Please provide a description of your group service learning project. Your description should include sufficient details to inform the readers about what your project is about, what is the current status of knowledge related to the topic you are researching, what are the questions you will be specifically addressing as part of this project and what are the resources that you are using to do your research.
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In our group out topic that we are researching is Diabetes . My part of the topic too research was How is diabetes being treated ? we have all done our research and have an idea on what were doing. some questions that we will be addressing will be what kind of treatments to diabetics take? if so how diabetes being treated ? what type of insulin is there ? and so forth.
Shanice,Waqar,Samantha,Katherine,Xiuli,
What are some of the health problems caused by smoking?(Waqar)
Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and diminishes a person’s overall health. Millions of Americans have health problems caused by smoking.
Smoking is a leading cause of cancer and death from cancer. It causes cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix, as well as acute myeloid leukemia.
A pregnant smoker is at higher risk of having her baby born too early and with an abnormally low birth weight. A woman who smokes during or after pregnancy increases her infant’s risk of death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Men who smoke are at greater risk of erectile dysfunction
Cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke cause more than 440,000 premature deaths each year in the United States. Of these premature deaths, about 40 percent are from cancer, 35 percent are from heart disease and stroke, and 25 percent are from lung disease. Smoking is the leading cause of premature, preventable death in this country.
Regardless of their age, smokers can substantially reduce their risk of disease, including cancer, by quitting.
Treatment (Shanice)
They are receptors for nicotine in your brain. When smoking and inhaling the nicotine, it attaches to the receptors. That sends a message to a different part of your brain which releases dopamine. Dopamine gives a feeling of pleasure but not for long. That then makes your body crave nicotine. Giving up smoking increases your chances of living longer. The nicotine in the cigarette is very addictive. There are treatments to help stop smoking.
1) Nicotine Replacement Therapy
a) It works by releasing in your bloodstream at much lower levels than in a cigarette without tar, carbon monoxide and other poisonous chemical in the cigarette.
b) This helps control your craving for cigarette that happen when your body starts to miss the nicotine from smoking.
c) This comes in different forms such as; skin patches, chewing gum, mouth spray, nasal and inhalators.
2) Varenicline (Champix)
a) A pill that works by preventing nicotine from binding to receptors which eases cravings and reduces the effects of smoking
3) Chantix
a) Another pill that contains no nicotine. It targets the receptors, attaches to them, and block nicotine from reaching them.
Group 1- Jasmin, Anisa, Emely,Kchristian
Our project will be covering on the topic: Dementia.
What is Dementia?
Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and behavior. But Dementia cannot be categorized as a single disease; it is a general term use to describe symptoms such as impairment to memory, communication, and thinking. Dementia is progressive, which mean it will gradually get worse depending on the individual.
What are the causes of Dementia?
Dementia is caused by damage to brain cells. It can cause damages that will interfere with the ability of brain cells to communicate with each other. When brain cells cannot communicate normally, thinking, behavior and feelings can be affected. There are distinct regions in the brain, each of which is responsible for different functions (for example, memory, judgment and movement). If cells in a particular region are damaged, that region cannot carry out its functions normally. Different types of dementia are associated with particular types of brain cell damage in particular regions of the brain. Dementia involves damage of nerve cells in the brain, which may occur in several areas of the brain.
Symptoms:
Dementia is a disease that slowly takes over parts of your brain. The very beginning stage shows very little to no sign of memory loss at all. The second stage shows a very mild decrease in the memory which can be because of age or the beginning of a very serious disease. You may start to forget familiar words or the placing of objects. Stages three and four can include forgetfulness of recent events, difficulty organizing, misplacing valuable items, trouble remembering names and forgetfulness of your own personal history. At this point, others may begin to notice or point out your symptoms and suggest you see a doctor. During stage five, one may forget their own address or phone numbers, confusion about where they are, or difficulty doing non-challenging arithmetic. In stage 6, you may have difficulties remembering the names of people close to you, you experience changes in your sleep patterns and need help dressing appropriately. Stage 7 is the final stage in which one can have difficulties going to the bathroom alone, swallowing is impaired, and help is needed with daily activities.
