Skeletal System - Achondroplasia

Disease/Disorder: Achondroplasia dwarfism

Common Name: Achondroplasia

Age of Onset: Achondroplasia is present at birth

Duration: It is a chronic condition, meaning a person with this disease has it for life

Commonness: Achondroplasia affects about 1 in every 40,000 children and approximately 10,000 individuals in the United States are estimated to have Achondroplasia. Because of the cause being a gene mutation passed on or inherited, it occurs equally in all races and both genders.

Cause: Achondroplasia is present at birth and is caused by gene mutations on the short arm of the forth chromosome. The mutations can be spontaneous without either parents having the condition, called or can be inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. This means that if a child gets the defective gene from one parent, the child will have the disorder. If one parent has achondroplasia, the child has a 50% chance of inheriting the disorder but if both parents have the condition, the child has a 75% chance of inheriting it.

Symptoms: The common symptoms if the disease are visible at birth and include

• abnormal hand appearance with space between the fingers


• bowed legs
  
• decreased muscle tone


• disproportionately large head


• prominent forehead
  
• shortened arm and legs
  
• short stature


• spinal stenosis(narrowing)
  
• lordosis
  
• kyphosis

Prognosis: The disease is a disorder of bone growth, as the name means "without cartilage formation." This disorder affects the ossification of cartilage into bone, which is especially important in the growth of long bones. This limited growing of the long bones affect the length of the limbs giving people with Achondroplasia their short stature. Because Achondroplasia affects muscle tone, individuals with the disease have postponed gross motor control. They may also have speech and language problems. Another serious side of the conditions is hydrocephalus, an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid on the brain. Hearing loss occurs in 75% of Achondroplasia cases before the age of five. This is because abnormal temporal bone development causes the Eustachian tubes to drain poorly. People with Achondroplasia must receive close monitoring on their pulmonary functions and their respiratory system, because complications in these areas are often fatal.

Treatment: There are no treatments of the disease itself, but rather a treatment of the diseases symptoms. Hydrocephalus can be treated by draining the access fluid to prevent memory loss, seizures, hypersensitivities to light and sound, and pain. Surgery or other non-surgical treatments may be used to correct the spinal abnormalities of lordosis and kyphosis. Several methods, both surgical and non-surgical can be used to widen the often too small foramen magnum will help prevent neurological problems.

Prevention: Since the disease is a gene mutation which can occur at random or be passed from parent to child, Achondroplasia most often develops spontaneously,and so prevention is not always possible.

Sources: MedlinePlus MedicineNet eMedicine

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Integumentary system - Impetigo

Disease/Disorder: Impetigo

Common Name: Impetigo

Age of Onset: Can be onset at any age

Duration: After treatment of antibiotics has begun the infection will begin to clear up in about 3 days.

Commonness: There is not one gender that develops Impetigo more frequently than the other, but young children develop the infection far more often than older children or adults.

Cause: Impetigo is an infection caused by either staphylococcus bacteria or streptococcus bacteria. The bacteria often enters the body where the skin has been compromised due to poison ivy, insect bites, chickenpox, burns, cuts, or eczema.

Symptoms: Impetigo is manifest in red sores that can break open, ooze fluid, and develop a yellow-brown crust. While these sores can occur anywhere on the body, they most often appear around the mouth and nose. A way to identify sores as being infected with Impetigo is if they increase in number or size and itch.

Prognosis: The infections begins as an inflamed spot, usually around the nose or mouth, which develpos into a fluid filled blister. The blister will break and leak fluid that becomes a brown to red colored crust over that affected area. This sore will often grow out from the edges or spread to other body parts by the patient touching or scratching the sore.

Treatment: The treatment for Impetigo is to kill the bacteria with antibiotics. For mild cases the antibiotics will be topical creams aplied directly to the infection, but in more severe infections oral antibiotics are used. Within three to four days of begining to administor antibiotics, the infections should begin to clear and the area to heal. Infection site should be washed three times a day and then antibiotic cream should be applied topically.

Prevention: Since this infection is common in young children due to sharing toys and close contact with children who may be infected, it is important to keep their nails short and hands clean. Each person should use seperate towels, and linens should be washed in hot water to prevent spreading the infection between people.

Sources:
Medicine Net
Web MD