РефератыИностранный языкReReye Syndrome Essay Research Paper Reye Syndrome

Reye Syndrome Essay Research Paper Reye Syndrome

Reye Syndrome Essay, Research Paper


Reye Syndrome


Reye Syndrome is an extremely rare, non-contagious disease thought to be


triggered by aspirin use. The actual origin of the disease is unknown. Reye’s


Syndrome, occasionally called Reye-Jacobsen’s Syndrome, is known to follow any


viral infection. Two of the most common viral infections it precedes is


influenza, ?the flu?, and chicken pox. A now-familiar warning on bottles of


aspirin, most notably Tylenol, is not to give Tylenol to a child who is


recovering from the chicken pox, a fever, or any other viral infection. The


link between aspirin and Reye’s Syndrome and is not fully understood, but all


reported cases of Reye’s Syndrome include a child who has received aspirin


before infection.


Symptoms of Reye’s Syndrome may often be mistook for a recurrence of the


flu, or extreme exhaustion. These symptoms include vomiting, confusion, lack of


coordination, distorted balance, irritability, a stupor-like state, and a recent


infection from a viral illness. The symptoms often begin with vomiting and


progress to a stupor and near comatose state. This disease is often found in


young children and infants. Over sixty percent of reported Reye’s Syndrome


cases occur in children under the age of sixteen, with the majority of these


cases being in children under six. Although less than five percent of Reye’s


Syndrome cases occur in people over the age of sixty, the elderly are often the


most severely affected, due to old age and weakening immune systems. Infants,


while hindered by their young age, can often fight the infections of Reye


Syndrome better, for reasons doctors do not yet fully understand. The severity


of Reye’s Syndrome is classified on a scale of 1-5, with one and two being the


onset of symptoms and four and five being the most severe, with the patient


being comatose. With the most severe of Reye’s Syndrome cases, internal fluid


builds up in the brain and there is irreversible brain damage or even death.


While the disease is not often fatal, it is essential to treat the disease early.


Reye’s Syndrome is not contagious, but the diseases that can lead to, such as


the flu, and chicken pox, are highly communicable.


The first case of Reye’s Syndrome was diagnosed in 1963. Looking back


into medical journals, there were many ?mystery illnesses? that had the same


symptoms as Reye’s Syndrome, but no cases were positively diagnosed as being


Reye Syndrome until this date. The definitive tests for this disease are a


liver biopsy and blood analysis. The liver biopsy can help determine the


presence of fat and lipid formation in the liver. Upon surgical examination,


the liver is slightly enlarged, firm, and bright yellow. This includes some of


the symptoms of jaundice, but without the yellowing of the skin and pupils of


the eye. There is often bile build-up within the liver, and fat formation on the


liver walls is always present. The blood test can detect the presence of


ammonia and acid within the blood. The failing liver will produce these


chemicals. There is also a dramatic decrease in blood sugar levels, which can


mistakenly be diagnosed as hypoglycemia. Therefore, a liver biopsy is essential


in making a complete and correct diagnosis of Reye’s Syndrome.


The treatment for Reye’s Syndrome had made great advancements in

the


last decade. Through the 1960’s and the 1970’s, the fatality rate for victims


of Reye’s Syndrome was over forty percent. In the 1990’s, this fatality rate


has decreased to less than ten percent. Part of this decrease is due to a


greater elevation of public awareness. Doctors are able to give more complete


information to their patients. Parents who have children recovering from the


flu and chicken pox are warned never to give aspirin for fever and pain.


Another reason for the decrease in fatalities is due to increasingly better


understanding of the disease. Before the first diagnosis in 1963, patients who


could have had Reye’s Syndrome were treated with medication for intestinal and


stomach flu, or given anti-nausea drugs and aspirin(obviously, a big no-no) and


sent home with instructions to call the doctor if it got any worse. Many of


these ?treatments? ended in death for the patient. Treatment of the patient now


includes cortosteroids to treat brain swelling. This has greatly helped reduce


the occurrence of moderate to severe brain damage in patients with Reye Syndrome.


All treatment is given intravenously, which can help to stabilize the blood


chemistry. Stabilizing this is extremely important to the survival of the


patient because of the high levels of ammonia and acid within the body that


circulate through the blood. The treatment given to people with Reye’s Syndrome


is more passive than active treatment. This includes monitoring the heart rate,


giving intravenous fluid to prevent dehydration, and keeping fevers down.


Depending upon the severity of the illness, the recovery periods will


vary from case to case. The younger a child, the longer the recovery period,


which can last anywhere from two weeks to three months. When a patient has


contracted Reye’s syndrome after having the chicken pox or influenza, as opposed


to a common cold or other viral infection, the recovery period is substantially


lengthened.


New and groundbreaking research for the link between aspirin and Reye’s


Syndrome is now underway in places such as Johns Hopkins University, the Mayo


Clinic, and The California Center for Disease Control, or CCDC. The CCDC has


come up with a theory that is becoming more and more widely accepted. A


possible link, they claim, is the chemical effects of aspirin on the brain.


While reducing fever and pain, aspirin may, they hypothesize, cause the body to


release endorphins that can trigger the onset of Reye’s Syndrome. Another


probable theory has been introduced by scientists at the Mayo Clinic. Aspirin,


they theorize, lowers the body’s immunity to certain micro-organisms that may


cause the beginning of Reye Syndrome.


While Reye’s Syndrome used to be a misunderstood and often fatal disease,


public understanding has greatly increased. The training of doctors and medical


assistants has greatly increased, and their knowledge of the disease has greatly


increased. Along with this increased public awareness is the breakthrough


research mentioned above. Over eighty million dollars was allotted to study


Reye’s Syndrome in 1993, and that amount has increased greatly since then. As


the twentieth century looks towards new developments in medicine and disease


control, Reye’s Syndrome will hopefully become nothing more than an obsolete


disease of the past.

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