively targeted for an intervention.

A description of the Local Government and relevant socio-demographic characteristics of…

This became more so with the advancement of molecular iology Tests. Subsequently a group of clinicians met in Ghent elgium and came up with the current diagnostic criteria known as the Ghent Nosology. (De Paepe et al. 1996) Similar to the erlin Nosology the Ghent criteria was based on clinical findings in the various organ systems as well as the nature of family history and relationships, a major criteria was classified as which has a high diagnostic specificity because it was less frequent in other conditions and in the general population. A point of divergence from the erlin Nosology was the conversion of minor criteria in the skeletal system into major criteria. For one to be diagnosed with Marfan's the patient must have a first degree relative diagnosed with the disease in addition two systems must be involved with one having a major sign. In the absence of a family…

" (Volpicelli-Daley and Levey, 2003)

Prior to visualization of the molecule of interest it is necessary to "fix and section the brain tissue. Double-labeling immunofluorescence is stated to detect "localization of a protein of interest as well as the distribution of the protein relative to another marker such as a neurochemical or organelle marker." (Volpicelli-Daley and Levey, 2003 Fluorescence imaging labeled tissue through use of confocal makes provision of "high-resolution analysis of the extent of colocalization, with a theoretical limit of resolution of 0.1 to 0.2 um." (Volpicelli-Daley and Levey, 2003) Immunofluorescence techniques are stated to "in general...utilize secondary antibodies conjugated to a flurosphore." (Volpicelli-Daley and Levey, 2003) It is important according to Volpicelli-Daley and Levey to choose flurosphores with "minimal background staining and a minimum overlap of excitation/emission spectra...when performing double labeling experiments." (2003)

IV. FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY

The work of Coling and Kachar (1997) entitled: "Theory and Application of…

One very important aspect related to smoking marijuana concerns the number of deaths reported on an annual basis linked to using other legal and illegal substances. For example, according to the U.S. ureau of Mortality Statistics, 400,000 Americans die annually as a direct result of smoking cigarettes; 100,000 die prematurely from drinking alcohol; some 20,000 die from abusing legal prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Valium, Percodan, and other drugs prescribed by physicians; 2,000 die from the effects of consuming too much caffeine, mainly from heart failure, while the number of Americans who die from smoking marijuana currently stands at zero, an indication that smoking marijuana does not directly cause any known fatal and debilitating disease ("The Legalization of Marijuana," Internet).

Therefore, considering the number of Americans who die prematurely from consuming alcohol which has been legal since the end of Prohibition in the early 1930's, there is no logical reason not…

Most Americans value freedoms and liberties such as those protected in the United States Constitution. Those freedoms and liberties are violated when governments prevent access to drugs, which is why legalization may eventually happen on a state-by-state basis.

Marijuana has promising applications in health care, which is why states like California have recently permitted the sale and distribution of the drug to patients with prescriptions. The trend is spreading, and several other states also permit marijuana to be used for medical purposes. As more and more states follow suit, drugs will be effectively decriminalized. Law enforcement can divert its attention to violent crime, leaving ordinary citizens alone and leaving addicts in the care of trained psychological professionals. Consumers will purchase their pot from licensed dealers who they can trust, who carefully cultivate their strains to suit certain medical conditions, and who do not use chemical pesticides or any poison to…

1958

After studying the cardiovascular effects of various catecholamines, Moran and his research partner, Perkins, are published in the same journal as Ahlquist arguing "that DCI's activity belonged to Ahlquist's 'beta-adrenergic' type, and coined the term 'beta-adrenergic blocking drug', later shortened to 'beta-blocker'"

1959

Sir James Black joins the cardiovascular team at Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., reads Moran's research and realizes the possibilities of synthesizing an analog to DCI that would be clinically useful.

1959

Black's ICI report contradicts Waring's arguing that the "altered fat metabolism with associated changes in blood coagulability interact, permissively, with sympathetic neurohumoural stress responses to produce fatal damage."

1962

Black synthesizes propranolol (Inderal)

1963

ICI launches Black's first beta blocker treatment -- pronethalol (Alderlin).

1964

The first clinical studies are conducted for the use of proopranolol.

