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The patient with acute gastrointestinal problems
Published in Peate Ian, Dutton Helen, Acute Nursing Care, 2020
Rebecca Maindonald, Adrian Jugdoyal
The GI tract (alimentary canal) consists of a continuous tube commencing at the mouth and ending at the anus. The organs forming this system include the mouth, most of the pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine. The accessory organs contributing to this tract are the teeth, tongue, salivary glands, liver, gallbladder and pancreas.
Basic medicine: physiology
Published in Roy Palmer, Diana Wetherill, Medicine for Lawyers, 2020
In primitive organisms the substances necessary to support life can reach their target by simple diffusion, but in higher animals a sophisticated transport mechanism is needed. The circulatory system exists to transport oxygen and nutrients to the vital organs—brain, kidney, heart, and gut—and the crucial transport medium is blood. Blood contains three types of cell (red cells, white cells, and platelets) suspended in a fluid called plasma. Red cells (erythrocytes) carry oxygen, white cells (leucocytes) are concerned with immunity and the fight against infection, and platelets play an important role in clotting. Red cells and platelets are synthesized (made) in the bone marrow and are eventually broken down in the spleen; red cells have a lifespan of about 120 days. Chief among the white cells are polymorphs and lymphocytes, both of which are able to ingest bacteria and other foreign material, a process termed phagocytosis. There are two main types of immunity: humoral immunity depends on the formation of antibodies to antigens, such as bacteria and viruses, while cellular immunity depends on the formation of T lymphocytes which destroy the cells that triggered their development. In brief, humoral immunity is a defence against acute (recent onset) infection, while cellular immunity is a defence against chronic infection, such as tuberculosis, and is also responsible for allergic reactions and the rejection of transplants.
Policies For Allocating and Procuring Organs
Published in David Lamb, Organ Transplants and Ethics, 2020
To counter these periodic bouts of public disenchantment and apathy better methods of publicizing the need for donors are necessary. Efforts have recently been made in this direction. British Telecom, in 1988, distributed four million donor cards with telephone bills in the London area. In the first three months of 1988 three million donor cards were accepted in the UK. And to publicize the need for heart donors special US basketball teams, consisting of heart transplant patients, have played matches with donor cards being distributed to spectators. Other proposals, now in force in the USA, include provisions for individuals to express consent to organ donation on their driving licence, or to register as a donor when they apply for a new licence. In September of 1989 over 400 transplant recipients took part in the World Transplant Games in Singapore. Other proposals include the setting up of ‘transplant days’ in hospitals, held once a year, when members of the public can meet transplant surgeons and organ recipients. There is also a need for better information about the mechanics of brainstem death in nursing and medical courses.
Severity scoring systems for radiation-induced GI injury – prioritization for use of GI-ARS medical countermeasures
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2023
Doreswamy Kenchegowda, David L. Bolduc, Lalitha Kurada, William F. Blakely
Life-threatening ionizing radiation exposure involves multiple organs, including the gastrointestinal (GI) system (Friesecke et al. 2001; Kiang and Olabisi 2019). The digestive system is composed of the GI tract and GI accessory organs (Table 1, Figure 1). The GI tract is among the most radiosensitive organ systems in the body, with the duodenum the most radiosensitive region of the digestive tract. The intestinal epithelial cells provide a physical and biochemical barrier that segregate host tissue and bacteria to maintain intestinal homeostasis. Radiation can cause crypt cell killing, injury to intestinal epithelial cells, and other effects resulting in a wide range of clinical manifestations, as illustrated in Table 1 (Shadad et al. 2013). See reviews on GI-radiation toxicity (Somosy et al. 2002; Hauer-Jensen 2007) and GI acute radiation syndrome (GI-ARS) (Macià I Garau et al. 2011; MacVittie et al. 2012, 2019; MacVittie and Jackson 2020).
Monoclonal antibody as a targeting mediator for nanoparticle targeted delivery system for lung cancer
Published in Drug Delivery, 2022
Nasrul Wathoni, Lisa Efriani Puluhulawa, I Made Joni, Muchtaridi Muchtaridi, Ahmed Fouad Abdelwahab Mohammed, Khaled M. Elamin, Tiana Milanda, Dolih Gozali
The lungs are an important organ in the human body, particularly in the respiratory system. Damage to this organ can endanger lives and perhaps result in death. Lung cancer is a form of cancer that affects the human lungs (Bade & Dela Cruz, 2020). This malignancy is the second most common after breast cancer and has the greatest fatality rate of any type of cancer (International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), 2020). It is reported that this cancer has a mortality rate of 1,796,144 or 18% of the total number of cancer deaths and an incidence rate of 2,206,771 which is 11.4% of all cancer incidences worldwide both in women and men (Globocan, 2020). There are currently three options for cancer treatment: surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy (Abbas & Rehman, 2018). Stage I or II Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer ‘NSCLC’ treatment is surgical resection of the tumor followed by adjuvant therapy. When the cancer progresses to stage III or IV, the treatments are chemotherapeutic and/or radiation therapy. Since the cancer invaded surrounding tissues, metastases can occur through the circulatory system or lymphatic system (Huang et al., 2015). Chemotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that employs medications. As a result of the drug’s inability to target specific cells, this therapy is often associated with severe adverse effects (Ohnoshi et al., 1992; Partridge et al., 2001; Sun et al., 2005; Aslam et al., 2014). It has inspired the development of cancer medicines, one of which is the use of nanoparticles.
How sympathy and fear mediate the interplay between benefit and scarcity appeal organ donation messages
Published in Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 2022
Although dialysis therapy and pacemakers have been widely used for kidney and heart disease [1,2], organ transplantation is considered as the most effective therapeutic choice for organ failure [3]. However, the shortage of transplantable organs remains a universal issue [4]. Even though more than 90% of the U.S. population supports the concept of organ donation, only 60% are registered as donors [5]. In this study, I aim to investigate how to persuade people to become posthumous organ donors. Currently, there are different routes to allow deceased donors to donate their vital organs (e.g. heart and kidney), tissues (e.g. cornea and skin), and bone marrow. For example, people can register as posthumous organ donors by enrolling in their state online registry, designating their wishes on driver licenses, or signing a donor card. Organ donation is an ambivalent prosocial behavior that reflects the tension between social values (compassionate behaviors make a person a valuable entity in the world) and defensive needs (people are aware of the threat of their own mortality [6]). On the one hand, organ donation allows people to help others. On the other hand, organ donation reminds people of their own mortality. Therefore, apart from cognitive factors such as knowledge of organ donation, noncognitive factors, such as perceived benefits of organ donation, also affect people’s organ donation decision-making.