Most Common Form
There are different forms in which dementia may become present.
• Alzheimer’s disease: slowly losing your memory
• Vascular dementia: cause stroke or post-stroke
• Mixed Dementia: more than one type of dementia occur simultaneously
• Parkinson’s Disease: disease progressively affecting the nervous system
Prevention:
• Regular exercise
• Healthy diet
• Mental stimulation
• Quality sleep
• Stress management
• An active social life
These are the six pillars that people believe will reduce the chance of having Dementia. It is not scientifically proven to be effective.
Treatment:
Dementia cannot be cured. However, doctors can slow the process of developing these symptoms and help prevent this disease to get worse. There are treatments that may temporarily improve symptoms. But there is yet to find an effective treatment that will cure Dementia.
Xiuli, Shanice, Waqar, Samantha, Katherine,
Topic: cigarettes.
Social Aspects: causes of teenage smoking (xiuli)
According to researchers, the five main causes of teen smoking are:
Peer pressure: many teen smoker claim their first cigarettes was from their friends, they do it because their friends do.
Media: In movies and dramas, tough characters like heroes are major smokers which driven to the portrait that smoking is cool.
Help losing weight: Teens rely on cigarettes to keep their body in shape because smoking reduces your appetite.
Health consequences seems far off: About three out of a hundred high school students claim that they will be smoking in five years others said that smoking is a temporary thing to do. They think that smoking does not effect their body during this age and in five years they will quit and live healthy.
However, adult smokers claim to have their first cigarette in high school. Statistic shows that cigarettes affect 54% high school students in the US and 60% of those high school students continue to smoke after graduated nine years from high school. In fact, researchers say that some teens realized that smoking drive away their friends and dating partners which then lead to stop smoking.
Insomnia
Group Project
Radka Horackova – What is insomnia and what does it do to you?
Ashley – cure
Tsewang – examples
Kristie – What causes it?
Lourdes – types, symptoms
Vicente – history
Insomnia, or sleeplessness, is a disorder in which one suffers from the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep. Insomnia can be short term (up to three weeks) or long-term which can lead to memory problems, irritability, depression, and an increased risk of a heart disease.
Sleeping pills can help when used occasionally, but may lead to dependence or addiction if used regularly.
Types of insomnia
1. Transient insomnia lasts for less than a week. It can be caused by another disorder, by changes in the sleep environment, by the timing of sleep, severe depression, or by stress. Its consequences are sleepiness and impaired psychomotor performance.
2. Acute insomnia is the inability to consistently sleep well for a period of less than a month. Insomnia is present when there is difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep or when the sleep that is obtained is of poor quality. These problems occur despite adequate opportunity and circumstances for sleep and they must result in problems with daytime function. Acute insomnia is also known as short term insomnia or stress related insomnia.
3. Chronic insomnia lasts for longer than a month. It can be caused by another disorder, or it can be a primary disorder. People with high levels of stress hormones are more likely to have chronic insomnia. Its effects might include muscular fatigue, hallucinations, and/or mental fatigue. Some people that live with this disorder see things as if they are happening in slow motion, wherein moving objects seem to blend together. Chronic insomnia can cause double vision.
Symptoms of insomnia
• difficulty falling asleep, including difficulty finding a comfortable sleeping position
• waking during the night and being unable to return to sleep
• feeling not refreshed upon waking
• Daytime sleepiness, irritability or anxiety
Sleep-onset insomnia is difficulty falling asleep at the beginning of the night, often a symptom of anxiety disorders. Delayed sleep phase disorder can be misdiagnosed as insomnia as it causes a delayed period of sleep, spilling over into daylight hours.[17]
It is common for patients who have difficulty falling asleep to also have nocturnal awakenings with difficulty returning to sleep. Two thirds of these patients wake up in middle of the night, with more than half having trouble falling back to sleep after a middle of the night awakening.
