Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Research paper - Essay Example Type III, commonly called Cyclothymia, is a less severe form of this condition. The person undergoes cycles of mild mania and/or depression. At times, when undetected, it could progress to either the type I or II variant. Bipolar disorder is a chronic illness and it significantly affects the lifestyle of the patient on a social and professional basis, and quite often impairs their cognitive functioning. Depression is the phase of BD that represents the greatest challenge in management of the disorder. Undetected or prolonged depression and delirium is a frequent cause of suicide, and thus it is imperative that this condition be dealt with sensitively. The depression: mania ratio in bipolar disorder is 1:3, which tells us that the patient spends more time in an all-time low (Galvez, Thommi, & Ghaemi, 2011) . Heredity and Statistics: The possibility of inheriting BD from a previously diagnosed parent is 86-90% and studies over the past 11 years have shown that 9% of unipolar depressive patients were diagnosed as having BD. The suicide rate in these patients is almost 17 times higher, as compared to the general healthy adult population (Rapoport, Basselin, Kim, & Rao, 2009). In addition to being a social burden, BD has equal implications on personal finances and world economy. Within the USA itself, the treatment regimen spans from $12000 for a single episode of this syndrome, to a whopping $62K for patients who have to be aggressively managed with drugs and other therapy. Typically, symptoms of BD appear by the average age of 22 years, but are recognized and diagnosed with a lag period of almost 10 years. Even after commencement of therapy, the subject may remain symptomatic for a significant period of time, which makes it essential to continually monitor and adjust the treatment protocol (Nivoli et al., 2011). It has been reported that more than 66% of patients have a minimum of one close relative that has been diagnosed with either unipolar or bipolar depressio n, thus linking it to heredity (Nivoli et al., 2011). Characteristics and symptoms of people with Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms of varying degrees and intensities can be observed in this syndrome. The most common observation in Type I BD is extreme mood fluctuations. The highs include excitement, overly enthusiastic behavior, boundless energy, megalomaniac tendencies, generous thoughts and a surge in confidence levels. The lows that one typically experiences are prolonged periods of depression, irritability, sleep deprivation and a general feeling of loneliness, often accompanied by phases of crying for trivial or no apparent reasons. It is very common to have feelings of being incomplete, inadequate and worthless, which eventually culminates into thoughts and ideas of suicide. The hallmark of this disorder is the frequent cycling between the high and lows, namely the mania and depression, by virtue of which this disorder is detected. Social Challenges: Needless to mention, social stig ma is commonly encountered by people, who are aware and informed that they are suffering from this syndrome. Such subjects consciously modify their behavior, in order to reduce the instances of being rejected or discriminated. In the mild to moderate symptoms in Type

MALARIA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MALARIA - Research Paper Example The disease was first effectively managed from the early 17th Century following the understanding of Quinine by Jesuit Priests through their interaction with indigenous tribes of the New World. The cause of the disease remained unknown until 1880. That year Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, a French army surgeon, became the first person to propose that the disease was caused by organisms he had observed in malaria-infected blood. Further discoveries over the course of the Century yielded that the disease were caused by Plasmodium species and was spread by mosquitoes. During that period, other antimalarial treatments were discovered. From the 1960s onwards, there were global eradication efforts conducted mainly through outdoor and indoor spraying of insecticides by DDT and other insecticides to control mosquitoes and other pests. However, this had detrimental effects on the environment primarily on the climate and on local fauna and increased resistance from insecticides by mosquitoes. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 1.2 billion people are at high risk of malaria. They also estimated that from 198 million malaria cases worldwide, the disease caused an estimated 584,000 deaths with Ninety percent of the deaths occurring in Africa (World Health Organization, 2014). Malaria in humans is caused by four Protozoan species: Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium falciparum. Of the four species, the most common forms are P. vivax and P. falciparum with P. falciparum being the most deadly. P. falciparum contributes to 75% of reported cases and deaths and P. vivax around 20%. P. knowlesi causes malaria in primates. An infected female Anopheles mosquito is the primary host for the disease. On fertilization, female mosquitoes feed on blood to support egg development. By feeding on an infected person, the secondary host, the female mosquito is