1965

ICI launches propranolol, the replacement for propranolol as it was found to cause thymic tumors in mice.

1966…

Any weight loss, say doctors, is good weight loss. If there is some minor contribution the medication gives to the whole process, then that's positive. If taken strictly according to instructions, at worst, diet pills are harmless for the most part.

Effects of Dietary Supplements

The FDA regulates dietary supplements only in that it is required to ensure their safety. A manufacturer is not required to register a supplement or have it approved prior to going to market with it. They must only make certain the product is safe. It is the FDA's post-sales responsibility to keep them safe. Manufacturers must ensure that the label on the product is accurate and not misleading in any way.

There are definite benefits in taking dietary supplements per directions. They can assist anyone in obtaining nutrients not consumed through a balanced diet. And some can reduce the risk of certain diseases even though,…

LEADING CAUSES OF MOBIDITY:

Some of the diseases which often result in early death in African-Americans, provided that the go untreated or undiagnosed, include hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, dementia (i.e., Alzheimer's disease), diabetes and certain types of cancer, most notably lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer (in men). Exactly why the morbidity rates for these disease are so much higher in African-Americans than in other ethnic/racial groups include a lack of education, lower incomes and the inability to access professional health care providers and clinics ("Health and Health Care," 2009, Internet). At the top of the list, there is hypertension, coronary heart disease (especially arterial blockage), stroke and some major types of cancer. With hypertension, some studies have shown that if a black male lives in poverty, his chances of being stricken with high blood pressure increases, perhaps because of the stress which goes…

There is much more to the issue and how it is addressed than that (Seamon, 2007). These states are:

Alaska

California

Colorado

Hawaii

Maine

Maryland

Michigan

Montana

Nevada

New Mexico

Oregon

Rhode Island

Vermont

Washington (Seamon, 2007)

Criticisms of Decriminalization

Gateway Drug

The war on drugs has been in the news for some time now, and marijuana has been included in that war. It continues to be listed as important in the speeches of many politicians, and it continues to be at the forefront of a great many debates about how our tax money should best be spent (Gray, 2005; Pacula, 2003b). One of the main concerns of the war on drugs, however, does not deal with what politicians think about it. Rather, it deals with what police think about it. Police are, after all, the ones that are out there on the streets every day, trying to fight the…

The man and his son are so demonstrably complex in this story, even if their survival motives are simple and clear. Particularly, even as they endure a world of cannibalism and tribalism, the two struggle mightily to maintain a sense of moral turpitude, even to the point of impracticality.

This is perhaps the most tangibly real element of McCarthy's text, which focuses significant attention to the scorched landscape and its implications. In the passage where McCarthy introduces us to this landscape, he describes the man in a state of observation, telling that "when it was light enough to use the binoculars he glassed the valley below. Everything paling away into thte murk. The soft ask blowing in loose swirls over the blacktop. He studied what he could see. The segments of road down there among the dead trees. Looking for anything of color. Any movement. Any trace of standing smoke."…

However, one of the many ways Wal-Mart has been able to cut costs is by not having large stores of items in back rooms at each of their stores. Instead, the organization has used technology to remain customer focused.

By innovating the use of sharing sales data, via computer, with their major suppliers, Wal-Mart has been able to keep key items in stock, without having to stockpile them. When an item is rung up at the cash register, this information is sent to a data warehouse that then facilitates reordering from that particular supplier ("Wal-Mart Story"). Add this product availability to the fact that Wal-Mart offers such a wide variety of items, and services from: financial services to beauticians to optometry to automotive care, and one can easily see how the company has added convenience to its strategies of success.

Wal-Mart's most recent convenience strategy also comes in the form…

Paternalistic legislation, even when warranted, must be logically consistent both in theory and in practical application, in the case of marijuana, prohibitions against its medicinal use, even if still unproven in clinical trials, is logically and ethically inconsistent with the legal status of substances like tobacco which are devoid of any possible beneficial use and which, unlike marijuana, have actually been proven to cause disease and premature death.

Governmental paternalism is appropriate in many instances, including ensuring the safety and efficacy of substances used for medicinal purposes. However, the application of paternalistic legislation must, if nothing else, be logically consistent.

