DIABETES

What Is Immune-Mediated Diabetes? Immune-mediated diabetes (formerly called insulin-dependent diabetes) is a disease that affects the way your body uses food. Immune-mediated diabetes is also called type 1 diabetes.

In type 1 diabetes your body destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, usually leading to a total failure to produce insulin. It typically starts in children or young adults who are slim, but can start at any age.

Without insulin, your body cannot control blood levels of sugar. And without insulin, you would die. So people with type 1 diabetes give themselves at least one shot of insulin every day.

WWW.DIABETES.COM

Diabetes

THE AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION.

DYSLEXIA

The literal translation of dyslexia means the inability to master language. People who are dyslexic have trouble learning the code for written language, making it very difficult to learn how to read and write. Dyslexia is a disability that is often misunderstood. Many people, as well as those that are affected by the disability, often think that they are unintelligent when in fact they may be very intelligent.People with dyslexia often excel in areas not affected by their disability.There are many characteristics that make up dyslexia.Three categories of dyslexia include visual dyslexia, auditory dyslexia, and a combination of auditory and visual dyslexia.

Visual dyslexia is characterized by reversals of letters and numbers, faulty sequencing, coding and/or decoding, of letters in words, number in a series, and events in a narrative. Visual dyslexics also have problems with disorientation in time and space relationships, and problems in processing, interpreting, and recalling visual images. Auditory dyslexia is characterized by problems with integrating and processing what is heard. These people also have problems with recalling sounds and being able to put a sound with the letter it represents. When an individual has a combination of visual and auditory dyslexia, it is more pronounced.

Click here: Disability on the Net - Dyslexia

Click here: link.html at www.geneseo.edu

Click here: Van Stee Starting Point Page - Final

DOWN SYNDROME

Down's syndrome is a common form of learning disability. It is caused by the presence of an extra chromosome passed on at the time of conception. This results in a disruption in growth and developmental delay. Each person is individual and different as within the rest of the population but many with this syndrome share some physical characteristics including poor muscle tone, which usually improves as the child grows and many children have intermittent hearing loss. Children with Down's syndrome may also have health problems including heart defects

Educate Online Down's Syndrome Links

Down Syndrome Title Page

MHDSA - Down's Links

Links to other Webs for Down Syndrome

EPILEPSY

Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain which takes the form of recurring seizures. These occur as a result of a brief disturbance in the brain's electrochemical activity. Sudden bursts of this electrochemical activity scramble the brain's messages upsetting the brain's normal control of the body.

Seizures can sometimes look frightening but rarely cause any damage to the brain. Once the seizure is over, the person gradually returns to a normal state without any ill-effects.

Epilepsy is a common condition in our community. Research suggests that one or two people in every 100 will develop the condition at some stage in their lives. Most people have their first seizure before the age of 20 but epilepsy can develop at any age.

Many factors can contribute to the development of epilepsy including brain infections, head injuries, cerebral tumours and strokes. It is also now recognised that some types of epilepsy may be inherited.

While advances in modern medical and scientific technology have made it easier to pinpoint those factors which may contribute to the development of epilepsy, it is not always clear why some people develop the condition.

General Epilepsy Information

University Medical Center (UMC) -- Arizona --...

Comprehensive Epilepsy Program

FIBRO MYALGIA

This was a tough one but because of the continual association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibro Myalgia I have incorporated both in this section.

Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are similar.

Fibromyalgia has been defined by a committee of the American College of Rheumatology as the presence of a history of widespread pain involving both sides of the body, above and below the waist, and pain on digital palpation in 11 of 18 tender-point sites.

One of the first reports of similarity between these two syndromes was made by Buchwald and associates. Fifty patients with fibromyalgia were analyzed to determine the prevalence of chronic
fatigue syndrome (called "chronic Epstein-Barr virus infection" in their report). The majority of fibromyalgia patients experienced recurrent pharyngitis, disordered sleep, myalgia, joint pain, anxiety, and depression. Many of these patients also had recurrent rash, cough, recurrent adenopathy, and intermittent low-grade fever. In a second, smaller report, Wysenbeek and associates found that
although the majority of their 33 fibromyalgia patients complained of fatigue, only 21 percent satisfied the criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome. Goldenberg and associates compared the signs and symptoms in 20 patients with fibromyalgia, 19 with chronic fatigue syndrome characterized by myalgia, and eight with chronic fatigue syndrome without myalgia. They found that sleep disturbance, morning stiffness, and the number of tender points were similar for the fibromyalgia patients and the chronic fatigue syndrome patients with myalgia. These three features, however, were not encountered in chronic fatigue syndrome patients without myalgia .

Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia may share some common physiologic muscle dysfunction. Low muscle-oxygen tension, reduced blood flow, and abnormal phosphate metabolism have been described in both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Fibro Myalgia

LifeLink_Mailing_list

Welcome To Glenna's Homepage for Free, Fun &...

HUNTINGTONS DISEASE

Huntington's disease, which is often called HD, is an hereditary disorder of the central nervous system. It used to be known as Huntington's Chorea or HC. HD usually develops in adulthood and can cause a very wide range of symptoms. It affects both men and women

Huntingtons Disease Association : Fact Sheet Two

bout Huntington's Disease

Definition1.htm at www.ndsu.nodak.edu

Intro.html at www.ndsu.nodak.edu

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Multiple Sclerosis is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). MS is an inflammatory demyelinating condition. Myelin is a fatty material that insulates nerves, acting much like the covering of an electric wire and allowing the nerve to transmit its impulses rapidly. It is the speed and efficiency with which these impulses are conducted that permits smooth, rapid and co-ordinated movements to be performed with little conscious effort. In Multiple Sclerosis, the loss of myelin (demyelination) is accompanied by a disruption in the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain and this produces the various symptoms of MS. The sites where myelin is lost (plaques or lesions) appear as hardened (scar) areas: in Multiple Sclerosis these scars appear at different times and in different areas of the brain and spinal cord - the term Multiple Sclerosis meaning, literally, many scars.

WoMS - What is MS?

WENDY'S PAGE...

ST. JOHNS of NEWFOUNDLAND...

PARKINSONS

Parkinson's Disease is a common disorder of the brain. In Parkinson's Disease, certain brain cells called neurons deteriorate. The exact reason for this process is not known. These neurons are important because they produce a substance called dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical "messenger'' in the brain that helps the nervous system control muscle activity. When these neurons are destroyed dopamine is not produced at the normal rate. After it is produced, dopamine is broken down by an enzyme in the body called monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B). This breakdown reduces the dopamine supply further An abnormally low supply of dopamine causes Parkinson's symptoms to appear Primary symptoms include: stiffness, tremor, slowness and poverty of movement, difficulty with balance, and difficulty in walking.

Parkinson's Web Resources - USA

NEW PARKINSONS REPORT

Site of the Month

Jeana's Parkinson's Page

Liszt: Health/Parkinsons

TAY SACH DISEASE

Tay-Sachs disease is a fatal genetic disorder in which harmful quantities of a fatty substance called ganglioside GM2 accumulate in the nerve cells in the brain. Infants with Tay-Sachs disease appear to develop normally for the first few months of life. Then, as nerve cells become distended with fatty material, a relentless deterioration of mental and physical abilities occurs. The child becomes blind, deaf, and unable to swallow. Muscles begin to atrophy and paralysis sets in. A much rarer form of the disorder which occurs in patients in their twenties and early thirties is characterized by unsteadiness of gait and progressive neurological deterioration. Patients with Tay-Sachs have a "cherry-red" spot in the back of their eyes. The condition is caused by insufficient activity of an enzyme called hexosaminidase A that catalyzes the biodegradation of acidic fatty materials known as gangliosides. Gangliosides are made and biodegraded rapidly in early life as the brain develops. Patients and carriers of Tay-Sachs disease can be identified by a simple blood test that measures hexosaminidase A activity. Both parents must be carriers in order to have an affected child. When both parents are found to carry a genetic mutation in hexosaminidase A, there is a 25 percent chance with each pregnancy that the child will be affected with Tay-Sachs disease. Prenatal monitoring of pregnancies is available if desired.