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Friday, 12 April 2013

Diseases Worse Than AIDS

Diseases Worse Than AIDS
Photo Credit aids image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the one of the most lethal diseases in modern culture. In
the United States, AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death in people between the ages of 25 to 44, according to the New York Times Health Guide. This disease is without cure, but modern medicine has found numerous medications that prevent AIDS from rapidly killing the patient. There are other diseases that can have a quicker progression, are more fatal or are also incurable. These diseases have a high mortality rate and are generally untreatable. Though AIDS was once considered to be the worst possible disease, other diseases may now be more dangerous.

Cancer

Cancer is one of the most fatal diseases today. Cancer begins in the basic building blocks of the human body, the cells, states Medline Plus, a National Institutes of Health website. The disease causes the cells to reproduce even when new cells are not needed. These excess cells do not age and begin to form a mass called a tumor. Tumors only become cancerous when they start to invade nearby tissues and grow in other parts of the body. These tumors are called malignant cancerous tumors.
Cancer can occur in almost any part of the body. Cancer can be found in the brain, skin, kidney, liver, heart or digestive tract. The disease can spread to almost any part of the body via the bloodstream or through the lymphatic system. The type of cancer depends on the initial origin of the cancer cells. Cancer in the colon that spreads to the liver is still called colon cancer. Treatment options for the early stages of cancer include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or a combination of the three. However, in advanced cases of cancer that has spread to many other organs, treatment is rarely curative. Patients with advanced stages of cancer have a very bleak prognosis and usually live 6 to 12 months after they are diagnosed.

Prion Diseases

There is a rare form of rapidly progressive diseases, called prion diseases, which destroy the brain and central nervous system of a patient, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prion diseases include Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease or mad cow disease, fatal familial insomnia and Kuru. These diseases usually have a long incubation period where no symptoms are present. Patients can live for more than 10 years before developing symptoms. However, once symptoms develop, the disease rapidly destroys the brain and other nerves. Patients will develop confusion, memory loss, behavioral changes, drowsiness and pain. There is no known treatment for these diseases. Furthermore, prion diseases are always fatal.

Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is a viral disease that is one of the most dangerous diseases known to humans, according to the World Health Organization. The virus is spread through direct contact with blood, body fluids and tissues of infected patients. Once infected, patients will develop massive bleeding, or hemorrhage. Patients will begin to bleed from their gums, eyes, nose, anus and fingernails. The Ebola virus may also cause patients to cough up or vomit blood. The first case of Ebola was in Africa in 1976. The disease seems to erupt sporadically in parts of the African continent. There is no definitive treatment for the disease. General supportive treatment, such as fluid replacement and fever reduction, can be given to patients, but usually the patient's immune system is left alone to combat the virus. In 25 to 90 percent of cases, the virus overwhelms the immune system and kills the patient. source:livestrong.com

 

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