Federal prohibition criminalizing marijuana, even for medicinal purposes, is completely unjustified, particularly in light of the legal status of tobacco, which has absolutely no beneficial medical use and whose recreational use accounts for tremendous human harm.

References

The American Medical Marijuana Association website, (2007)

Retrieved November 21, 2007, at http://americanmarijuana.org/…

akalar, JD, 'Marijuana as Medicine: a Plea for Reconsideration', 1876

Journal of the America Medical Association, June 21, 1995 - Vol. 273, No. 23, at http://www.calyx.com/~olsen/MEDICAL/lester.html

Policy Analysis: Thinking About Drug Legalization," at http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa121.html

Alternatives to the War on Drugs," at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4727/alt-wod-faq.html

Frequently Asked Questions," at http://www.paranoia.com/drugs/marijuana/hemp/FAQ-alt.hemp

Americans for Compassionate Use," at http://www.acu.org/~acu/

Ethan a. Nadelmann, "Thinking seriously about alternatives to the drug prohibition," Daedalus v.123:3, at http://www.calyx.com/~mariolap/debate/ethan1.html

NASRO Issue rief, Spring 1995 vol. 1, no.1,"Rethinking the War on Drugs and Crime: New Approaches to Local Polic." http://www.dscc.org/cwa/report.html

Policy Analysis: Thinking About Drug Legalization," at http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa121.html

Fish, Jefferson M, Ed. How to Legalize Drugs. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson Inc.. July 1998, 675 pages., pp. 161

Lester Grinspoon, MD, James . akalar, JD, 'Marijuana as Medicine: a Plea for Reconsideration', 1876 Journal of the America Medical Association, June 21, 1995 -- Vol. 273, No. 23, at http://www.calyx.com/~olsen/MEDICAL/lester.html

Alternatives to the War…

" Long-term use may develop psychoses, like schizophrenia and severe depression. The use of MDMA may produce psychological difficulties, like confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety and paranoia, even weeks after the use of the drug. MSMA develops symptoms, such as muscle tension, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movements, faintness, chills, sweating, and increased heart rate and blood pressure. it, therefore, poses a special risk for those with heart disease. Overuse can lead to death (Kurtzweil).

West Africans used ibogaine as a stimulant and aphrodisiac in the early 1900s (Kurtzweil 1995). Native Americans used mescaline from peyote cactus in religious rituals. LSD was first synthesized in 1938. Throughout history, it was considered a source of many types of medications. Its psychedelic effects were first discovered in 1943. Two decades after World War II, LSD was used to determine its effects on patients with schizophrenia and other mental disorders.…

Legalize Marijuana Now!

Today, the United States enjoys the dubious distinction of incarcerating more of its citizens than any other industrialized nation on earth. Perhaps even more troubling still, the majority of these citizens have been imprisoned for nonviolent crimes involving drugs, with marijuana being one of the most prominently drugs. Furthermore, these issues have assumed new importance and relevance in recent years. As the country continues to struggle to recover from the Great Recession of 2008, dwindling federal and state budgets have forced lawmakers to scramble to identify ways to save money in order to turn the tide for economic recovery. One initiative that has been advanced time and again is the legalization of marijuana because it would reduce the number of people being incarcerated and help generate new tax revenues. To determine if this is the legalization of marijuana is a truly viable option, this paper provides a…

Low Vision Literature Review

The impact of low vision on a person's quality of life can be devastating… people with low vision can improve their quality of life through rehabilitation services to teach them how to use their remaining vision more effectively. Using a variety of visual aids may bring them back or help them keep their independence (Kupfer, 1999 as cited in indsor & indsor, 2001).

