I am writing about three news related articles that deal with current event medical topics. My first topic will be covering MERS the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome which is a respiratory virus, I will go more in depth about. Next, is Atrial Fibrillation (AFIB) this is an irregular heartbeat. Lastly I will discuss sleep apnea which deals with your breathing while sleeping. To begin with, I am going to talk about MERS. The middle east respiratory syndrome corona virus (MERS) is a Beta corona virus. MERS is closes to resembling Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) but doesn't spread as easy. SARS affected around 8,000 people around the world in 2013. MERS was found in the Middle East in the year 2012. It had come back last year in May but it was identified in Asia. There were about 160 who caught this respiratory infection and the reported death toll was 25. If patients traveled to the areas where this was found the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is urging doctors to check for the virus. Without close contact it is hard to catch this virus says experts. Further more, the common symptoms found when patients have MERS are fever, cough, and shortness of breath (SOB). The doctors can treat symptoms, but the doctors do not have a vaccine because this virus does not currently have a cure. This is even more serious for those who already have problems with their immune system. If leaving in or visiting an area infected by MERS wash hands often, avoid the sick, help your children with washing their hands thoroughly, and wear a mask if dealing with people affected by MERS. My next topic, discusses about atrial fibrillation (AFIB) which is a type of irregular heartbeat. Roughly this affects 2 million Americans, what happens is the electrical system that makes the heart pump is not working properly. The upper chambers of the heart will flutter randomly uncoordinatedly. So by this happening it will cause the Irregular heartbeat. this becomes very serious because blood will not flow properly through the atria to the ventricles which can cause blood to pool up and clot. If a clot makes its way free it can travel to an artery in your brain causing you to have a stroke. It may not cause any symptoms at all if you have it, but common symptoms would be palpitations in the chest, weakness, feeling dizzy, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
Doctors can check for AFIB a few different ways the first in an electrocardiogram (EKG)which is done with electrodes that stick to areas on your chest that record the electrical activity of the heart. Another is an echocardiogram that checks the functioning of the heart and looks for indicators of disease. Other test they may run are thyroid, liver and kidney function tests and a stress test. Medications you could be given to prevent blood clots, lower heart rate and keep and normal sinus rhythm are
• Amiodarone (Corodone)- used for anti arrhythmia
• Metoprolol (Lopressor)- used to lower heart rate
• Warfarin (Coumadin)- anticoagulant
If the medication does not work they may do a cardioversion which shocks the heart back into normal sinus rhythm while under anesthesia. Other than that if at risk of getting or having AFIB the best thing to do is eating better, stop smoking, and reduce alcohol use. My third and final topic, is on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)which is a sleeping disorder where breathing starts and stops during slumber. one way to test for this is by taking a polysomnogram (PSG) which is a sleep test done in a lab and your watched by trained technologists. This test measures your air flow, oxygen level, breathing, brain activity, heart rate and muscle activity. Another test would be a Latency test performed during the day to see how quickly or if at all a patient will fall asleep at times when normally should be awake.
Treatments for this include Mechanical therapy, Mandibular advancement devices, and surgery. Mechanical therapy includes the most common type continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) this uses mild air flow to keep airway free of obstruction. Also the is Mandibular advancement devices including an oral Mandibular advancement device use to hold tongue back to keep from occlusion of the throat. The surgeries include
• Somnoplasty- the tightening of the uvula and soft palate in the throat.
• UP3- a procedure that get rid of soft tissue in the back of the throat
• Nasal surgery- Fixing the nasal blockage , and example would be a deviated septum These three current event topics that I chose were MERS, Atrial Fibrillation, and Sleep Apnea. These were chosen because I have experienced treating patients with AFIB and sleep Apnea before and find it interesting. My third topic, MERS, I wanted to learn and research about because I knew nothing about it before. Bibliography
Doheny, K. (2015, June 19). MERS FAQ: What You Need to Know. Retrieved from WebMD: June 19, 2015
WebMD. (2005-2015). Atrial Fibrillation. Retrieved from WebMD: http://webmd.com/heart/atrial-fibrillation-stroke-11/a-fib-overview?page=1
WebMD. (2005-2015). Obstructive Sleep Apnea . Retrieved from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/understanding-obstructive-sleep-apnea-syndrome?page=3