Sleep Apnea

How many hours do you sleep and do you think it is a healthy resting time for your body?  Well, it is said that we as human beings need at least 7 ½ to 8 hours of sleep to feel well rested, but not everybody has the same sleep pattern rhythm.  Some people are deprived of having a goon sleep in which their body could re-energize for further activities during the day.  There are some disorders that have been named for different sleep deprivations.

What is sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea is a type of insomnia that avoids a person from breathing while sleeping.  People who have sleep apnea go through the process of the brain not getting enough oxygen while resting.  They have difficulty sleeping throughout their sleeping time due to the repeated times of them not breathing during their sleep. 

There are two kinds of sleep apnea, the obstructive and central sleep apnea.  The obstructive sleep apnea is the most common forms of apnea.   This apnea is caused when the airway is blocked by a tissue in the back of the throat that happens during sleep.  The central sleep apnea is different from the obstructive instead of blocking the airway, the brain does not respond efficiently to signal the muscles to breathe due to the instability respiratory system.  Central sleep apnea is more common in people who have certain medical conditions or is taking certain medications. 

Who can be diagnosed with sleep apnea?

Actually anyone can even children.  It can be caused by genetics, large tonsils, allergies, sinus problems, men being over 40, overweight.  These causes can happen to anyone from children to adults. 

Is sleep apnea treatable?

Of course, it is treatable.  Sleep apnea can be treated at home or by a doctor.  It all depends on the severity of the diagnose.  Sleep apnea can be easily treated by changing the lifestyle of a person.  A person with sleep apnea might need to lose weight, change sleeping positions, stop smoking if a smoker, avoid alcohol, no sleeping pills, and avoid sleeping on their back.  Sometimes home treatment will not help if the sleep apnea is being caused by a deviated nasal septum, enlarged tonsils, or someone with a small jaw and with an overbite.  What is needed would be a surgery for it to be treated. 

If not treated, sleep apnea could cause high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, obesity, and diabetes.  If the person already has heart problems, it can increase the heart failure of a person. 

Conclusion:

Everybody needs a good sleep to be able to function properly during our daily lifestyle.  A person with sleep apnea does not need to feel they do not have options in being able to sleep well.  There are many treatments that a doctor could prescribe or inform about.   

The Perfect Mate

 

In some cultures, arranged marriages are acceptable, but now imagine having that specific trait throughout the whole world in the human species?   These views have changed throughout the centuries.  Our society has evolved, women and men have been given the choice, to find and choose their mate. 

 

Things have changed throughout the years.  Women now work and also provide for themselves and their family and men are attracted to women around their same age.  Our society is not so close-minded as how it used to be but in some other places around the world the arranged custom marriages still happen, and the past views of women marrying men who could provide and men marrying fertile young women still continue.  Women tend to find men who can be good providers for her and future family and men tend to find women who are young for fertile purposes.  These were reasons for past marriages from our ancestors, but nowadays their view on what is a perfect mate has evolved.  Women tend to still find men that could provide for them but they also need to be attracted by physical looks.  So as for men, they go by the same, physical attraction has to be a must for mating.  In our present day’s women and men are driven to each other not by what they get out of a relationship but what they want from their partners. 

In choosing the perfect mate, there are no genes that can be proven to be in fault for women and men to act the way we do when finding the one.  Our views are driven by what our society brings to us.  Our genes work in many different ways but by choosing our mates it still being studied to find out why we act the way we do. 

Pain

How do you know when there is pain in your body?  Have you ever wondered how everything is read through your system to identify the intensities of what we see as pain?  It is interesting how our brain can read the different levels of pain we feel, either when we get hurt physically or emotionally. 

What is pain?

Pain is an unpleasant sensation caused by a stimulation of the sensory nerve endings.  The discomfort lets know the brain actual or potential injury to the body.  Pain can be more than a sensation, it also includes perception.  The perception gives information of the pain’s location and the intensity of the pain.  The sensation and perception gives an overall concept on what pain can be. 

How is pain caused?

Pain can be caused by an injury towards the body, by an illness, or emotionally.  It is caused physically by being hurt in the body or emotionally, such as depression.  

How is pain processed to the brain?

Pain can be processed in two different pathways, fast and slow.  The fast pathway detects the injury location and the severity of the injury.  It is also the known as the warning system.  The fast pathway is characterized by myelinated, thin fibers that send the message quickly to the brain to have a quicker effect on what has to be done.  The fast pathways have a quick response to the thalamus.  In the slow pathway, it is characterized by unmyelinated fibers which send the message much slower, which causes longer sensation of pain. 

Different Kinds of Pain…

Pain can be classified differently depending on the intensity and location of it.  There is acute pain, which can be intense but short-lived.  For example an injury is considered an acute pain; because once it heals the pan goes away.  Another kind of pain is known as the chronic pain, which can be mild or very intense.  This kind of pain tends to last much longer.  For example, in elderly people, pains in their joints usually go through out their age.  

Conclusion..

Pain can be felt throughout our lives but everybody has different ways of feeling and measuring this sensation.  Some of us can sustain severe pain and others are more susceptible to mild pain.  Everyone is different but it is good to feel pain so we could know that our sensory system works appropriately with our body and any danger can be avoided by feeling pain.  

 This chart is what some doctors use to measure their patient's pain intensity and help their diagnosis...

 

Here's a video on how pain is transmitted to our brain...

Alzheimer's Disease

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

           

            Alzheimer’s disease is known as a dementia that causes loss of brain function. It affects memory, thinking, and reasoning.     

What causes Alzheimer’s disease?

           

            Alzheimer’s is caused due to plaques and tangles that are developed in the brain causing brain cells to die.  The plaques and tangles created due to the over production of a protein called amyloid.  With the increase of amyloid, the plaques are accumulating which affect the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and other areas around the brain that involve memory.  

Two types of Alzheimer’s disease?

            There are two types of Alzheimer’s disease, the early onset Alzheimer’s disease and the late onset Alzheimer’s disease.

        
    The Early onset Alzheimer’s disease appears before age 60.  It is less common than the late onset, but it can get worse more quickly.  Being diagnosed as an early onset Alzheimer’s disease is usually carried by rare genes called “familial Alzheimer’s disease” which cross many family generations. 

            The Late onset Alzheimer’s disease is more known more commonly around the medical field.  The late onset occurs in people of age 60 and older.  It is also known as “Sporadic Alzheimer’s” because there has not been no contact of gene related.  The late onset will eventually happen to everyone some sooner than others but we are not immune from developing the late onset Alzheimer’s. 

Symptoms:

·        Memory loss

·        Confusion

·         Emotional behavior or personality

·         Language

·         Thinking and  reasoning

Early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease:

·         Getting lost in familiar routes

·         Misplacing items

·         Difficulty performing tasks that requires thinking, but was usually used in daily life

·         Personality changes

 Symptoms interfere with daily self-care include:

·         Change in sleep patterns

·         Depression

·         Difficulty reading or writing

·         Poor judgment

·         Hallucination

Severe Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease:

·         Recognition of family members

·         Language deficiency

Conclusion:

People who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease eventually are taken care by nursing homes or family members.  Even though it is a disease it does not cause death usually people who have Alzheimer’s disease pass away due to other illnesses that older aged people are vulnerable to.  There has been no cure to avoid memory loss for our elderly, but medical researchers have not given up in finding one.