Low vision or vision loss has been operationally defined most commonly as that associated with macular degeneration due to age that accounts for more than half of all reported cases of visual impairment. There are other known causes of vision loss that include but may not be limited to corneal degeneration, eye injuries, traumatic brain injury, brain tumors, stroke, toxoplasmosis, optic atrophy, glaucoma, retinal dystrophies, retinal detachment, retinopathy of prematurity, achormatopsia and histoplasmosis (indsor & indsor, 2001). Moreover, visual impairment is described as…

"As a case in point we may take the known fact of the prevalence of reefer and dope addiction in Negro areas. This is essentially explained in terms of poverty, slum living, and broken families, yet it would be easy to show the lack of drug addiction among other ethnic groups where the same conditions apply." Inciardi 248()

Socio-economic effects

Legalizing drugs has been deemed to have many socio-economic effects. A study that was conducted by Jeffrey a. Miron, who was a Harvard economist estimated that by legalizing drugs, this would inject about $76.8 billion in to the U.S. every year. 44.1 billion dollars would come from savings made from the law enforcement measures and 32.7 billion would be from tax revenue. This revenue can be thought to be broken down as follows: 6.7 billion dollars from marijuana, 22.5 billion from heroin and cocaine and the rest from the other…

Organized Crime Control

Controlling Organized Crime

The purpose of this paper is to research "Organized Crime" historically and what effects it has on society in the present time as well as implications for the future and then to examine what suggestions have been offered for asserting effective control over that which is termed "organized crime."

Organized crime can be defined as structured business framework that with no regard to moral, ethic or societal concerns or standards prospers from that which promises to prosper the individual and group within that network the most. Some examples of organized crime are the drug trafficking trade, illegal weapons and nuclear arms trade, slave trade, gambling rings, pornography rings among many other variations of the major crime categories.

Many of the Organized Crime networks are based on familial relations although there are networks defined by religion, government, country, political persuasion among other groups which characteristic…

Decriminalization of Marijuana

Ever since marijuana was declared an illegal drug in the U.S.A. By the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 under dubious circumstances, there has been a realization among various groups of people that it was a mistake. However, almost 70 years on, and despite a watertight case in support of its decriminalization, marijuana -- a drug which is arguably less harmful than tobacco and alcohol -- continues to be illegal in the U.S. Of A. In this essay I shall argue why marijuana should be decriminalized without further delay by demonstrating that it is a relatively harmless drug and explaining the benefits of legalizing the drug.

Before I proceed to present arguments in support of decriminalization of marijuana let us ponder over two important questions: a) whether marijuana is a sufficiently dangerous, harmful or addictive drug to justify its prohibition? b) Has the prohibition of…

Visual Impairment on the Family

The incidence of visual impairment among young and old people alike is on the rise, and is expected to increase in the future. The purpose of the paper is to provide an overview of the problems that typically confront families when one or more of their family members has a visual impairment. The background of the problem is followed by a discussion of how visual impairments affect the individual child, followed by an analysis of how such conditions affect other family members. A summary of the research is provided in the conclusion.

Physical impairments can assume a variety of forms, such as a loss of limbs or a paralysis due to accident or disease. When one family member becomes disabled in one fashion or another, it will naturally have profound consequences for other family members, but it is important to remember that every family is…

Expert Systems and Neural Networks

The Development and Limitations of Expert Systems and Neural Networks

The human experience demands a constant series of decisions to survive in a hostile environment. The question of "fight or flight" and similar decisions has been translated into computer-based models by using the now-famous "if-then" programming command that has evolved into the promising field of artificial intelligence. In fact, in their groundbreaking work, Newell and Simon (1972) showed that much human problem solving could be expressed in terms of such "if-then" types of production rules. This discovery helped to launch the field of intelligent computer systems (Coovert & Doorsey 2003). Since that time, a number of expert and other intelligent systems have been used to model, capture, and support human decision making in an increasingly diverse range of disciplines; however, traditional rule-based systems are limited by several fundamental constraints, including the fact that human experts…

There have been other factors that have been associated with the problem more recently, but the severity of illness and the amount of time spent on oxygen seem to be the largest predicting factors. In other words, the infants that are the sickest and the smallest when they are born are the ones that have the highest risk of ROP, and also the ones that have the highest risk for the most serious stages of the disease. Interestingly enough, babies that are African-American appear to be less likely to experience ROP on a level that is considered severe (www.emedicine.com,2002).