Early morning awakening is an awakening occurring earlier (more than 30 minutes) than desired with an inability to go back to sleep, and before total sleep time reaches 6.5 hours. Early morning awakening is often a characteristic of depression.
Poor sleep quality
Poor sleep quality can occur as a result of restless legs, sleep apnea or major depression. Poor sleep quality is caused by the individual not reaching stage 3 sleep which has restorative properties.
Excessive nighttime urination can also be very disturbing to sleep.
Causes
• Use of psychoactive drugs (such as stimulants), including certain medications, herbs, caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines, or excessive alcohol intake.
• Withdrawal from anti-anxiety drugs such as benzodiazepines or pain-relievers such as opioids.
• Use of fluoroquinolone antibiotic drugs is associated with more severe and chronic types of insomnia.
• Restless legs syndrome, which can cause sleep onset insomnia due to the discomforting sensations felt and the need to move the legs or other body parts to relieve these sensations.
• Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), which occurs during sleep and can cause arousals of which the sleeper is unaware.
• Pain, an injury or condition that causes pain can preclude an individual from finding a comfortable position in which to fall asleep, and can in addition cause awakening.
• Hormone shifts such as those that precede menstruation and those during menopause.
• Life events such as fear, stress, anxiety, emotional or mental tension, work problems, financial stress, birth of a child and bereavement.
• Gastrointestinal issues such as heartburn or constipation.
• Mental disorders such as bipolar disorder, clinical depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and dementia or ADHD.
• Disturbances of the circadian rhythm, such as shift work and jet lag, can cause an inability to sleep at some times of the day and excessive sleepiness at other times of the day. Chronic circadian rhythm disorders are characterized by similar symptoms.
• Certain neurological disorders, brain lesions, or a history of traumatic brain injury.
• Medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Abuse of over-the counter or prescription sleep aids (sedative or depressant drugs) can produce rebound insomnia.
• Poor sleep hygiene, e.g., noise or over consumption of caffeine
• A rare genetic condition can cause a prion-based, permanent and eventually fatal form of insomnia called fatal familial insomnia.
• Physical exercise. Exercise-induced insomnia is common in athletes in the form of prolonged sleep onset latency.
Sleep studies using polysomnography have suggested that people who have sleep disruption have elevated nighttime levels of circulating cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone. They also have an elevated metabolic rate, which does not occur in people who do not have insomnia but whose sleep is intentionally disrupted during a sleep study. Studies of brain metabolism indicate that people with insomnia have higher metabolic rates by night and by day. The question remains whether these changes are the causes or consequences of long-term insomnia.
Diagnosis
Specialists in sleep medicine are qualified to diagnose the many different sleep disorders. Patients with various disorders, including delayed sleep phase syndrome, are often mis-diagnosed with primary insomnia. When a person has trouble falling sleep but has a normal sleep pattern once asleep, it can be caused by a circadian rhythm disorder.
In many cases, insomnia is co-morbid with another disease, side-effects from medications, or a psychological problem. Approximately half of all diagnosed insomnia is related to psychiatric disorders.
Treatment
It is important to identify or rule out medical and psychological causes before deciding on the treatment for insomnia. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) “has been found to be as effective as prescription medications are for short-term treatment of chronic insomnia. Moreover, there are indications that the beneficial effects of CBT, in contrast to those produced by medications, may last well beyond the termination of active treatment.” Pharmacological treatments have been used mainly to reduce symptoms in acute insomnia; their role in the management of chronic insomnia remains unclear. Several different types of medications are also effective for treating insomnia. However, many doctors do not recommend relying on prescription sleeping pills for long-term use. It is also important to identify and treat other medical conditions that may be contributing to insomnia, such as depression, breathing problems, and chronic pain.