lunes, 10 de septiembre de 2012

DEMENTIA


Risk factors:
-strong family history of Alzheimer´s dementia.
-repeated head trauma can increase risk of both Alzheimer´s dementia and dementia associated.

How people present with dementia:
-declining short-term memory.
-loss of ability to perform complicated tasks.
-people with dementia may not recognise these difficulties and refuse help or assisstance.

Depression in dementia:
-Mood changes and depression are common 20% people with dementia may develop depression.
-It can be more common in those living alone, recent bereavement or chronic physical illness.

Challenging behaviour:
The behaviour  is challenging not the person.
-disturbance of sleep/awake cycle.
-wandering, pacing and restlesnness are common, sometimes medication can worsen this.
-agitation and worsen confusion can increase in the evening.



Memory holds the whole of our past life and experience.
It´s loss is greater than the loss of any of our senses.





viernes, 7 de septiembre de 2012

THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM




Anatomy of the stomach



Small intestine or small bowel (intestino delgado):
-duodenum (duodeno).
-jejunum (yeyuno)
-ileum (íleon), ileocaecal valve (válvula ileocecal).
Summary of digestive activities in the small intestine:


Large intestine, also large bowel (intestino grueso):
-ascending colon (colon ascendente), cecum (ciego), appendix (apéndice).
-transverse colon (colon transverso).
-descending colon (colon descendente).
-sigmoid colon (colon sigmoide).
Rectum (recto).
Anus (ano).
Summary of digestive activities in the large intestine:



miércoles, 5 de septiembre de 2012

THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM, THE HEART AND THE BLOOD



THE HEART


Valves (válvulas): 
-atrioventricular: tricuspid (tricúspide) and mitral
-semilunar: pulmonary (pulmonar) and aortic(aórtica). Valves prevent the backflow of blood (las válvulas previenen el retroceso de la sangre).
Right and left atrium/s (derecha e izquierda aurícula/s): upper receiving chambers (cámaras superiores receptoras).
Right and left ventricle/s (derecho e izquierdo ventrículo/s): responsible for the pumping action (responsables de la acción de bombeo).


THE CARDIAC CYCLE (from 1 heartbeat to another)




VOCABULARY
-MI: myocardial infarction (heart attack). (infarto de miocardio, ataque cardíaco).
-GTN: glyceril trinitrate, called nitrolingual. (nitroglicerina
-Thrombus (trombo).
-Coagulation-clot (coagulación-coágulo)
-Heparin e.g. warfarin (heparina)
-DVT: deep vein trombosis. (trombosis venosa profunda).


BLOOD
Functions:
-Transport (gases, nutrients, waste products, hormones, heat).
-Protection (leukocytes, antibodies, platelet factors...).
-Regulation (pH, water balance...)

Composition:
-Plasma, which is a clear extracellular fluid. Mixture of proteins (albumins, globulins, fibrinogen), amino acids, enzymes, nutrients, waste, hormones, gases and electrolytes.
-Formed elements: blood cells and platelets.


Blood test

Blood cultures son lo que se conocen como hemocultivos, muestras que precisan una técnica aséptica pero también sirve como ejemplo para otras extracciones más comunes.

These are some of the blood samples that a doctor can ask for:
FBC or FBP (full blood count or full blood picture, the most common blood control).
U+E (electrolytes).
LFT (liver function test).
TFT (thyroid function test).
CRP ( general marker for inflammation and infection).
INR (coagulation, especially in people on warfarin).
B12Folate.

Ageing changes in the blood.
1. Rise in fibrinogen.
2. Rise in blood viscosity.
3. Rise in plasma viscosity.
4. Increased red blood cell rigidity.
5. Increased formation of fibrin degradation products.
6. Earlier activation of the coagulation system.

Vocabulary
-Haematocrit ( is the volume percentage (%) of red blood cells in blood).
-Haemopoiesis (production of the formed elements of blood).
-Erythropoesis (production of erythrocytes).
-Leukopoiesis (production of leukocytes).
-Thrombopoiesis (production of platelets in the blood).