During gestation, retinal vasculature usually begins developing around the 16th week. This vasculature grows in a circumferential pattern and does not become fully mature until the baby has reached full term. When a baby is born too early, the vasculature stops maturing. Many of the blood vessels then constrict and some…

Legalizing Marijuana

Any drug that alters the brain chemistry, impairs cognitive functions, and creates an addictive personality cannot be recommended as safe. While there is no suppressing the fact that controlling illegal marijuana use continues to be a financial and administrative bottleneck, they are overridden by the potential harmful health consequences of legalizing marijuana.

Marijuana has been in use for thousands of years for its medicinal properties. With the development of new synthetic drugs there was a gradual decline in its use from the early part of the 20th century. Today however, though illegal, it continues to be a widely used drug in the United States for both recreational and medicinal purposes. In the year 2000 alone there were more than 2.4 million new users of marijuana and the drug is supposedly consumed by more than 76% of all drug users. [NCADI] The comparatively safer and proven remedial properties of…

Conjunctivitis

The term conjunctivitis refers to any inflammatory condition of the membrane that lines the eyelids and covers the exposed surface of the sclera, and is the most common cause of "red eye" or "pink eye" (Abbott pp). Most often the etiology can be determined by a careful history and an ocular examination, however, culture is sometimes necessary to establish the diagnosis or to guide therapy (Abbott pp). The most common causes of conjunctivitis are bacteria and viruses (Abbott pp). hen severe, bilateral, purulent conjunctivitis is present in a sexually active adult or in a neonate three to five days postpartum, then Neisseria infection should be suspected (Abbott pp). Conjunctivitis that is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrhoeae requires aggressive antibiotic therapy, however, conjunctivitis due to other bacteria is usually self-limited (Abbott pp). Chronic conjunctivitis is most often associated with blepharitis, recurrent styes or meibomianitis, and treatment requires good…

For instance, a decline in peripheral vision may impact the ability to pass approaching vehicles safely, and the decreased range of motion in an older person's neck may impair the ability to look behind when backing up. Also, reaction time decreases by almost 40% on average from age 35 to 65 (Jackson, 1999).

It also appears that the aging process may affect cognitive skills. Short-term memory loss, for instance, can decrease driving skills by interfering with an individual's ability to process information effectively when merging onto a highway into traffic or changing lanes. Such issues are magnified when driving under stressful situations. The higher incidence of cognitive impairment, particularly dementia, among older men and women leads to an increased risk of accident involvement (Jackson, 1999).

According to AAP, as a group, persons age 65 and older are relatively safe drivers. Although they represent 14% of all licensed drivers, they are…

This act enlarged the labels on the cigarettes, and required that the labels on cigarettes and cigarette ads say things like,."..Cause lung cancer...may complicate pregnancy...quitting smoking now greatly reduces hazards to your health... may result in low birth weight and fetal injury." Yet despite all these attempts to educate, all the package warnings and all the public service ads, we still see that despite the millions of dollars spent on smoking prevention each year, every year sees more and more people taking up the habit, until today death from cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer in the United States, contributed in a great part by smoking. And yet we keep legislating, when then proof shows that what we are doing is not working.

Our discussion of vice-based legislation now brings us to the subject of fattening foods. In 2002, a lawyer in New York filed suit against the four…

Auto epair

Car repair is the process of diagnosing the car problem to identify the fault within the car. While the cars manufactured before 2000 requires special tools to be repaired, however, the computer technology has been increasingly used to diagnose and repair many newly manufactured cars. Before mechanics start the repairing of cars, they often quote the prices for customers before starting the repairing work. To repair the car, mechanic uses both electronic methods to gather data in order to replace the faulty materials in the vehicle. A mechanic diagnoses the car and identifies the problem within the car before starting the repairing work. There are two approaches used to diagnose a faulty car:

Use of a repair manual

elying on one's analysis

Use of computer technology

A repair manual is a book that assists an auto mechanic to identify the problems within a car. The repair manual consists…

Legalization of marijuana has been a controversial topic in the media as of lately. Completely legalizing marijuana would mean allowing just about anyone to have access to it -- of course with some government regulation. However, opponents of this process argue that the health detriments are enough to merit harsher punishments and the complete ban of this substance. Despite opposition to marijuana's legalization, there are many more benefits that need to be taken into consideration before rushing to any particular judgment. Marijuana should be legalized because it will bring a much needed boost to the economy, it has documented health benefits, and it is a safer drug than alcohol and cigarettes, which are already considered to be legal substances (ABC 20/20). In order for the welfare of all of the aforementioned entities to be established, marijuana needs to be legalized.

As of 2012, the states of Colorado and Washington have…

With the exception of Washington and Colorado, U.S. laws forbid the possession of even small amounts of marijuana, whereas Netherlands has been entertaining a liberal policy for two decades. In this light, Americans would be expected to have a small rate of marijuana usage, while the Dutch due to their expanded availability of cannabis, should have an increased rate of usage. The empirical evidence to support these conclusions, though, is scant.

Dutch drug policy may appear radical, but let there be no misunderstanding, their laws state clearly that marijuana is illegal. In 1976, it had been decided to take the course of de-penalization, a formal non-enforcement policy for offences involving possession of up to 30 grams, and this quantity limit was dropped to 5 grams in 1995. During the 1980s the de facto legalization started, with the inauguration of small retail outlets known as coffee shops that were allowed to…

Methylphenidate is part of a therapy regimen for the control of the symptoms of Attention Deficity Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD in adults and children (Ogbru 2013, Medline Plus 2012). It stimulates the central nervous system similarly as amphetamines but more mildly. The effects of methylphenidate are also more noticeable on mental activities than in physical movements. It also is used in treating narcolepsy and Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD. Stimulants control these symptoms by changing the amount of natural substances in the brain responsible for the conditions. ut both classes of stimulants are carefully used because of their potential abuse. They calm the patient, reduce their hyperactivity and increase attention span. FDA approved methylphenidate in 1955 (Ogbru, MedlinePlus).

Generic and Trade Names

Generic names -- methylphenidate, Methylphenidylacetate hydrochloride

Trade names -- Concerta, Metadate, Methylin, Ritalin, Adderall

Toxicity and Side Effects

It is to be used with cause on patients with…

Perception

How does depth perception occur in a person who gains sight after being congenital blind?

Depth perception is necessary for the ability to perform many tasks including driving, and many other activities. The ability to perceive the distance of objects is a complex process. hen people are born blind in one eye, regardless of the reason, they do not develop the ability to perceive depths. Their world is flat compared to that experienced by the rest of the world. hen that person undergoes surgery or other procedures to restore sight to the blind eye many of these patients are able to perceive depth. The ability to do this defies commonly held views on the connection between visual acuity, depth perception and motor development.

This research explores current research on depth perception and the development of depth perception. Studies in this area are limited to animal studies and those involving…

Migraine Headaches

Patient

Nancy Smith

9/10/66 (46 years old)

Gender

Female

ace

African-American

eligion

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Caregiver

Chief Complaint

Extremely painful headache that won't go away.

Differential Diagnosis:

Possible Diagnosis

Migraine Headache

Potential Diagnosis

Deep pounding headache more pronounced behind eyes;

- Headache has lasted more than 72 hours

- OTC Pain medications ineffective (Tylenol)

No accompanying nausea or vomiting

Physical Exam: Elevated blood pressure

Diagnostic Testing: Frequency of symptoms log; More than 72 hours of pain; Two or more of unilateral, pulsating, moderate or severe pain; not reporting nausea or sensitivity to light; lack of response to pain medication

TMJ (Tempormandibular Joint Disorder)

Unlikely Diagnosis

History: Emanating pain but no jaw spasm or difficulty chewing or biting

Physical Exam: No clicking or popping of TMJ when opening or closing mouth

-No inflammation of muscle around jaw

Diagnostic Testing: No jaw pain or face pain, no earache so…

ockstein and Sussman (1979) defined senescence as the period of life where the human body weakens and declines in function rather than grows, a period which is of course associated with physical aging. There is much individual and cultural variation in this process, this is a gradual process, and it occurs across all cultures and in all individuals. Cultural perceptions of aging were also noted by ockstein and Sussman to affect functional abilities as individuals grow older. An acceleration of senescence that occurs due to external factors such as disease, tobacco use, alcohol and drug abuse, poor diet, or physical trauma is known as secondary aging, and for the sake of brevity these factors will not be considered here. As people age there are numerous physical changes that take place that affect functional abilities, some obvious and some not so obvious. There are also cognitive changes that occur as a…

Ritalin: The Case History of a Drug

One of the most noticeable and prevalent disorders occurring in children is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is commonly diagnosed when the child begins to attend school or kindergarten, and occurs in 3 to 5% of the population. A chronic condition, it normally carries over into adolescence and perhaps into maturity as well. ADHD children can be hyperactive, inattentive, distractible, aggressive and impulsive, and as a result tend to do poorly in school and present behavioral problems both in academic, social and familial settings. ADHD adolescents, in addition to the above-mentioned difficulties, may be disposed toward delinquency and involvement in car accidents and substance abuse. Co-occurring disorders such as conduct disorder, anxiety and depression tend to exacerbate both the symptoms and the difficulty of treating ADHD. (Hyman, 2000)

Unfortunately there is no single diagnostic test to establish ADHD, and the etiology of…

Parkland Hospital: A Dallas Icon

The history of the City of Dallas would hardly be complete without consideration of Parkland Hospital and its contributions to the Dallas community. Parkland Hospital began in the Civil ar Reconstruction era and has always maintained operations that were state of the art for the time. Parkland hospital has always aligned itself research and the academic community and it is for this reason that Parkland has always offered the latest in techniques and technology. Parkland Hospital has a long tradition of caring for the poor and those who cannot otherwise care for themselves. The following research will highlight the major accomplishments of the hospital from its primitive beginnings to its present position as a leader in patient care and technology Seven years after the end of the Civil ar; Dallas became a thriving city. In 1885 the Dallas Morning News began publication, at that time…

Legalization of Marijuana

Marijuana is one of the most popular recreational drugs in the United States, exceeded in popularity by only alcohol and tobacco. Recent research reveals that "more than 70 million Americans have smoked marijuana at some point in their lives, and that 18-20 million have smoked during the last year (NORML, 1999)."

According to R. Keith Stroup, Esq., the executive director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML, 1999), "Like most Americans, the vast majority of these millions of marijuana smokers are otherwise law-abiding citizens who work hard, raise families and contribute to their communities..." A national survey revealed that 32% of voting adults in the U.S. have acknowledged having smoked marijuana at some point in their lives.

The legalization of marijuana has been a topic of controversy for several years. Many proponents of the drug argue that marijuana should be legalized for both medical…

Computer Vision Syndrome

According to the Computer Desktop Encyclopedia, Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is "A variety of problems related to prolonged viewing of a computer screen. Short-term effects include dry eyes, blurred vision, eye fatigue and excessive tearing. Long-term effects include migraines, cataracts and visual epilepsy. Some solutions are to keep reflections and glare to a minimum and to provide a non-fluorescent, uniform light source. Special lamps are available that maintain the proper light around the monitor and generate light at much higher frequencies than regular light bulbs"

With the ever increasing amount of time consumers are spending in front of their computer screens, this disability is considered on of the fastest growing work related health problems in the country today. For many Americans, the problem cannot be left behind at the office. Individuals come home, to spend time surfing the web, corresponding via email, and pursuing various computer-based entertainment…

Public health screening activities in programs are also essential in ensuring this level of prevention is ensured. A good example is organized screening programs targeted at the community.

The third level of prevention, tertiary prevention, involves bother rehabilitative and therapeutic measures once the person already has the symptoms and signs of the disease. Tertiary prevention has several goals, which include preventing damage and pain that may arise from the disease, slowing down the progression of the disease, preventing the disease from causing complications, giving optimum care to people with signs of the disease, and helping those with the disease to live healthy lives afterwards. A quintessential example of tertiary preventive activities includes treating diabetics to prevent complications that occur as a result of the disease such as liver and kidney failure. Other examples are management of patients with chronic heart disease with therapy and medication, physical and occupational therapy as…

Intra-Health International

One of the tope 10 global health issues identified by Intra-Health International in 2013 is: Helping even more children to live longer. According to the 2012 UNICEF report,

Committing to Child Survival: A Promise enewed, the number of child deaths has decreased in many countries across the globe ("Intra-Health," 2013). Indeed, child mortality rates have decreased nearly 50% from a 1990 figure of 12 million under-five deaths to a 2011 figure of 6.9 million. In absolute terms, if the child mortality rate could be reduced to just 20 child deaths per 1,000 live births in every country by 2035, a minimum of 45 million children saved ("Intra-Health," 2013). ecommendations from the Child Survival Call to Action hosted by USAID point to the need for better and more systematic collection of health sector data, as well as better implementation of high-impact interventions to tackle the major causes of newborn…

Prayer (Foster, Bocelli, Dion; Live NYC Central Park, 2011)

This is a musical piece that modulates from F major to Bb Major and is duet version with its lyrics written and sung in English and Italian. The duet consists of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli performing the piece live in New York City Central Park before a large audience. There is also a live band accompanying the duo with instruments (Bravo F., 2012).

Bocelli was born in Italy in 1958 and took up musical lessons at a tender age of six when he started off with the piano and later on took up the flute and saxophone. He suffered poor eyesight due to congenital glaucoma that he was born with, and by fate he suffered some football accident that rendered him totally blind at the age of 12. He later studied law and used the money he earned from law…

headaches and its management?

There are several different types of headaches that affect people every day. Five have been shown to affect people the most and have their own list of symptoms, causes, and treatment. The first is tension headaches. They are the most common type. People feel pain from tension headaches at the back of the neck and head and especially at the temples. They do not interfere with daily activities and do not typically cause vomiting or nausea. People can manage tension headaches with OTC drugs like ibuprofen, Tylenol, or aspirin. They may be caused by stress, and/or potential fluctuations in brain chemicals.

Cluster headaches are more common for men versus women. They are recurring and occur in cycles or groups. They have sudden onset and are followed by debilitating, severe pain. People affected by cluster headaches tend to have nasal congestion/runny nose and a watery eye. When…

Introduction

The drug, marijuana, is actually not as lethal to human beings as cigarettes or alcohol. Further, it is much less addictive, being generally consumed in far lesser quantities. It is also not strongly linked to accidents, risky sexual conduct, and violence, the way alcohol is. Lastly, one can never lose one’s life to marijuana overdose. While a small share of individuals who consume marijuana do develop addiction, this issue can be easily treated. Marijuana in the form of a medicine proves effective in dealing with various acute symptoms such as wasting diseases, nausea and vomiting. Marijuana is very commonly used in America (DPA). The marijuana on sale and used across the nation varies greatly in its quality, besides displaying the likelihood of containing high potentially-lethal adulterant or pesticide levels. DPA (Drug Policy Alliance) supports regulatory framework implementation for controlling potency, educating consumers using labels, and safeguarding against toxic pesticides…

Nursing 201 Nursing Process PaperClient ProfileThe patient is a white 80year old whose religion is unknown and was admitted on February 2, 2022, for a UTI infection. Care for the patient began on the day of admission. He is a father of three and a grandfather of five, living with his spouse. The social-economic status of the patient is low to middle class had a career as a factory worker. The patient had a full code status of Contrast Dye allergy. The history records reflected an altered mental state, and dementia and frustration were noted, hypertension, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), and Stage 4 chronic kidney disease. Blindness in the left eye was detected, but no challenges were observed with hearing. The patient denies any pain, can move with minimal assistance, has a good appetite, and shows the adjustment to aging since his hobby is spending time with his grandchildren.The patients…

Even though users of light therapy are often advised not to look directly at the light source, the mechanisms of the eye focus incoming light onto the macula, the small region of the retina where vision takes place, and where age-related macular degeneration occurs. Since blue light wavelength make up only a small percentage of the light in white light, any form of light therapy using a high proportion of blue light therefore risks subverting a variety of defensive mechanisms that protect the retina against blue light hazard. These defensive mechanisms include the anatomical positioning and structure of eye and its surrounding features, as well as human posture, which makes it awkward for humans to gaze upwards for long periods of time. Sunnex iotechnologies, 2008)

The work of David H. Sliney entitled: "Ocular Hazards of Light" presented at the International Lighting in Controlled Environments Workshop states the following risks and…